Stock Up, Stock Down: NCAA Tournament Edition
The first weekend of NCAA tournament has come and gone. All the upsets and madness have whittled the field down to 16 teams still vying for a national championship. The NCAA tournament is the biggest spotlight for prospects — it’s a place where the can severely help their draft stock or take a hit. Several players helped themselves this weekend while some others struggled, so let’s take a look at what happened.
STOCK UP
Domantas Sabonis, C, Gonzaga
Sabonis had two huge games against Seton Hall and Utah. His most notable performance was against the Utes in the Round of 32, where he had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and seemed to dominate his matchup with potential lottery pick Jakob Poeltl. Poeltl couldn’t handle the combination of strength and toughness that Sabonis brings on every single play.
Sabonis is averaging 20 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 53.1 percent from the floor in his two games so far and will have a favorable matchup against Syracuse in the Sweet 16. Sabonis plays extremely hard and with a bigger audience in March, people will fall in love with him.
Thomas Walkup, F, Stephen F. Austin
Walkup was a relative unknown heading into the weekend. After the Lumberjacks carved up West Virginia’s press and took Notre Dame to the last possession, Walkup is starting to get some buzz as a potential second round pick. He impressed big time against high level athletes, going for 33 points, nine rebounds, and four assists against West Virginia and putting up a 21/5/5 in the loss to Notre Dame.
Walkup did it all on both ends. He showed off a very controlled handle and proved he belonged from an athletic standpoint. He has a quicker first step than you would think and his strength helps him get wherever he wants. Defensively, he is very aware of what is going on and does well guarding both forward spots. He had four steals in the West Virginia game thanks in large part to his defensive awareness. Workouts will be huge for him in the spring so he can continue to prove to scouts that he can compete against other NBA caliber players.
Wayne Selden, SG, Kansas
Selden’s successful junior season has continued into the NCAA tournament. He had another impressive performance against Connecticut, scoring 22 points on 8-15 shooting with seven rebounds. The big improvement for Selden this season has been his consistency from beyond the arc, shooting 40.5 percent from 3-point range.
Selden has an interesting matchup against a Maryland team loaded with talent. Maryland has trouble guarding good wing players at times and Selden could be poised for another big game. He is also the type of player who has the physical profile that will impress scouts in workouts. He has played himself into a borderline first round pick, early second round pick in June. Big wings who can shoot it and play defense are highly sought after in the NBA.
Tyler Ulis, PG, Kentucky
Ulis may have played his last games as a Kentucky Wildcat, and he couldn’t have gone out any better than he did against Indiana on Saturday. Ulis had 27 points on 10-20 shooting and 3-6 from the perimeter. He showed off all that he can do over the weekend by keeping the ball on a string, getting into the lane and making plays for everyone on the court. Against Indiana, he even showed some alpha dog mentality and the ability to hit difficult shots late in the game to keep Kentucky alive.
Lots of people doubted that Ulis could be an NBA prospect and he has proved not only that he can be a player, but that he can succeed. He dominated his matchup against Yogi Ferrell on Saturday, looking every bit the part of a first round pick. There aren’t too many point guards in this draft that are better than Ulis. He has a long future ahead of him as a backup point guard in the league.
Buddy Hield, SG, Oklahoma
It didn’t seem like Hield’s stock could rise anymore than it has with the remarkable season he has enjoyed, but here we are. People are talking about Buddy once again after his monster second half against VCU, ending up with 36 points on 6-14 shooting from 3-point range and 11-20 from the floor. His ability to hit shots from crazy angles on the move and with a hand in his face is unmatched by anybody in college basketball. The player of the year season that Buddy is having will be topped off with a lottery selection in the draft. The only question now will be if he can ride his hot streak and lead Oklahoma to a Final Four.
STOCK DOWN
Jakob Poeltl, C, Utah
Poeltl is in the top ten of just about every draft board out there, and he struggled to leave anybody completely sure about his position. Gonzaga has the closest thing to an NBA frontcourt that Poeltl has faced all year, and he had a hard time with the physicality of someone like Sabonis. He had just five points and four rebounds in Utah’s second round loss to the Zags. The worry with him is that lack of upper body strength needed to grab contested rebounds and finish at the rim through traffic. Teams won’t be weary of taking him with a high pick, but they might end up being less sure about what Poeltl’s ceiling in the NBA is if he will continue to struggle against bigger players.
