BOSTON— The NCAA men’s basketball tournament has a way of bringing out the inner trash-talker in most of us.
This holds especially true inside an NBA locker room where many of the players are more than open to a put-down or two (hundred) if their school gets to go head-to-head against the alma mater of a teammate.
But things might be a bit quieter than usual on that front in the Celtics locker room this month when you consider most of the current Celtics attended schools that did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament this year.
Here’s a look at the few Celtics players with a reason to puff their chest out and chirp a little now that the Big Dance pairings have been announced.
Avery Bradley
School: University of Texas
NCAA Tournament seeding: Sixth seed, West region.
Kelly Olynyk
School: Gonzaga University
2016 NCAA Tournament seeding and region: 11th seed, Midwest region
Tyler Zeller
School: University of North Carolina
2016 NCAA Tournament seeding and region: Top seed, East region
James Young
School: University of Kentucky
2016 NCAA Tournament seeding and region: 4th seed, East region
NIT PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS AMONG CELTICS
Jared Sullinger
School: Ohio State University
2016 NIT seeding: 3rd seed, Region 4.
Evan Turner
School: Ohio State University
2016 NIT seeding: 3rd seed, Region 4.
Isaiah Thomas
School: University of Washington
2016 NIT seeding: 3rd seed, Region 3.