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Important update on 1476AMKiwi Goodman becomes NCAA basketball champion with Michigan
Sport Nation • April 7th, 2026 3:30 pm
Oscar Goodman | Photo: Basketball NZ
New Zealand has added a third NCAA national basketball champion to its annals.
On Tuesday (NZ time), Oscar Goodman's Michigan Wolverines prevailed 67-60 over the Connecticut Huskies to claim their second title.
It comes just 24 hours after compatriot Charlisse Leger-Walker made Kiwi sports history by becoming the first NCAA women's basketball champion, when the UCLA Bruins crushed the South Carolina Gamecocks in their respective final.
Goodman, 19, wasn't called upon in the final, as coach Dusty May chose to stick with a short rotation in the tournament showpiece in Indiana.
The Tall Blacks forward becomes the second New Zealander to lift the men's title after Jack Salt went the distance with Virginia back in 2019.
The Opunake product was playing his freshman season for the Wolverines, averaging just 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in just over 5 minutes per game.
