It's common for NBA players to predict success for their alma mater in the NCAA Tournament, so it's not exactly a shock to see this happen with the Wizards as well. I get it. But still, you have to chuckle at the following picks made by the following Wizards players:
- John Wall, of course, picked Kentucky to win the National Championship, but wasn't so kind to the schools in his home state of North Carolina. He predicted both Duke and North Carolina would lose in the second round, with UNC falling to Washington and Duke succumbing to Tennessee. Maybe he's just trying to fit in with the sensibilities of local fans.
- Jordan Crawford has Xavier going all the way to the Final Four, defeating Syracuse, North Carolina and Ohio State in succession. I guess it wasn't enough to also pick them to beat Duke and win the title.
- Cartier Martin has Kansas State in the Final Four, referring to them as "KSU" throughout the bracket. Because without the quotes, nobody would know who he was talking about.
- Nick Young picked alma mater USC to beat Georgetown, even though this is currently impossible. He also has Duke losing to Texas in the Sweet 16 and UCONN winning the title.
- Andray Blatche, meanwhile, picked Duke to win the title, because he has no alma mater. He also has a lot of chalk.
- JaVale McGee loves Jimmer Fredette, apparently, because he has BYU in the Final Four. He also has UCONN winning.
- Wizards Girl Erica has all four No. 11 seeds winning in the first round. I did that one year and finished dead last in my pool, so I would caution against doing this.
Good luck, folks.