These three highly touted NBA Draft prospects all no-showed March Madness and may have badly damaged their draft stock along the way.
March Madness has a way of inflating the NBA draft stock of certain prospects, but things can work the other way as well. These three wing scorers all had excellent opportunities to move up draft boards but may find themselves slipping because of disastrous performances.
These NBA Draft prospects may have cost themselves in March Madness
Jalen Hood-Schifino, Indiana, Guard
Hood-Schifino was already a fringe lottery pick depending on which big board or mock draft you were looking at but he didn’t really do himself any favors in the tournament. He’s a big (6-foot-6) guard whose value is mostly derived from skill and versatility. He’s not an elite shooter or explosive athlete, the kind of player who might really pop in individual workouts. But he’s the kind of draft prospect who could have used a dominant tournament run to elevate his draft stock, highlighting the ways in which he helps his team win by making plays all over the floor.
Indiana was eliminated by Miami in the second round, in a game in which Hood-Schifino put up 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. But he also shot 8-of-22 from the field and turned the ball over three times with his weaknesses on full display — 3-of-13 from beyond the arc without attempting a single free throw across two tournament games. He couldn’t consistently get himself to the rim and settled over and over again for pull-up jumpers.
Hood-Schifino won’t drop too far, he’s still almost certainly a first-rounder and he could still sneak into the lottery if the draft order and team needs play out in his favor. But this was an opportunity to secure a place in the lottery, especially with struggles by the next two players, and he did not take advantage.
Keyonte George, Baylor, Guard
George is an electric shooter and creator who had likely secured a place as a draft lottery selection before the tournament started. His strengths and weaknesses are fairly established at this point but he’s also an archetype — a slightly undersized scoring guard — who can generate some buzz for himself with a run of elite shot-making during the tournament. That, unfortunately for him and Baylor, was not the case.
Baylor beat UCSB to advance to the second round before getting thumped by Creighton. Across the two games, George managed just 16 points and 4 assists, shooting 3-of-19 from the field. Unlike Hood-Schifino, he was able to leverage quickness and handle to get himself to the line 12 times but hitting 1-of-10 from beyond the arc was a glaring problem as was struggling mightily to finish in the paint against the Creighton frontline.
George may still be a lottery pick — our latest mock draft has him going No. 10 to the New Orleans Pelicans. But this may have been a big missed opportunity to move up, perhaps even leap-frogging the next player on this list.
Nick Smith Jr., Arkansas, Guard
Unlike the two players above, Nick Smith Jr.’s team is actually still in the tournament. Arkansas pulled off a dramatic upset, knocking off No. 1 seed Kansas in the second round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, but they did despite getting next to nothing from Smith Jr. He was held scoreless, shooting 0-of-4 from the field and logging just one rebound and one assist in 16 minutes. This was the follow-up to a six-point, 2-of-10 performance in the opening round where he put up two turnovers without registering a rebound or assist.
The 6-foot-5 guard is a lanky, fluid shot-creator with nearly sky-high offensive potential. He’s just delivering very little on that potential right now. Injuries have limited him to 16 games across the entire season and he’s made at least half his shots in just three of them. His profile is a player you want with the ball in his hands, someone who can create easy shots and make the hard ones. Right now, he’s doing neither and Arkansas is getting much more production from less refined but more physically aggressive prospects like Ricky Council IV and Jordan Walsh.
Smith Jr. is still listed at No. 8 in our latest big board but he started the season at No. 3 and he if he no-shows again for Arkansas next weekend it’s not unreasonable to think he could slide towards the end of the lottery.
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NBA Draft Sleepers who have impressed in the NCAA Tournament
Above we covered some of the highly-touted prospects who disappointed in the tournament. But there are also plenty of projected second-round guys who may be earning their way into the first round. Here are a few who have impressed:
- Ricky Council IV, Arkansas, Wing — Projected at No. 36 in our pre-tournament Big Board, Council IV is a physical, athletic wing with some versatility but no defining skill. He’s shot poorly but racked up 39 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal with his energy and effort.
- Andre Jackson Jr., UConn, Wing — Jackson doesn’t have a strong scorer’s game but his physicality, play-making and defense could make him an NBA role player. Projected at No. 40 in our pre-tournament Big Board, he’s put up 16 points, 14 assists, 11 rebounds and a steal across two games.
- Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA, Wing — Jaquez is projected at No. 46 in our pre-tournament Big Board and has blown up the box score in UCLA’s two wins. His craft and awareness have popped as he’s put up 41 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, shooting 19-of-33 (57.6 percent) from the field.
- Isaiah Wong, Miami, Guard — Wong struggled in Miami’s opener but was huge when it counted, putting up 27 points and 8 rebounds, shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in their win over Indiana. He was projected at No. 60 in our pre-draft Big Board but he could move up if he keeps making shots like this.