Royce Parham got a taste of the intensity over the past week.
The former North Hills standout, now a freshman forward at Marquette, played in his first Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He said he received a valuable education in postseason basketball at the NCAA Division I level.
“I just learned that teams will come with intensity, and, on any given night, any team can lose,” Parham said. “It doesn’t matter, for example, a 15 seed can always beat a two seed and a 16 seed can always beat a one seed. Basically, rankings don’t even matter. It doesn’t matter what it is. It’s just whatever team comes out better and more ready to come out and play.”
Parham will be one of a handful of former WPIAL players who will be vying to win national titles when the 68-team men’s and women’s NCAA national championship tournaments tip off later this week as March Madness descends upon arenas across the United States.
No. 7 seed Marquette will open its fourth straight foray into the NCAA tournament with a first-round game against No. 10 New Mexico at 7:25 p.m. Friday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, the home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.
The game will be nationally televised on TBS as part of a full slate of first-round action throughout the day Thursday and Friday.
“I’ve been watching this since I was a kid,” Parham said. “I’ve been making brackets since I’ve been a kid, and then now I’m actually playing in it. So, it’s just a crazy, wild experience. I’m just ready to win games and just try and go far in the tournament.
“I’m actually really excited,” he added. “Honestly, yesterday, Selection Sunday, I was really excited to see where we are, what teams are in our region and what teams we might play.”
Parham is one of just seven players who have appeared in every game for Marquette coach Shaka Smart’s team this season. He has averaged 5.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 42% from the field.
The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Parham also racked up 12 assists, 13 blocks and 20 steals with an average of 14.5 minutes per outing coming off the Golden Eagles bench.
“He’s got an amazing personality to him,” said fourth-year Marquette assistant coach Neill Berry of Parham. “If you meet him, and don’t know him, he seems kind of quiet and reserved, but he’s the complete opposite of that. He’s got a big personality, gets along with everybody, just really fits into what we are about here and how we wanted to build our program here at Marquette.
“He’s had a good freshman year, and we think he’s got a really bright future ahead of him.”
Parham became one of the top recruits in Pennsylvania during his three-year tenure at North Hills. He averaged 28 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks per game as a junior in 2022-23 before transferring to Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, for his senior season last year.
While he eventually chose Marquette, Parham held offers from Pitt, Penn State, Xavier, George Mason, Maryland, Notre Dame, Rutgers, TCU, VCU, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Berry said he and the rest of the Golden Eagles coaching staff are glad he did.
“We believe in Royce,” Berry said. “We always have from the first time we saw him play in AAU as a junior and even more probably now than ever just being around him for a year.”
Berry said Parham has played more outside this season, but his ability to make plays around the basket makes him a dangerous player now, and moving forward, in his collegiate career.
“He’s still young,” Berry said. “I think just strength is obviously going to be a big thing for him and understanding how he has to play against the physicality in the Big East and college basketball. He’s learning on the fly now, and he’s adjusting well.
“He is a highly, highly skilled offensive player and he’s got a really good feel defensively.”
And now Parham said he is ready to help Marquette take another deep tournament run.
The Golden Eagles advanced to the Sweet 16 a season ago, capping a run of three straight tournament berths.
Smart, whose coaching career began as an assistant at NCAA Division II California University of Pennsylvania, gained prominence nationally when he led VCU to the Final Four in 2011.
“We have a really good bond here,” Parham said. “We don’t take any transfer, so it’s all guys that have grown up with Shaka pretty much. We are all pretty connected and if we lose a game we are able to come together.”
Parham said he believes he and his teammates have what it takes to add a second Final Four appearance to Smart’s resume — and possibly more. He said he is proud to be a part of that effort.
“It’s just putting forth everything into it and just being like, ‘I’ve been doing this since I’ve been like 6 years old,’” Parham said. “I just trust my work and just go into every game being confident and help my team win.”
Other former WPIAL players in the tournament
Things weren’t always easy for Arkansas junior forward Adou Thiero and Razorbacks coach John Calipari during their first season in Little Rock.
Thiero, a Quaker Valley graduate, followed Calipari, a Moon native, to Arkansas after the legendary coach’s 15-year tenure ended in Kentucky after last season.
