5 NBA Draft sleepers in the NCAA Tournament

1. Devon Dotson, PG, Kansas

It’s really hard to be a sleeper coming out of Kansas, but somehow Devon Dotson has managed it as the fifth-, possibly sixth-, most recognizable name on Kansas’s roster.  He wasn’t their most highly touted recruit — that’s Quentin Grimes. He wasn’t their best player — that’s Dedric Lawson. He doesn’t have the drama that surrounds Udoka Azubuike, Lagerald Vick, or Silvio De Sousa.  But he has shown that he’s the best prospect on Kansas right now, and the tournament should be a good place for him to make that clear on a big stage.

Dotson is the quickest player in this class, and that speed gets him to the rim for an inordinately high 56.3 percent of his shots, and despite being a tiny guard at a (literally) unbelievable 6-foot-2, he finishes 61.2 percent of those looks.  After some early season struggles, he’s hitting the 3 point shot at a low-volume, but just enough to keep defense honest with a decent 37 percent. And again, despite being tiny, he works on defense and can contain much bigger players. He has the talent and ability to be a first-round choice but needs to build hype in order to justify staying in the draft rather than going back to school.

And if he wants to prove that he should stay in, he’ll get the chances to do that.  His round of 32 matchup projects to be with Auburn, where Jared Harper has been able to catch on fire.  His Sweet Sixteen matchup projects to be with UNC, where Coby White has also been able to catch on fire. His Elite Eight matchup projects to be Ashton Hagans, who is a tenacious defender. Dotson will get to face down a stretch of huge names if everything goes according to chalk, and if he performs well over that and leads a depleted Kansas team to a strong showing, his stock could easily rise high enough that he doesn’t have much of a decision to make with regards to school.