Upside and Motor: Walter Clayton Jr. blazes his way up latest NBA Draft Big Board

The NCAA Tournament is complete, with the Florida Gators capturing their third national championship in program history. Senior combo guard Walter Clayton Jr. was the star of the show, and his NBA Draft stock reflects that.

With the college basketball season in the rearview mirror, we can now fully turn our attention to the draft in June. Much can and will change in the months to come, but we have a full season of tape under our belts for (most of) the prospects of consequence. NBA front offices will analyze and deliberate right up until the final buzzer, with private workouts and Combine scrimmages to further mold their thinking. But for us at home, it's time to revisit, reflect, and look ahead.

We still don't really know the shape of this draft class. NIL has altered the college sports landscape completely. Several prospects without strong contract guarantees will opt to return to school and cash a check, rather than waiting on pins and needles and fighting for finite roster space. We've already seen Texas Tech sophomore JT Toppin, a potential late first or early second-round pick, say he's returning to the Red Raiders. He won't be the first "surprise" name to withdraw.

Toppin and many of his fellow potential returnees will remain on the board for now, as it's early in the process, but these rankings will shift and change shape as names come and go in the weeks ahead. Just be ready for it. Bennett Stirtz and Tucker DeVries, for example, are both expected to ultimately follow their coaches to new schools and bigger platforms. Talented freshmen like Labaron Philon at Alabama or Tahaad Pettiford at Auburn could opt for sophomore campaigns and more robust responsibilities in an effort to boost their NBA stock.

For now, here are the 75 best prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft class.

Updated 2025 NBA Draft prospect rankings after the NCAA Tournament

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Walter Clayton Jr. punched his first round ticket in the NCAA Tournament

It's never wise to overreact too strongly to a single NCAA Tournament run. It's such a small sample size, ripe for fluky data in a pressure-cooker environment. That said, Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. was undeniable in his run to the national championship. After coming on strong in conference play, Clayton took it to another level in March, guiding the Gators to 12 straight wins to end the campaign with a ring.

This did not come out of left field. Clayton popped for the Gators as soon as he arrived in the transfer portal from Iona as a junior. This was all there, in plain view, last season. Clayton just needed March to boost his stock and silence whatever doubts were lingering for NBA scouts. He is not a perfect prospect, of course, but the Gators senior is an outlier-good shooter with enough downhill creation juice to serve as a legitimate fulcrum at the next level.

Clayton doesn't always execute the cleanest passing reads, but he's too dynamic and comprehensive a scorer for it to really matter. His 3-point dynamism will fit and elevate any scheme, and he's a complete handful slashing to the rim. His strength, quickness, and craft should lead to a healthy number of drawn fouls and below-the-rim finishes. He has earned a first-round selection.

Duke's Kon Knueppel is going to go a lot higher than you think

Kon Knueppel spent his entire freshman season in Cooper Flagg's shadow, both a blessing and a curse. Obviously, it meant Duke won a lot of games, and thus Knueppel was able to showcase his skill set in a winning environment. On the other hand, it meant Knueppel was afforded very few opportunities to operate as a true centerpiece of the Blue Devils offense.

Perhaps that is for the best, however, as Knueppel will function primarily as a complementary piece in the NBA. He's not an elite self-creator, but when looking for the prospects with the fewest holes in their game, Knueppel sits near the top of the list. He just does so much at a high level, with a selfless approach that feels tailored to a quick, impactful NBA transition.

Sure, there are defensive concerns, and Knueppel's lack of burst and vertical pop could hamper him against NBA athletes. But the skill level is off the charts. He's an elite shooter, a smooth pick-and-roll operator, and a high-IQ connective passer. After struggling at the rim early in the season, Knueppel put those worries to bed with elite, crafty two-foot finishing down the stretch. He ended the campaign scoring on 63.1 percent of his rim attempts.

The blend of strength, creativity, and touch offsetting athletic limitations reminds me strongly of another recent Duke prospect: Jared McCain. Knueppel obviously has more size, and he, too, is a lights-out shooter. Different players in different roles, but Knueppel just feels bound to thrive at the next level. When Flagg went down late in the ACC Tournament, Knueppel stepped up in a big way. There are too many positive signs here.

Bennett Stirtz has a difficult NBA Draft decision to make

Bennett Stirtz led Drake past Missouri in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, expertly reacting to an aggressive defensive game plan and countering Mizzou's attempts to keep Stirtz out of his comfort zone, the pick-and-roll. He's such a smart, intuitive player, that Stirtz feels bound to help an NBA team — even if concerns about his thin frame and limited burst are valid.

That said, Missouri was really the only high-level opponent Drake faced this season. It's one thing to stuff the stat sheet against mid-majors, but Stirtz will need to prove his mettle over a more extensive sample size at the next level. That is why his decision on whether to stay in the draft or return to school feels so seismic.

There's a strong case in either direction. Stirtz probably has first round interest, but he's far from a lock right now. If he returns to school, he is expected to follow his head coach Ben McCollum to Iowa. If Stirtz is able to mirror this season's production in the Big Ten, he's going to win several awards and erase whatever doubts persist in the scouting community. It's a double-edged sword, though. If Stirtz goes to Iowa and stalls against more stout defenses, he'll be another year older and NBA interest will sharply decline.

Right now, the safe bet seems to be a return to school. He will get a hefty NIL package, which is why a number of projected second-round picks will inevitably withdraw from the draft and take another stab at college. The depth of the 2025 rookie class may suffer as a result of NIL's new stranglehold on college hoops.

Jeremiah Fears flourishes or fizzles in the eye of the beholder

Oklahoma freshman Jeremiah Fears was undeniably impactful this season. He essentially dragged a mediocre Sooners roster through the SEC bloodbath to a top-nine seed, and he put up one heck of a fight against UConn in the NCAA Tournament. In terms of raw productivity, very few first-timers were on Fears' level. He carried the heftiest usage rate among high-major freshmen as one of the youngest players in college basketball.

And yet, Fears' high scoring output did not win over every scout. He's very much a mixed bag on paper, combining an electric first step and dazzling handles with a propensity for errant passes and poor efficiency around the rim. Fears has no trouble getting into the teeth of the defense, creating separation, and even drawing fouls, but he struggled to actually finish in traffic and he tallied almost as many turnovers (3.4) as assists (4.1).

So, how does one evaluate and project the ceiling of such a talented, if incomplete 18-year-old point guard? Fears needs the ball in his hands. He shot 28.4 percent on 3s this season, so asking him to stand in the corner isn't really an option. His NBA team will need to strike the right balance between structure and skill development, without taking away what makes Fears so special — his ability to heat up and single-handedly put defenders in the grave.

The baseline tools are worth a high lottery investment. Yes, he needs to shoot better, but Fears has plenty of dizzying turnaround jumpers and feathery floaters to give one confidence in his 3-point shot long term. The finishing ain't great, but it should improve with NBA strength development, and his fearlessness on the attack is a huge positive. Fears gets to the free throw line a lot, which means he's compromising defenses. That's a huge star indicator.

He might be more boom-or-bust than others in his range, but if Fears does hit, he carries one of the highest individual ceilings in this class. He mixed the good with the bad at Oklahoma, but I'm still inclined to lean toward the good when ranking him.