In addition to the buzzer-beaters, game-winners and upsets, a big part of the appeal of the NCAA tournament is seeing many of the year’s projected top NBA draft picks live and in a pressure environment.
Normally veiled behind regional channel barriers that very few Canadians have access to, March Madness thrusts the national spotlight onto college basketball giving almost anyone interested a chance to check out what the NBA’s future could look like.
Based on what we’ve seen from four days of incredible competition we’re ranking the performances of the 10 best prospects, with the players selected based off current mock drafts and prospect big boards.
Author’s note: Please be aware that we’re only taking players who participated in the tournament, hence the omission of Kansas’s Joel Embiid and international prospects.
No. 1 Aaron Gordon, Arizona
Freshman, PF, 6’9”, 225 lbs
If you didn’t know who Aaron Gordon was before, you should know now. Gifted with superb length and athleticism, Gordon has dunked all over the competition thus far in the tournament. He’s been the most impressive prospect so far, showing the greatest level of consistency among anyone on this list.
Against Weber State he shot 7 for 11 from the field, including a 3-pointer, for 16 points to go with eight rebounds and five blocks. While facing Gonzaga, he had 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting with six rebounds, six assists and four steals.
The efficiency and defensive figures are indicative of the way Arizona has been playing so far, and it all begins with the level of play Gordon has set in his first NCAA tournament appearance.
No. 2 Tyler Ennis, Syracuse
Freshman, PG, 6’2”, 180 lbs
Even though Ennis missed a couple of shots that could’ve been potentially sent the Orange into the Sweet 16, his tournament debut was still undoubtedly and excellent one. Ennis scored 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting, along with six assists against Western Michigan and then 19 points against Dayton. Most impressively, the Brampton, Ont., product scored all 19 of those points in the second half, almost singularly keeping Syracuse in the game. Had he hit one of those shots at the end, Ennis’s performance would’ve gone down in Syracuse lore.
No. 3 Julius Randle, Kentucky
Freshman, PF, 6’9”, 250 lbs
A physical force of nature, Randle dominated in his tournament debut against Kansas State, going for 19 points and 15 rebounds. He then followed that performance up with a 13-point, 10-rebound, six-assist gem in Kentucky’s upset of Wichita State, showing a level of versatility and passing ability that had not yet been seen this season by the freshman.
No. 4 Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Sophomore, PG, 6’4”, 220 lbs
The Cowboys may have lost to Gonzaga in the second round, but that certainly wasn’t a result of Smart not showing up. The super sophomore had a remarkable performance of 23 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and six steals. His shot wasn’t completely on in the game – he was only 5 for 14 from the field – but, as evidenced by his stat-stuffing line and the 12 for 19 he shot at the free-throw line, Smart found other ways to stay effective.
No. 5 Kyle Anderson, UCLA
Sophomore, SF, 6’9”, 230 lbs
Anderson wasn’t on many radars coming into college season, but thanks to great statistical improvements from his freshman to sophomore year he’s played his way into the lottery discussion. A point-forward type player, Anderson has uncanny vision and passing ability for a man his size.
Because of his incredible versatility, Anderson doesn’t necessarily need to score to positively affect the outcome of games and that’s exactly what happened in the Bruins’ match with Tulsa. In that game Anderson only shot 3 for 11 for eight points, but he racked up six rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks. While playing Stephen F. Austin, he then switched it up and looked for his offence more, scoring 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.
No. 6 Gary Harris, Michigan State
Sophomore, SG, 6’4”, 210 lbs
A player who doesn’t have a lot of flash to his game, Harris is a solid guard who can be consistently and continually depended upon. While facing Delaware, he didn’t need to do much as Spartan senior Adreian Payne went off for 41 points, but against Harvard he was instrumental in preventing an upset with a couple of timely 3-pointers while the Crimson were pressing late in the second half.
Overall, Harris finished with 18 points and five assists for the game but even if he hadn’t scored that much he always manages to impact a game in some manner.
No. 7 Doug McDermott, Creighton
Senior, SF, 6’8”, 225 lbs
The lone senior of this list, McDermott performed to his standards to start the tournament with a 30-point, 12-rebound performance against Louisiana-Lafayette only to get shut down by Baylor in the next round, eliminating the Bluejays’ Final Four hopes. College basketball’s leading scorer was limited to just three points in the first half against Baylor and finished with only 15. McDermott did shoot a respectable 7 for 14 in the contest but that number is a little skewed as the majority of those shots were put up when Creighton was already more than 20 points down.
No. 8 Andrew Wiggins, Kansas
Freshman, SG/SF, 6’8”, 200 lbs
A 19-point effort on 7-of-13 shooting isn’t a bad way to make your tournament debut, even if it was against Eastern Kentucky. However, that won’t be the game that the Vaughan, Ont., native will be remembered for in the tournament. Instead, the awful 1 for 6, four-point performance in the loss to Stanford will likely be the freshest memory on most people’s minds.
Wiggins is still very likely to go No. 1 overall, but his play in what was the biggest game of his career didn’t do much to silence his detractors.
No. 9 Jabari Parker, Duke
Freshman, SF, 6’8”, 235 lbs
As easy as it may be to say, Parker wasn’t solely responsible for Duke’s stunning loss to Mercer in the second round. The 14 shots he put up were right on par with the 14.3 field-goal attempts he averaged throughout the entire season, so it isn’t like he completely shot Duke out of it.
With that said, 4 for 14 is a horrendous shooting figure and even though he rebounded well (seven boards) and was still able to manufacture points by getting to the free-throw line (6 for 7), to perform so poorly against clearly inferior competition is certainly some cause for concern.
No. 10 Rodney Hood, Duke
Sophomore, SG/SF, 6’8”, 215 lbs
Hood’s first, and likely, only season at Duke was a very successful one. He averaged 16.1 points per game on 46 percent shooting, including 42 percent from deep. Unfortunately, that Hood didn’t show up against Mercer. Instead Blue Devils fans were forced to watch him chuck up brick after brick to the tune of six points on 2-of-10 shooting.