The Sweet 16 of this year’s NCAA Tournament doesn’t necessarily feature a ton of top-end NBA Draft prospects. Rather, that status is reserved for foreign-born players and those currently in the G-League.
Even then, there are a number of players to pay attention to as the tournament continues on Thursday. That includes multiple prospects from the defending champion UConn Huskies as they look to repeat.
Here, we look at the top-10 NBA Draft prospects to watch during the Sweet 16.
10. Harrison Ingram, North Carolina
A transfer from Stanford heading into the 2023-24 season, Ingram has played a vital role in North Carolina’s success. He’s averaging 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds on 43% shooting from the field. That includes a 39% mark from distance. Ingram scored 17 points in the Tar Heels Round of 32 win over Michigan State. A strong performance Thursday against Alabama could help his NBA Draft stock a whole lot.
9. PJ Hall, Clemson
The 6-foot-10 Hall was not necessarily a top recruit in the Class of 2020. In fact, he came in at No. 50 overall out of South Carolina. The two-time All-ACC performer has upped his game each season with the Tigers. He’s averaging 18.5 points and 6.4 rebounds on 49% shooting from the field. Hall averaged just 12.5 points on 9-of-20 shooting in Clemson’s first two NCAA Tournament games. He’ll need to up his game if Clemson is to pull off the Sweet 16 upset against Arizona on Thursday.
Related: Best women’s basketball players to watch this March
8. Tyrese Proctor, Duke
With Jared McCain out for the tournament, Duke will continue to rely on Proctor to do his thing in the backcourt. The point guard did just that in the opening round win over Vermont, going for 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting with three rebounds and five assists. Currently projected as a mid first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, he has an opportunity to continue upping his stock. A strong performance against the favored Houston Cougars in the Sweet 16 would also go a long way in helping Duke pull off the minor upset.
7. Oso Ighodaro, Marquette
The 6-foot-9 Ighodaro was barely recruited coming out of Arizona back in 2020. After playing sparingly in his first two seasons with Marquette, the forward picked it up in 2022-23 (11.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 3.3 APG). He’s been even better as a senior with the Golden Eagles set to take on North Carolina State Friday night. Unfortunately, that has not translated to the NCAA Tournament. Ighodaro averaged a mere 7.0 points in the two tourney games last week. He needs to step up. It’s as simple as that.
6. Zach Edey, Purdue
Given the way he plays, Edey is likely topped out as a late first-round pick in the NBA Draft. He’s not your modern center. With that said, the reigning Naismith Player of the Year has simply been dominating during his Purdue career. He heads into the Sweet 16 averaging 24.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game on the season. Edey is shooting 19-of-28 from the field while averaging 26.5 points and 17.5 rebounds thus far in the tourney. He’ll have mismatch after mismatch Friday against Gonzaga.
5. Trey Alexander, Creighton
A borderline lottery pick in the coming draft, Alexander shot just 8-of-23 from two-point range in Creighton’s first two tournament games. He also shot nearly 50% from distance in those two games. It’s surprising given that he regressed from three-point range in 2023-24 (34%) compared to 2022-23 (41%). Alexander must display his overall game Friday against Tennessee to not only up his NBA Draft stock, but to also help Creighton advance to the Elite 8.
4. Stephon Castle, UConn
A top-10 recruit out of Georgia in the Class of 2023, Castle has not necessarily lived up to expectations for UConn as a freshman. He heads into the Sweet 16 averaging 10.8 points and 4.4 rebounds. He’s also shooting a mere 28% from three-point range. With the limelight on him heading into Thursday’s game against San Diego State, there is an opportunity for the guard to prove that he’s ready for the NBA Draft. It’s as simple as that.
3. Dalton Knecht, Tennessee
One of the few locks to go in the lottery remaining in the NCAA Tournament, Knecht is a pure assassin. The Northern Colorado transfer is averaging 21.1 points on 39% shooting from distance in his first season with Tennessee. He’s averaging 20.5 points over the first two games of the tournament. Can he continue this against Creighton to close out the Sweet 16 Friday night? We shall see.
Related: Updated 2024 NBA mock draft
2. Donovan Clingan, UConn
Clingan played a limited role in UConn winning the national championship as a freshman last season. He’s upped his game with all the players these Huskies lost to the NBA Draft last year. That includes averaging 16.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in the first two games of the tournament. He obviously has a difficult matchup against a big San Diego State team Thursday night. It will be interesting to see what comes of it.
1. Kyle Filipowski, Duke
It was somewhat of a surprise that Filipowski didn’t enter the 2023 NBA Draft. He likely would have been a top-five pick. The same thing can now be said as the 7-foot big finishes up shop on his sophomore campaign. Unfortunately, Filipowski did not show up to open the tourney with just three points against Vermont. He’ll need to perform much better in the Sweet 16 if Duke is to defeat Houston.