YU Maccabees head to NCAA DIII men’s basketball tournament for first time since 2022

The team’s current star is Zevi Samet, a junior from the heavily Orthodox town of Monsey, New York, who is also the Skyline Conference’s Player of the Year.

By Philissa Cramer, JTA

It’s another March Madness run for the Yeshiva University Maccabees, which clinched the Skyline Conference championship on Sunday night to head to the national men’s basketball tournament.

The 81-78 win against the Farmingdale State Rams means that the Orthodox university is returning to the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 2022.

That year, the team fell in the first round of play to Johns Hopkins, following a season that notched a record 50-game winning streak, and captivated Jewish basketball fans.

Mayim Bialik, the Jewish actor, is producing a documentary about the 2022 team, whose star, Ryan Turell, now plays professional basketball in Israel after a stint in the NBA’s G League in Detroit.

The team’s current star is Zevi Samet, a junior from the heavily Orthodox town of Monsey, New York, who is also the Skyline Conference’s Player of the Year.

Samet posted the game-winning three-pointer with just 16 seconds to spare on Sunday.

“Solid run… Onto the @ncaadiii tournament,” coach Elliot Steinmetz posted on Instagram on Sunday. “Thanks to those who have continued to support us.”

He posted photographs showing the team wearing orange practice shirts in honor of the Bibas brothers killed in captivity in Gaza; fans holding Israeli flags in the stands; and a victory dinner at a kosher restaurant on Long Island.

The DIII men’s basketball tournament begins March 20 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The Maccabees have played in the tournament only twice before, making it to the third round in 2020 before play was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.