Indianapolis is geared up to host the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, with the semifinal games (Saturday, April 4) and national championship (Monday, April 6) all played at Lucas Oil Stadium. Here are the Hoosiers to root for in this year’s Final Four.
While Purdue – led by head coach Matt Painter and seven players with Indiana ties – came up short in the Elite Eight against Arizona, there are still four individuals with Hoosier ties competing for a national title.
The Shot Heard ‘Round the Country
UConn freshman Braylon Mullins delivered the shot of the tournament in No. 2 seed UConn’s stunning 73-72 win over No. 1 overall seed Duke, splashing in a 35-foot desperation heave with 0.4 seconds left on the clock to complete a 19-point comeback for the Huskies.
The 6-foot-6 guard missed six games due to injury to start the season and another contest in late January because of concussion protocol, but has been one of UConn’s go-to scoring threats when on the court. He’s one of five Huskies averaging double figures, scoring 11.9 points per game while shooting a team-best 88.6% (31-35) from the charity stripe.
In the Huskies’ Elite Eight win against the Blue Devils, Mullins missed his first four three-point attempts, but his confidence never wavered. His prayer from the logo sent him and his teammates to downtown Indianapolis this weekend for UConn’s third Final Four appearance in the last four seasons under head coach Dan Hurley and eighth in program history.
UConn (33-5) knows a thing or two about winning at this stage of the tournament as well. The Huskies are 6-1 in semifinal games and 6-0 in the national championship. And four months ago at the end of November, they topped Illinois 74-61.
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Mullins was a 2025 graduate of Greenfield-Central High School, just 30 minutes east of Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Stadium. He is the Cougars’ all-time leading scorer with 2,158 points and earned basically every accolade following his senior season: Indiana Mr. Basketball, Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year, and McDonald’s All-American. His prep career ended with an 83-76 loss in double overtime to Mt. Vernon (Fortville) in the sectional final, but he went down swinging with 38 points. Mt. Vernon’s squad was led by then-junior and Purdue commit Luke Ertel, who poured in 36 points himself.