March Madness is always an incredibly fun time for fans but it is also crucial for scouts who are focused on NBA draft prospect evaluation.
After the opening weekend of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, we wanted to show love to the players who have already used their time under the national spotlight to increase their chances of playing in the pros.
Note that for this exercise, we are specifically discussing players who have done enough to increase their profile for NBA teams.
This means someone like LSU freshman Cam Thomas, who scored 27 points and 30 points during his two tournament appearances, was excluded. That is because front offices already knew that Thomas was a remarkable scorer. But he recorded just three assists total and did very little new to answer any other questions executives may have had about his game.
The same goes for someone like Villanova big Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who has been one of the tournament’s best players. But he has also been one of the most consistent prospects in college basketball in 2020-21. So very little has been learned about how he projects to the pros.
Below, however, are the players who scouts may be moving up on their draft boards after the first two rounds of the tournament thus far:
