The 2026 NCAA Tournament field may be bereft of Pittsburgh teams, but the same couldn’t be said of connections to the city. Players and coaches with local roots, plus transfers from Pittsburgh-area teams, can be found all around the 68-team bracket, with First Four showdowns getting underway Tuesday and Wednesday.
John Calipari, Arkansas
John Calipari, a Moon Township native, is in his second season leading the Razorbacks following a storied 15-season tenure with Kentucky, with whom he won a national championship in 2012.
This season, Arkansas finished 26-8 and won the SEC Tournament, securing a No. 4 seed and first-round matchup with No. 13 Hawaii in the Big Dance on Thursday.
Last season, in Year 1 with Arkansas, he guided the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16.
Calipari’s end with the Wildcats came in Pittsburgh, with PPG Paints Arena serving as a first- and second-round host venue for the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
In its first-round game, No. 3 Kentucky met No. 14 Oakland, the Horizon League champion. Featuring a memorable performance by Grizzlies guard Jack Gohlke, who drained 10 3-pointers and scored 32 points, the Wildcats were upset, 80-76 on March 21, 2024.
On April 8, Calipari departed Kentucky for Arkansas.
Meleek Thomas, Arkansas
Meleek Thomas won consecutive WPIAL and PIAA titles playing for Lincoln Park, but transferred to Overtime Elite, an academy in Atlanta, for his senior season.
After committing to Arkansas, Thomas’ first year of college basketball was successful, as he averaged 15.4 points per game for the Razorback, splitting time off the bench and as a starter.
The 6-foot-5 guard shot 42.7% from the floor and 42.1% from deep, collecting 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
Jamie Dixon, TCU
Wishing Jamie Dixon well may be the closest Pitt fans get to the NCAA Tournament this season.
Dixon, who was 328-123 and reached the Big Dance 11 times as head coach at Pitt from 2003-16, has coached at his alma mater Texas Christian since 2016-17, landing there immediately following his conclusion with the Panthers.
Since taking over, Dixon has guided the Horned Frogs to an NIT championship (2016-17) and now five NCAA Tournament appearances.
TCU, a No. 9 seed this season, plays No. 8 Ohio State in the first round Thursday afternoon.
Alvaro Folgueiras, Iowa
Alvaro Folgueiras, a native of Malaga, Spain, developed at Robert Morris over the course of two seasons and was an integral part of the Colonials’ 2025 NCAA Tournament appearance.
Averaging 14.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game with the Colonials in 2024-25, he earned Horizon League Player of the Year honors, as RMU won a regular-season and conference tournament title.
But last spring, he hit the transfer portal, landing at Iowa, where he emerged as a valuable off-the-bench contributor to a Hawkeyes team that went 21-12.
Folgueiras averaged 8.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per night in his first campaign with Iowa, which is a No. 9 seed and faces No. 8 Clemson in the first round Friday.
Josh Omojafo, South Florida
Another former Colonial from the 2024-25 squad, Josh Omojafo is headed to the NCAA Tournament with South Florida, which won the American Conference regular-season and league tournament crowns.
In a Colonials uniform, Omojafo averaged 11.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per night, but after transferring to USF, he upped his numbers to 11.5 points and 5.3 boards per game.
The No. 11 Bulls (25-8) play No. 6 Louisville on Thursday afternoon.
Federiko Federiko, Texas A&M
Part of the transfer portal exodus out of Pitt following the 2023-24 campaign, Federiko Federiko first landed at Texas Tech last season, but joined Texas A&M for 2025-26.
Now, Federiko is headed to the NCAA Tournament with the Aggies, who earned a No. 10 seed and face No. 7 Saint Mary’s on Thursday night.
Federiko, who was a starter in two seasons with the Panthers, has seen less usage since departing the program.
This season with Texas A&M, he came off the bench in 27 of 31 games, averaging a career-low 8.6 minutes per contest and only 1.9 points.
Tyler Robbins, Miami (Ohio)
Tyler Robbins, a two-time WPIAL champion at Upper St. Clair, is a true freshman forward with the RedHawks.
Getting his feet wet in Year 1 of college basketball, Robbins appeared in 27 games, averaging 5.8 minutes per night, but was efficient in the time he did see, as he scored 3.1 points per game.
Robbins scored a career-high 17 points twice this season in blowouts over Milligan and Trinity Christian.
Miami (Ohio), which went 31-1 this season, plays SMU on Wednesday evening in the First Four, looking to secure a No. 11 seed.
Bradyn Foster, Penn
Bradyn Foster, a Natrona Heights native and Highlands grad, was the fourth player in his high school’s history to amass 1,000 career points.
The 6-8 sophomore forward logged only one appearance for three minutes this season, but will nonetheless partake in March Madness, as the Quakers captured an Ivy League conference tournament title by beating Yale in overtime.
No. 14 Penn (18-11), under first-year coach Fran McCaffery, takes on No. 3 Illinois late Thursday evening.