Manitoba March Madness

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This article was published 13/03/2025 (189 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As a kid, Simon Hildebrandt often caught himself day-dreaming when March rolled around.

The Winnipeg-born hoopster fantasized about playing in the spectacle known as March Madness, against the top college players in the U.S.

He can stop dreaming.

Hildebrandt and the High Point University Panthers punched their ticket to the NCAA Division 1 men’s national basketball tournament after defeating Winthrop 81-69 to earn the program’s first Big South conference title. The Panthers, who scored 52 second-half points, came back from down 15 points with 15 minutes remaining to win the game.

“March Madness has been my dream ever since I started playing basketball,” Hildebrandt told the Free Press recently. “I remember as a kid sneaking my phone, watching on my phone under my desk during class in middle school with all my buddies. And to have the opportunity to play in it is just surreal.”

Hildebrandt, a back-to-back Canada West First Team All-Star with the Manitoba Bisons before leaving for High Point, N.C., was slated to become the third Manitoban to suit up at the big dance. Todd MacCulloch (Washington: ’98, ’99) and Emmanuel Akot (Arizona: ’18, Boise State: ’22) are the others.

That was until Monday, when fellow Winnipegger Kyler Filewich and the Wofford University Terriers beat Furman 92-85 to win the Southern Conference championship, earning their first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2019.

That set the stage for Hildebrandt and Filewich to become the first Manitobans to play in the tournament at the same time.

“I know Simon pretty well. He’s a great guy. I was super happy for him,” said Filewich, who was named Most Outstanding Player in the conference playoffs.

“It’s super cool. I’m just hoping it’s something that can continue to grow the game in Winnipeg and all of Manitoba, seeing two guys on a level like this show younger kids this is possible from Winnipeg.”

Bracket experts are projecting High Point will be the 13th seed in the East and face No. 4 Maryland in the first round. Meanwhile, Wofford is projected as the 15th seed in the Midwest, drawing No. 2 Alabama in their opening game.

The official bracket will be revealed Sunday at 5 p.m. CT (CBS). The tournament begins on Tuesday, March 18.

High Point could be a popular upset pick in the first round, as the Panthers enter nationals as winners of 14 straight.

“Just the way our roster is built, we are made to challenge teams in the NCAA tournament,” said Hildebrandt. “We have so many guys who have not only played at the power-five level, but so many guys who have been all-conference guys at mid-major levels; guys who had so much individual success, who came here to have team success; and we’ve just kind of started to click at the right time these last couple weeks, I think, and show how dangerous are.”

The 6-9 238-pound forward, who comes off the bench with the second unit, is feeling the best he’s felt this season. A stress fracture in his foot kept him out of the lineup for the first 11 games, but he’s rebounded admirably, playing a crucial role for the Panthers while averaging 5.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per contest.

“I don’t know if I would call myself 100 per cent right now, but this last two weeks is the first time I kind of felt like myself. I was just playing through the pain most of the year, but in these last two weeks, I kind of started to see a breakthrough, and I feel like I’m finally getting through that plateau and going in the right direction,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Terriers’ season has not been as smooth as many thought it would be, scratching their way to a 19-15 record, but they have also found their stride ahead of the national tournament.

Filewich, a 6-9 250-pound centre, is averaging a solid 11.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists during his senior season. The big man understands his next game could be his last on a college court. While a difficult opening draw is likely, Filewich knows the Terriers wouldn’t be the first team to play into the madness.

“With the conference tournament, it was same sort of thing. Just trying not to think about it. Just leave it all out on the floor. Have no regrets and play as hard as well as I can,” Filewich said.

“I’ll have time to reflect on my career after and I’m super grateful for everything. Each and every game, I got to treat it like my last, because it could very well be.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca