2024 Big Board 2.0

As the Madness Descends Upon Us We Give Our NCAA Tournament Updated NBA Draft Rankings

Mar 28, 2024

We are in the middle of March so…Let the Madness descend upon you! While I am heartbroken my Lobos didn’t make a run in the tournament this year, I still stay glued to this year’s tournament and love all the action we’ve seen thus far. If you care to know, I selected Houston to win the tournament this year (Shout-out Coach Sampson of the Lumbee Tribe keeping RezBall alive!), but am routing for Arizona to pull off the improbable run as I did fall in love with Mike Bibby and Jason Terry’s Wildcats as a kid and have always been a fan. It would be great to see Caleb, Keshad, and the guys bring that trophy back here to Tucson!

This 2024 Draft Class continues to be very fluid and there are a few new additions to this board I missed out on last time. For now, I have kept the top guys on this board consistent, but in the next go-around of film study it is most likely going to change. I am in the midst of that next go-around right now and after having talked with Jam Hines of Draft Digest a lot on the Podcast and reading and listening to others great work, I am trying to find that balance between guys with legitimate upside and players I think will play in the NBA a long time.

I think there are a lot of guys with ONE of those labels and it seems to me that NBA Draft peeps around the internet are hesitant to give anyone in this class both labels. As I said in the last Big Board post, however, there are ALWAYS a few guys who emerge to be much better than anticipated in every class. So my challenge and the challenge of ANY Draft evaluator out there for this class is to try and make the case for the guys they think can be better than anticipated. This class is such a fun challenge because of that and offers plenty of depth with guys that can definitely fill an NBA role at the very least.

If you are new here, every Draft Class I break up into tiers marking who I think will be superstars, who could be all-stars, who has NBA starter-level potential, who can crack an NBA rotation, and so on and so forth. Well this year, due to the fluidity of the field, I am breaking up my tiers into the following.

The top tier for the 2024 NBA Draft Class is what I like to call, “Somebody Has to Step Up.” Perhaps the most difficult feature of this Draft class is that the field of guys in contention for the number one overall pick this year is much larger than in years past and is riddled with inconsistencies in each individual prospect’s scouting report. For me, the guys that have kept themselves in contention for the top spot are the players that have kept their resumes intact. Whether it be improved production, consistent flashes of top-notch athletic ability, or clear indication on tape that their measurables make a big difference on the basketball court the guys in this tier still show you many glimpses of big time potential.

The next tier for this class is what I call the “Role Player Supreme.” These are players that while projecting to be an NBA role player and not a featured part of an offense, they possess top-notch role player skills to be consistent starters and difference makers. What does a Role Player Supreme look like? Think of guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jaden McDaniels, or Jordan Hawkins. They fill their role at THE HIGHEST LEVEL and every squad in the NBA absolutely needs their skillset.

After that is the “Too Much Talent to Bump Down Further” tier. I REALLY struggled to name this tier as I do want to make it clear these players have great NBA potential you can’t discount, but they also have red flags that are a really big hindrance to selling them as top guys even in a year as fluid as this is. Again, to be clear, the guys in this tier COULD ALSO BE IN CONTENTION FOR THE FIRST OVERALL PICK. But as some of them came into or started the year as the projected number one overall pick, they quickly tumbled out of that spot for good reason and it is going to take A LOT for them to get back into contention for number one.

Next we have the tier I simply titled “I Believe in You.” Many draft evaluators have said that due to the fluid nature of this draft, the same prospect could go at pick 15 for one team while another team has them ranked at 45. I also believe in this fluidity and thus have this tier as the starting point for the prospects I would argue for the most being drafted this year and succeeding in the NBA. I believe all of the players in this tier have NBA starter-level potential and at the very least could be an impact player coming off the bench.

After this we have the “CLEAR NBA Skills” tier. These are the players I think have at least one NBA level skill that should get them drafted and that teams should give at least three seasons of development time to fit into their rotation. I think every player in this tier has the potential to crack an NBA rotation, but outside of their one or two NBA skills, they have deficiencies in their profile that keep them from projecting higher.

This year I decided to break up the guys outside of the top 60 into two tiers of undrafted free agents starting with the “Future Miami Heat UDFA All-Star” tier. If you don’t know, the Miami Heat’s track record of finding Undrafted Free Agents (UDFA) and turning them into impactful role players is second to none. This particular group of players outside the top 60 are ones I still REALLY want to believe in and can see the skill or skills that could blossom into real NBA minutes if they end up in an ideal development system like the Miami Heat.

The final tier for my top 100 is “Intrigue Worth the Investment.” This is filled with players that don’t have clear NBA skillsets completely ironed out, but still possess a high level of intrigue in their game that should warrant an organization to stick them on their G-League team and see if these players can mold their game to succeed on an NBA court.

And one final note before we dive into the Board itself: I will write about one or two players for each tier in more detail explaining their games and why they find themselves in the tier where they currently reside. Looking forward to how guys move on the board this year and hearing the response from you all out there. Let’s get started!

Somebody Has to Step Up

Ron Holland, PF/SF G League Ignite
Nikola Topić, PG/SG Mega
Alex Sarr, C/PF Perth Wildcats
Cody Williams, SF/SG Colorado

Cody Williams is a very intriguing wing prospect that the vast majority of Draft evaluators are calling the best NBA Draft prospect in NCAA basketball this season. Listed at six-foot eight-inches tall and weighing in at 180 pounds Cody Williams has the height and frame NBA scouts covet at the wing position. Williams also flashed plenty of skill this season that made everyone come around and rank him high as the NCAA season comes to an end.

Cody Williams first and foremost is an attacker on offense that can handle the rock and get into the paint and to the rim. 121 of Williams’s 194 field goal attempts came either in the paint or at the rim; this accounts for 62.4% of Cody Williams’s field goals. He WILL get inside and penetrate the defense no matter what. His handle is not fancy, but solid and if you see any film on Cody Williams you will see him doing a lot of spot up drives with some breaking down dudes in isolation and GETTING TO THE RACK.

What REALLY helps Cody Williams’s case is that he not only gets to the paint and the rim, but finishes at a high rate. Williams shot 57.7% on 52 shots in the paint and a red hot 71.0% on 69 shots at the rim. Both of these percentages are very good and speak to Williams’s ability to use of his long arms to get around and through defenders, ability to handle contact, and ability to use a soft touch when he cannot power his way through.

Health and shooting are MAJOR hurdles for Cody Williams to reach his full potential, however. Williams played in only 24 of Colorado’s 37 games this year and racked up a total of 681 minutes (which puts him in sixth place for total minutes played on Colorado’s roster). Williams missed time due to a fractured orbital bone, a wrist injury, and an ankle injury so he will have to go through a slew of medical evaluations at the combine to ensure this is not going to be a reoccurring issue in his career.

Cody Williams will also have to prove he can be a reliable three-point shooter. While there are those Draft evaluators who point to the fact that Williams shot 41.5% from three this year as proof he will be a good shooter in the NBA, Williams took a paltry 41 total attempts from three all year. He only averaged 1.7 three-point attempt per game. His shooting also tanked when he came back from injury in February. In the final eleven games of his season, Cody Williams shot 25.0% from three on 1.5 attempts from three per game.

Cody Williams shooting issues don’t end there, unfortunately. Williams, also, attempted more than three shots from downtown just twice all season. In addition, Williams struggled to stay above 70% from the free throw line all year. Cody Williams also has no mid-range game to speak of. Williams attempted just 32 shots in the midrange and shot a terrible 34.4% on those 32 shots. While I think Cody Williams has a solid foundation for his jumper, he is clearly not comfortable enough with it to take many threes, nor is able to attack with it in the midrange.

Honestly, I have found it difficult to talk about Cody this Draft Season because a lot of the focus is on Cody’s brother—current OKC Thunder star forward Jalen Williams—rather than on what Cody actually does on the court. The brothers are two different players. Cody has a ton of physical tools and his flashes at such a young age are encouraging. When I write up Cody Williams’s full scouting report be sure to be on the lookout for analysis on his on-ball passing and defensive potential. Both skills, like much of his game this season, are tantalizing and I believe it is going to take a very patient team to develop Williams to his full potential.

Role Player Supreme

Reed Sheppard, PG/SG Kentucky
Stephon Castle, SG/SF UConn
Tidjane Salaun, PF/SF Cholet
Johnny Furphy, SF/PF Kansas
Zaccahrie Risacher, SF/PF ASVEL
Rob Dillingham, PG/SG Kentucky
Ja’Kobe Walter, SF/SG Baylor
Ryan Dunn, PF/C Virginia
Tyler Smith, PF/C G League Ignite
Yves Missi, C Baylor

I’m sorry Johnny Furphy! Furphy did not appear on my Big Board 1.0 due to my lack of film study on this Kansas basketball team. Now that I have caught up, however, Furphy has emerged as a tall wing shooter with some good multi-position versatility potential that ought to get him drafted high in this class. Furphy is listed at six-foot nine-inches tall and 202 pounds and this size allows Furphy to be incredibly versatile on the court.

Yes, Furphy is a good three-point shooter, but watching more of his film I want to invent a new category for players like him: the Physical Shooter. Not only can Furphy shoot, but he relishes crashing the glass and getting to the rim. Furphy’s was Kansas’s second leading rebounder with 162 total and he shot 88.5%(!!!) on 52 shots at the rim. I was most impressed by Furphy’s willingness to get dirty. He had to fill in at power forward at times and even when he manned the wing position he made sure to get to the hoop and slam it down. No matter what position he played, he also made it a point to rebound in and out of his area.

While Furphy got the shooter label, I do think he was a sink or swim shooter this year and needs to be more consistent with his three-point shot. His overall percentage on the year screams AVERAGE at 35.2%. Furphy’s percentage in his first 26 games screams ELITE at 39.4%. His percentage in the final seven games of the season tho…22.6%. While I AM going to argue we should believe the bigger sample size (always), it will be useful to look at these final seven games as Furphy was asked to take on a bigger offensive role to make up for the absence of guys like Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson.

While there is plenty to like in Furphy’s game and he has flashed some on-ball skill, the safe bet right now is to expect him to be a high-level role player in the NBA. When he was asked to be in a more supplementary role at Kansas he thrived. The time he did have to be a lead creator for the team are also helpful reps to get an idea where Furphy is at and what you can develop with his ball skills and ability to handle contact. With many of the bets in this class being other tall wings like Zaccahrie Risacher and Tidjane Salaun, I imagine Johnny Furphy will also find himself among those bets NBA teams take at the top of this draft once June rolls around.

Too Much Talent to Bump Down Further

Aaron Bradshaw, C Kentucky
Isaiah Collier, PG/SG USC
Matas Buzelis, SG/SF G League Ignite

Isaiah Collier has the talent to be in consideration for the #1 overall pick in this year’s Draft, but inconsistencies at USC and an alarming jumpshot are major red flags that bumped him down everyone’s board. While Collier has one of the most NBA ready bodies in this draft class at six-foot five-inches tall and 210 pounds, his play was downright maddening at times.

If you want highlight plays and explosiveness, then Collier is your guy. He can and WILL generate a lot of easy looks for his teammates as he posted a team high 115 assists and a stellar 30.9% assist percentage. Collier is also an ATTACKER who cannot be stopped from getting into the paint or to the rim. 196 of Collier’s 314 shots came in these areas on the court. He shot 46.6% on 73 shots in the paint and 65.0% on 123(!) attempts at the rim. That is A TON of attempts for a lead guard and speaks to Collier’s speed and bounce to get to the rim and slam it down as much as he can.

As a jumpshooter, he has almost no midrange and still struggles from three and at the free throw line. Collier took only 38 shots all year in the midrange and shot a terrible 34.4% on those attempts. While his 33.8% from three seems adequate, this percentage was greatly aided by his final eleven games where he shot 37.5% from three. Unfortunately, that came on a low 2.9 attempts per game and if you remove the two games where Collier went 2/5 against Colorado and 3/5 against Washington, then he shot 31.8%…which is closer to where his shooting numbers were before he missed time with injury: 31.3% on 3.0 attempts from three per game. Collier also fought to stay over 66% from the free throw line all year so he is going to have a lot of work to do on his shooting mechanics.

It WOULD NOT surprise me if Isaiah Collier did end up getting selected first overall in this Draft when all is said and done. Collier’s athleticism and explosiveness are second to none in this Draft class. The other issues that need a full scouting report are his turnovers and his defensive potential. I believe these two points of analysis in his profile will determine whether or not one wants to take the gamble on him. Recently the comparison to Tyreke Evans has been made which should give you an idea how polarizing Isaiah Collier currently is for scouts.

I Believe in You

Cam Christie, SG/SF Minnesota
Devin Carter, PG/SG Providence
Tristan Da Silva, SF/SG Colorado
Daron Holmes II, C Dayton
Alex Karaban, SF/PF UConn
Jaylon Tyson, SF/SG Cal
Melvin Ajinca, SF/SG Saint Quentin
Dalton Knecht, SF/PF Tennessee
Payton Sandfort, SF/PF Iowa
Justin Edwards, SG/SF Kentucky
Tyrese Proctor, PG/SG Duke
Oso Ighodaro, PF/C Marquette
AJ Storr, SF/SG Wisconsin
Kyshawn George, Miami
Jaylen Wells, SF/SG Washington State
Milan Momcilovic, SF/PF Iowa State
Trey Alexander, SG/PG Creighton
Izan Almansa, PF/C G League Ignite
Wooga Poplar, SG/SF Miami
Kevin McCullar, PG/SG Kansas

The U’s Kyshawn George is a tall shooter with some ball handling ability and major upside that every draft evaluator wants to buy into. Listed at six-foot eight-inches tall and weighing in at 208 pounds George joins a growing list of wing shooters who stand over six-foot seven-inches in this class. While George started the year off quietly as a bench player for Miami, he came to Draft Twitter forefront when he dropped 21 points on Wake Forest in early January.

George is a LEGIT shooter from deep who is going to get his shot off AND knock them down at a high rate no matter what. Not only did George post 40.8% from three on 130 total three point attempts this year, his 68.4% three point attempt rate shows he was taking a ton of threes. Teams knew what George was going to do, yet they could not slow down his barrage of threes. George’s attempts even increased in the final 21 games of the season and George’s percentage still held steady at 40.2%.

While I WANT TO consider Kyshawn George in the same tall wing shooter category as Johnny Furphy, Zaccharie Risacher, and Tidjane Salaun I cannot because George lacks game outside of his three-point shooting.

He has no midrange game to speak of and he barely gets to the paint or the rim. If you combine ALL of Kyshawn George’s two-point attempts it totals 60 attempts which means only 31.6% of his attempts came from the ENTIRE two-point landscape. His midrange numbers were the lowest where he took just 12 shots and only dropped 2 of them for 16.7%. ANY NBA prospect that is going to make a living as a jumpshooter needs a midrange shot if they want to be more than just a specialist. This is also worrisome as Kyshawn does flash ball handling ability, yet he has NO pullup game to speak of.

The biggest issue for me—and why Kyshawn George is much lower on this board than the consensus—is George’s severe lack of physicality. He is not a good rebounder as his 7.3% total rebounding percentage shows. He also CANNOT handle contact on offense. The best evidence of this is a bottom of the barrel Free Throw Attempt Rate of 14.2%. While this may not be as big of an issue if you buy into Kyshawn George as JUST a three point shooter, these are hard issues to overcome if you think he can develop into more as he doesn’t crash the glass well or use his ball handling to help get to the line.

If I were advising Kyshawn George, I would encourage him to go back to school. It’s my understanding that he did play point guard in his development and you can see flashes of that when he gets the rock. Would he get drafted this year? Most likely, yes. But if he could spend an offseason honing his handle and getting more offensive game off the bounce AND his passing increases, then the six-foot eight-inch tall wing who can pass and create more is going to be in lottery consideration for sure. Kyshawn George has a lot of potential, but whether that potential will be honed one more year in college or in the NBA is yet to be decided.

Justin Edwards has had QUITE the season this year. Coming into the year we had Draft Experts like Rafael Barlowe rank Edwards as the #1 prospect in the class, then about a month into the season everyone was calling Edwards a bust due to his HORRIBLE shooting and lack of productivity. Now we’re in March and Edwards has quietly rehabilitated his stock to making the case that this is a player who SHOULD NOT be ranked outside of the first round.

I think Edwards ability to accept a role should be commended. You can break this down in many ways (and I will when I write out a full scouting report), but I think the best way to get an understanding of Edwards embracing his role is his True Shooting Percentage. For the season, Edwards posted 58.2%. In non-conference games his true shooting was 53.6% and in SEC and Tournament games Edwards posted a STELLAR 62.1% true shooting percentage. This marks the difference between when Kentucky was still pushing Edwards to the forefront of the offense and when Edwards moved into a more supplementary role to help the team win more games in their conference. You can see this in his field goal attempts per game as well as they go from 8.3 per game to 5.9 in these two sample sizes.

As an evaluator, you can look at this a couple of ways. It may make you NOT believe in Justin Edwards upside anymore and thus severely knock him down the board. It could also make you believe this is a solid role player that probably should be placed somewhere in the middle of the first round where a lot of solid role players are drafted. I think THE MAIN thing this should tell you is the young man’s willingness to do what’s best for the team. How many guys have we seen like this who are high profile recruits fall flat on their face at the beginning of the year, and yet, still demand the ball and try to shoot their way back into relevance at the top of the draft?

Edwards instead took his early slump as a sign that he should step back and fill in the hole this team needed at power forward since they had so many injuries to their big men. He did not force his game and continued to find ways NOT TO WASTE SHOTS. Justin Edwards was 23/57 on above the break threes, 14/29 in the midrange, 16/33 in the paint, and 45/71 at the rim. He ended up having to be a big man in the first nine games, then moved back to small forward for the next nine games, then he missed two games, and when he came back he ended up going back and forth between both forward spots with Adou Thiero as Edwards was the better shooter and Theiro was the better rebounder.

Edwards did not rebound the ball particularly well for someone his size and definitely needs to take more threes to be a more effective player—even as a role player. Yet, as I laid out in the most recent RezBall Draft Podcast with Jam, Justin Edwards is THE top 2024 NBA Draft Prospect in need of reevaluation because he is a fascinating case of how a highly ranked player can rehabilitate their stock after falling flat at the beginning of the year.

CLEAR NBA Skills

Bobi Klintman, PF/SF Cairns Taipans
Donovan Clingan, C UConn
Carlton Carrington, PG/SG Pitt
Caleb Love, SG/PG Arizona
Adem Bona, C UCLA
Baylor Scheierman, SG/SF Creighton
Jalen Bridges, PF/C Baylor
Reece Beekman, PG/SG Virginia
Tucker DeVries, SF/PF Drake
Juan Nunez, PG Ratiopharm Ulm
Harrison Ingram, PF/SF North Carolina
PJ Hall, C/PF Clemson
Emmanuel Miller, SF/PF TCU
Matthew Murrell, SG/PG Ole Miss
Hunter Sallis, SG Wake Forest
Kel’el Ware, C Indiana
Ryan Kalkbrenner, C Creighton
Jared McCain, SG/PG Duke
DJ Wagner, PG/SG Kentucky
Antonio Reeves, SG Kentucky
Kyle Filipowski, C Duke
Igor Milicic Jr. PF/C Charlotte
Jamison Battle, SF/PF Ohio State

Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell has had maybe the quietest bounce back season of any Draft prospect and I cannot believe more people haven’t been giving him the respect he deserves. The six-foot four-inch tall 200 pound combo guard can do a bit of everything you want out of an NBA guard and projects to be a perfect complementary role player that comes off the bench.

Murrell’s shooting numbers are all good. Murrell shot 40.7% on 61 of 150 on above the break threes. Murrell drained 44.4% his midrange shots going 44 of 99. Murrell converted 46.7% of his shots in the paint going 14 of 30. Murrell also went 42 of 59 on shots at the rim which translated to 71.2%. Murrell’s weakest area on the court, however, was from the corners; and even then he shot 37.0% on those shots knocking down 17 of 46 shots. All of this translated to a 59.2% true shooting percentage from Murrell—an almost 10% improvement from his abysmal true shooting percentage from last year.

Murrell’s biggest issue might be that he is only able to play one position in the NBA at shooting guard. If he is only a shooting guard, then that’s another issue since he will be an undersized shooting guard. Murrell’s lead guard skills are average at 14.6% assist percentage and 76 assists to 54 turnovers—both assist numbers ended up placing him fourth on his team. While I do like Murell’s defensive effort, I do not think he will be able to guard NBA point guards as he lacks the quickness and change of direction needed to handle that job in the NBA.

Why I remain high on Murrell and think he should be a 2nd round pick in this year’s draft is that I think he can guard up to small forward and be a stout, shorter wing. We have seen plenty of guys make this transition in the NBA. From Eric Gordon to Norman Powell and even guys further down the rotation like Gary Harris and Rodney McGruder. Murrell’s profile mirrors a lot of these NBA guys as he does not waste shots, is a good shooter, and an adequate playmaker to get himself out of trouble. There is plenty to like about Matthew Murrell’s game and he should get more recognition for the turnaround he made in his game and how that turnaround helped Ole Miss go 20-12.

So, Igor Milicic Jr. is returning to school next year as he recently announced he is entering the transfer portal, but I wanted to highlight him here as he has LEGIT NBA skills and IQ that I really buy into. Standing six-feet ten-inches tall and weighing in a 225 pounds, one would think Milicic is a center or a power forward, but he plays and moves more like a combo forward than someone who is limited to the big man roles.

Versatility and functional athleticism are the major selling points for Igor Milicic Jr. This past season Milicic was Charlotte’s leading rebounder, shot blocker, and three-point shooter. He pulled in 262 rebounds, blocked 35 shots, and went 56 of 149 shots from three-point range for 37.5%. The two areas on offense Milicic was most deadly from were the corners and at the rim where he shot 45.2% and 73.5% respectively. Milicic shooting splits of 62.7% from two point range and 81.8% from the free throw line coupled with his 37.5% from three translated to a 63.2% true shooting.

Where Milicic will need to improve next season is in his passing and showing he can do more with the ball in his hands. Milicic posted the dreaded negative assist to turnover ratio with 53 assists to 61 turnovers. Because he did flash so many things on offense, it would make his case even stronger if he can take a step forward here and average at least two assists while cutting his turnovers down slightly. If his next team utilized him more in the DHO game I think this would help out a lot as he has shown to be a solid screener. It would also help if the next team Igor Milicic Jr. plays for lets him handle the rock more. He will have to tighten up his handle, but he has flashed good finishing and shooting in transition so a team that plays a more up-tempo style would be wise to develop him here.

Son of Croatian/Polish Basketball Legend Igor Milicic, the younger Igor definitely has a lot of his Dad’s coaching acumen out on the court. He doesn’t make many glaring mistakes and his fundamentals are rock solid. Couple this with great transition skills and potential to do more with the ball in his hands and you have a breakout candidate heading into next year. I am fascinated to see where Igor Milicic Jr. ends up next year because he can be a major transfer for a team that knows how to develop his already solid all-round game.

Lost among the higher-profile transfer portal success stories like Dalton Knecht and AJ Storr is Arizona forward Keshad Johnson. Johnson utilized this year to take on more of an offensive role for Arizona and improve on almost all of the weak spots in his game. Listed at six-feet seven inches tall and 225 pounds Johnson is a rocked-up forward ready to do the dirty work on both ends of the court.

Keshad Johnson is PHYSICAL—and yes you need all capital letters to spell this out. While he is an undersized big, he makes his presence felt as a screener, on the glass, and at the rim on both ends of the court. Johnson posted career highs in points, rebounds, blocks and shots at the rim this season. He was second on Arizona in rebounds and blocked shots as he was asked to clean up for Oumar Ballo who is a center limited to the paint. Keshad also got to the rim 127 times in spite of Ballo’s continual presence there and drained 88 of those shots for 69.3%. And many of these finishes are dunks due to Johnson’s explosiveness. Whether off the bounce, from a standstill, or as a lob threat Johnson was looking to dunk as much as possible.

While Keshad Johnson’s shooting numbers were all career highs this year, they were on low volume and his jumper still needs a lot of work. Johnson only averaged 2.6 three-point attempts per game and shot 71.0% from the line. This year is also THE ONLY YEAR in Keshad Johnson’s five year NCAA career where he’s averaged over 1.1 attempt from three per game and shot over 33.3% from three. Keeping it real, as we always do, that 33.3% is also the only year out of Johson’s San Diego State years where he showed ANYTHING as a shooter. He posted percentages of 26.2% or below from three and 64.8% or below from the free throw line three out of his four years at San Diego State. Johnson will need to light up the nets in pre-Draft workouts to prove his shooting improvements are for real and he is not just a one-year-wonder.

40.0% from three on 90 attempts is nothing to sneeze at, and as I stated before, Keshad Johnson posted career highs in just about every statistical category. The move to Arizona was not just good for Johnson’s own game, but as I am here in Tucson I have seen the difference he has made for this squad. As I said to Jam in one of our Draft Podcasts, I do not know where this Arizona squad would be without Caleb and Keshad. While Caleb Love has been THE offensive engine, Keshad has made big play after big play and stepped up against big time competition when the team is struggling. Notice the way Keshad ATTACKS seven-foot four-inch tall Zach Edey in the game against Purdue and shoots 6 for 11 from two-point range and draws 7 fouls as well. It is hard to bet against Keshad when you see things like this because not only does he relish the challenge of a big time matchup, he succeeds at that challenge more often than not.

One of the teams MOST ROBBED by the NCAA’s Wizard of Oz Selection Committee is The University of South Florida who went 25-8, won the American Athletic Conference Regular Season Title, and posted wins over A-10 Conference Regular Season Champs Loyola, Illinois, Memphis (who were ranked 10th at the time), and Florida Atlantic (who were ranked 24th when USF took them down). But, the biggest crime in all this is being deprived of seeing USF’s leading scorer Chris Youngblood play in the NCAA Tournament.

Youngblood is a good shooter from both long range and the midrange and is an underrated free throw generator. Not only did Youngblood post 41.6% from three-point range this season, he also drained 35 of 67 shots in the midrange for a STELLAR 52.2%. It is clear that Youngblood’s main weapon is his jumper. He also is able to get to the free throw line. Youngblood recorded a career high 40.1% free throw attempt rate this season and drained 82.9% of his free throws. Youngblood’s career free throw percentage of 82.1% also shows how solid his jumpshot mechanics are and that he will not waste many shots at the line.

Finishing interior shots is Youngblood’s major area of weakness in his game right now. While he took 45 shots in the paint and 71 at the rim, he was only able to shoot 40.0% and 53.3% in those areas on the court. The lack of rim finishing was somewhat mitigated by getting to the free throw line so much, but his paint numbers are very concerning. It seems Youngblood has no floater or soft touch finish he can go to when he meets opposition inside. Also, these 116 shots in the paint and at the rim account for 33.2% of his offense and he is shooting 48.3% on these shots that you NEED to convert if you want the analytics to favor you.

All that being said, Chris Youngblood STILL posted a true shooting percentage of 60.8% even with his finishing struggles. Imagine if he becomes even an ADEQUATE finisher! While his playmaking is also a little below average, I think he does have the possibility of being an undersized wing as we laid out with Matthew Murrell. For Youngblood, however, he is more of a bench player that can get hot and shoot you back into games a la Gary Neal. With a jumper this consistent it’s worth an NBA look to see if he can be a microwave shooter off the bench.

Intrigue Worth the Investment

88. Drew Pember, PF/C UNC Asheville

89. Hunter Dickinson, C Kansas

90. Armando Bacot, C North Carolina

91. Jordan Wright, SG/SF LSU

92. Santiago Vescovi, SG/PG Tennessee

93. Zach Edey, C Purdue

94. Ariel Hukporti, C Melbourne United

95. Myles Stute, PF/SF South Carolina

96. Jordan King, PG Richmond

97. Isaiah Cozart, C Eastern Kentucky

98. Enrique Freeman, PF/C Akron

99. Tyon Grant-Foster, SF/SG Grand Canyon

100. Kyle Rode, PF/SF Liberty

The leading scorer for a 23-10 Richmond squad, Jordan King is one of this season’s top jumpshooters. Jordan King is listed at six-feet and 175 pounds, but make no mistake about it, he has ELITE shooting skills that should make NBA teams want to take chance on in an undersized guard like King.

King is mostly known for being a three-point specialist, but he is also possesses a great elbow jumpshot. Jordan King not only shot 41.2% from three on 203 attempts from downtown, but as I mentioned, his fantastic elbow jumpshot saw him drain 39 or 89 shots from both the left and right elbow for 43.8%. King was particularly deadly from the right elbow where he shot 25 of 53 for a red hot 47.2%. If you total all of Jordan King’s shots in the midrange he went 60 of 135 which translates to 44.4%. So, if you look at King’s threes he took 6.2 attempts from long range per game and he added 4.1 per game from the midrange; and in both areas he shot OVER 41%. This is the type of percentage you want a jumpshot dependent player who takes high volume to shoot!

Yes, of course Jordan King is a small guard in the NBA and all the concerns with small guards come with that. The most concerning is King’s inability to convert in the paint and at the rim. King shot 37.0% on 27 shots in the paint and 60.5% on 76 shots at the rim. For me, they 60.5% at the rim is not too bad, but the 37.0% and a mere 27 total shots in the paint are a major issue as it screams “I have no floater!” I’ve mentioned it a ton on the RezBall Podcast already and will continue to mention again and again; small guards have a much smaller margin for error. If they can’t shoot AND don’t have some kind of go-to finishing package, NBA teams don’t want to give them development time. As with any six-foot 175 pound basketball player, can he defend anybody in the NBA? will also be a question King will have to answer immediately.

The more I see of Jordan King, the more I am reminded of Gabe Vincent. While Gabe Vincent is taller, I see a similar fight and persistence on defense and volume three point shooting in King. He will launch away no matter what and is an undeniable force from three. He will also give you everything he has on defense even when mismatched. For any small guard, that constant fight on defense is a MAJOR stepping stone to overcoming physical limitations and I definitely believe in Jordan King to do that and find his way onto a G League roster and maybe follow in the footsteps of fellow small Richmond guard and Memphis Hustle and Grizzly development legend Jacob Gilyard.

I am ESTATIC that Akron won the MAC because the world got to see the Best Rebounder in NCAA basketball this season, Enrique Freeman. A top 10 rebounder in 2021-22 and 2022-23, Freeman finally took the rebounding titles this year in: Total Rebounds, Defensive Rebounds, Total Rebounding Percentage, and Defensive Rebounding Percentage. Oh and if you are unfamiliar with Enrique Freeman, he is listed at six-foot seven-inches tall and weighs 206 pounds. Hustle and Grit are the best adjectives used to describe a guy who is wing-sized that has been DOMINANT on the glass in college basketball the past three seasons.

Enrique Freeman is not only undeniable on the glass, but was also relentless as a interior finisher and used that fight to generate a lot of free throws. Just how good of a rebounder is Enrique Freeman? Well he posted total rebounding percentages over 21% the past four years, he’s pulled in AT LEAST 367 total rebounds the past three seasons, and the guys he beat for his rebounding titles this year include: Zach Edey, Armando Bacot, and Hunter Dickinson. Freeman also shot 72.7% on 194(!) shots at the rim and 47.4% on 114(!) shots in the paint. Those are impressive numbers if you’re seven-feet four-inches tall, but for a guy who stands six-feet seven-inches tall, these numbers are unheard of. To top this all off, Freeman got to the free throw line 228 times which translates to a 57.1% free throw attempt rate. He has also posted free throw attempt rates over 51% the past three seasons so Enrique Freeman has found a way to use his physicality and relentlessness to generate more offense.

What else can Enrique Freeman do outside of rebound like there’s no tomorrow and score down low? THAT’S the million dollar question. While it is encouraging that Freeman actually took threes this year posting career highs in attempts (54) and percentage (37.0%) from downtown, it is still a low volume and this is the only year he ever tried doing this. If you do want to sell the narrative that Freeman HAS THE ABILITY to keep improving as a shooter, he also posted career highs in free throw attempts and free throw percentage with 228 attempts and 72.8% respectively. And while it is clear he has big man skills, whether or not he will be able to defend NBA big men is going to be the bigger question Enrique Freeman will need to answer in the offseason.

If you don’t want to route for a guy like Enrique Freeman, then I don’t know what to tell you. In addition to everything I’ve laid out here, he is also a willing and continually improving screener. He works well as the roll man in pick-and-roll and also is looking to cut for an easy dunk or layup when he doesn’t have the ball. Yes, his college team had him do A TON of post-ups he won’t do in the NBA and his game will need to adjust, but just look at his final NCAA Basketball game, and Enrique Freeman displayed all of the skills he acquired over his five year career at Akron.

Ahéhee' as always for reading our work and supporting the Substack here. Let the Madness continue to descend upon you and hope we get hard fought games that come down to the last shot from the Sweet 16 onward. As the season for NCAA winds down and many overseas clubs are already done with their seasons, be on the lookout for individual scouting reports here. This year I am going to do something a little different in how I approach writing out each guys profile and I am excited for you all to see what I have planned. Also, be on the lookout for the Big Board 3.0 to drop sometime in mid April. Here’s to a great Finish to the 2024 NCAA Tournaments for both the men and women!

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