Calipari led the Wildcats to a national championship in 2012 and four Final Four appearances, while Thiero averaged 2.3 points per game as a freshman and 7.2 points per outing as a sophomore in Lexington.
After losing six of its first seven Southeastern Conference games this season, though, Arkansas rebounded to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.
The No. 10 seed Razorbacks will face No. 7 Kansas in a first-round game set to tip off at 6:10 p.m. Thursday at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. The game will be televised on CBS.
Thiero blossomed into one of the SEC’s most versatile players this season, averaging a team-high 15.6 points and 6 rebounds per game, while also chipping in 44 steals, 51 assists and 20 blocks.
The 6-foot-8, 220-pound Thiero started all 26 games he appeared in for the Razorbacks and shot a team-high 55% from the field. He is expected to miss Arkansas’ first-round game with a knee injury, but could return to the lineup if the Razorbacks advance.
Like Thiero, Butler graduate Ethan Morton found himself in new surroundings this season.
Morton — a 6-foot-7, 215-pound graduate student guard — played his first season with Colorado State this year after transferring from Big Ten power Purdue in the wake of the Boilermakers’ national championship game appearance a season ago.
In four seasons at Purdue, Morton appeared in 132 games and compiled an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.66.
Morton has scored 3.7 points with 2.3 assists per game this season. He has appeared in 33 games for Colorado State with nine starts and helped lead the Rams to a Mountain West Conference tournament championship.
No. 12 seed Colorado State will face fifth-seeded Memphis in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The game is scheduled to tip off at noon Friday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on TBS.
Penn Hills graduate Daemar Kelly and Turtle Creek native Chris Moncrief played outsized roles in helping Saint Francis seal a Northeast Conference championship last week in addition to its first NCAA tournament berth since 1991.
No. 16 seed Saint Francis will help kick off the tournament when it faces No. 16 Alabama State in a First Four contest, which is set to tip off at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday at University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The game will be televised on TruTV.
Kelly has started every game in his first season with the Red Flash this winter since transferring from Quinnipiac. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound sophomore has averaged 8.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game this season with 56 assists, 26 steals and 18 blocks.
Moncrief, now in his second season at Saint Francis since transferring from the University of Evansville, is averaging 6.1 points and 1.2 rebounds per game this season. Since being named a full-time starter Feb. 6, Moncrief has averaged 10.3 points per game over Saint Francis’ past 10 games.
Robert Morris will be making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015 when the No. 15 seed Colonials face off against No. 2 Alabama in a first-round game at 12:40 p.m. Friday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Junior Tanner O’Grady, an Upper St. Clair product, is the lone former WPIAL player on the Horizon League champion Robert Morris’ roster.
The 6-foot, 175-pound guard made two baskets in his four appearances off the bench for the Colonials this season.
The matchup between Robert Morris and Alabama will be televised on TruTV.
Getting the recognition they deserve
— Arkansas State Women's Basketball (@AStateWB) March 12, 2025#NetsAintFree x #WolvesUp
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NCAA Division I women’s tournament
Former Plum standout Kennedie Montue will get a good look at one of the nation’s top players in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Montue, an Arkansas State senior, will help lead the No 15 seed Red Wolves in a first-round matchup with perennial power second-seeded Connecticut at noon Saturday in the Huskies’ home Gampel Arena in Storrs, Conn. The game will be televised on ABC.
Montue averaged 10.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per outing for Arkansas State this season. She had previously played three seasons at Oakland in the Horizon League.
Connecticut is led by one of the nation’s top players in guard Paige Bueckers. The Huskies senior is playing in her final March Madness.
Former North Catholic standout Alayna Rocco will make her NCAA tournament debut with Harvard this weekend.
The No. 10-seeded Ivy League champion Crimson will face No. 7 Michigan State at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. The game will be televised on ESPNews.
The 5-foot-10 guard is averaging 4.4 points and 1.2 rebounds per game off the Harvard bench this season.
Chartiers Valley product Perri Page, the daughter of former Pitt great Julius Page, will help open the NCAA women’s tournament when her No. 11 seed Columbia team faces No. 11 Washington in a First Four contest at 7 p.m. Thursday. The game, which will be held at Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., is scheduled to be televised on ESPN 2.
The 5-foot-11 junior forward Page is averaging 7.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game for Columbia. She has appeared in 29 games and started 16 this season.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.