Isaiah Whitehead, SG, Seton Hall
After having a red hot Big East tournament and leading Seton Hall to a Big East championship, Whitehead saw his stock soar into the conversation of being a late first round pick. In his first game against Gonzaga, however, Whitehead couldn’t get anything going by shooting 4-24 from the field. He is a combo guard who can fill it up, but didn’t look like it last weekend. Whitehead has all the upside to be a two way contributor for a team, but he might need to go back to school for another year to improve his consistency. If he does, Whitehead is the type of player that can win Big East Player of the Year and jump into the first round.
Taurean Prince, SF, Baylor
Thursday was not a good look for Prince as his Baylor Bears got upset by Yale. Prince was being seen as a “3-and-D” wing in the NBA, and his defense against Yale left much to be desired. His 3-point shooting has dropped this year, making people second guess whether or not he will be able to contribute the way they had hoped he would. One performance shouldn’t keep a team from taking Prince in the first round, but his body of work this whole season will certainly raise questions heading into draft night.
Wade Baldwin, PG, Damian Jones, C, Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt’s stud duo saw their team get smacked in the First Four by Wichita State. Jones and Baldwin certainly didn’t impress in their showing. While they are both gifted physically, their feel for the game still has a lot of work to do. Baldwin was all over the place on both ends and Jones seemed disinterested in the first half, not taking advantage of a weaker Wichita State frontline that had no chance of stopping him one-on-one in the post. It would’ve been nice to see Baldwin and Jones cement their stocks as first round picks, but the skepticism will still linger following that game.
Jaylen Brown, SF, California
Brown arguably had his worst game of the season in Cal’s first round game against Hawaii. He had seven turnovers and was plagued with foul trouble from the start of the game until the end. His last game as a Golden Bear will definitely leave a sour taste in his mouth, but his physical upside as a combo forward who can guard one through four will be too much for a team to pass up on based on one performance. It is easy to overreact to one game, but Brown proved throughout the season that he has what it takes to be one of the best players in this draft.
WHO TO KEEP AN EYE ON
OG Anunoby, F, Indiana
Anunoby has become a darling of sorts in the NCAA tournament, not because of his box score statistics, but because of everything else he brings. He did well guarding Kentucky’s guards in their game Saturday and really stands out with his long arms and large frame. His ability to guard four positions, run the floor well, and crash the glass has a lot of people talking about his draft stock. He is an interesting kid to keep an eye on as the tournament goes on. He will have a tough test against North Carolina’s physical front line and quick guards. It will be a nice indicator of where he is at guarding those types of players.
Tyler Lydon, PF, Syracuse
Lydon has played well in the NCAA tournament so far. The freshman four man has averaged 14 points and seven rebounds in their first two games, including a six block performance against Middle Tennessee. He shot 40.4 percent from 3 this season as well, proving that he can stretch the floor, something vital for four men in the NBA. It is hard to get a feel for Syracuse prospects because of the zone they play, but Lydon has the goods to be a perimeter based four man who can also protect the rim. There are few players like that in the league, and normally those are the types of players that are highly sought after. He has a huge test against the Gonzaga bigs in their Sweet 16 game that will be a big indicator of if he is ready for NBA level competition or not.
Dillon Brooks, F, Tyler Dorsey, G, Chris Boucher, F, Oregon
This trio of Oregon players are very intriguing from a scouting standpoint. While they may not be the best players on the one seeded Ducks, they are definitely the three best NBA prospects on the roster. Brooks is a big wing who can play either forward spot, knock down 3s, and dominate the glass. Dorsey has been on fire for them this whole year, converting 3s at a high rate and essentially functioning as their backup point guard as well. Boucher may be the most interesting of the three with his ability to hit 3s and fly around everywhere on defense. It will be fascinating to see if any of these guys test the waters with the new NBA Draft deadline rules. Coming back for another year could see them all knock on the door for a first round pick, especially if the team has the same success next season.
Grayson Allen, SG, Duke
Allen had two very different games, one where he put up good stats but struggled to keep consistent and another where he dominated. Going up against the longer, quicker Oregon guards will be the perfect indicator of how Allen might function in the league. Allen himself is sneaky athletic and has a better off the bounce game than people give him credit for. We will see if he can showcase those things against Oregon’s versatility on defense.
Melo Trimble, PG, Diamond Stone, C, Maryland
Maryland’s success against the top seeded Jayhawks’ hinges on their two best NBA prospects. Trimble will have a size advantage on Kansas’ point guards, which he could use to get into the lane and do what he does best. Kansas’ bigs aren’t very talented, and Stone can be an X factor if he goes out and dominates the way that he should.