Keefer March Madness: The 16 Best NBA Prospects In The Sweet 16
BOSTON (CBS) - Keefer Madness is a nightly segment on The Adam Jones Show, but on Tuesday night the guys decided to do us all one better and talk NCAA tournament with a little Keefer MARCH Madness.
Early round upsets saw the departures of NBA draft prospects Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Jabari Parker, Marcus Smart, Doug McDermott and others . . . so who's left if you're a Celtics Tankapalooza fan?
With 16 teams still alive, Rich Keefe formulated a list to give fans 16 players to look out for when play resumes on Thursday.
Rich Keefe's 16 Best NBA Prospects In The Sweet 16:
16. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Arizona)
"The Wildcats 6'9" freshman forward is really long. He has a 7'1" wingspan, and only averaged 9 ppg on a very talented Arizona team. He could return for his sophomore season."
15. Aaron Harrison (Kentucky)
"The shooting guard is a guy that might stay in school or ride out the hot tournament and go pro. All of a sudden he and his brother have been playing better these last two games. He could definitely be moving on up."
14. Jarnell Stokes (Tennessee)
"Stokes, like Julius Randle, is another double-double guy out of the SEC. He's a tough player. Maybe a late first rounder, but most likely a second rounder. He's a junior with an NBA body so he's a guy to keep an eye on."
13. Glenn Robinson III (Michigan)
"The Michigan sophomore is the son of 'The Big Dog' Glenn Robinson. Lot of hype as a freshman last year on a team that played in the national championship game. I don't think he's been as good this year, but he's still very athletic and if he goes pro he could be a first round pick."
12. Andrew Harrison (Kentucky)
"A lot of the same stuff as his brother Aaron, but Andrew is the point guard and better ball handler."
11. Shabazz Napier (Connecticut)
"One of the only seniors on this list. He's been awesome, and this Sweet 16 game UConn has coming up against Iowa State will be at Madison Square Garden and they fare very well in that building."
10. Zach LaVine (UCLA)
"The freshman point guard and his UCLA team have Florida coming up. That's gonna be a great matchup. I'm excited for that one."
9. Willie Cauley-Stein (Kentucky)
"The 7'0" center from Kentucky is gonna be a first round pick. I'm not the biggest fan, but he's a guy you have to watch. I should probably have him higher, but he can block shots and is a better offensive player than Fab Melo."
8. Adreian Payne (Michigan State)
"He's the only other senior on this list. He had over 40 points in that first round game. He's gonna be a solid pro. He might be a little undersized as a power forward, but he strikes me as the kind of guy that'll be around for a long time in the league."
7. Montrezl Harrell (Louisville)
"Sophomore power forward that's gonna be matched up against Julius Randle coming up in the Sweet 16. That is going to be the individual matchup to watch. Randle will definitely be in the lottery, and Harrell? We'll see how he does. He could play himself into that depending how he plays coming up."
6. Nik Stauskas (Michigan)
"He is a legit shooter. Big Ten player of the year. How far Michigan goes is really gonna depend on Stauskas."
5. James Young (Kentucky)
"He was terrific in that Wichita State game. He's not just a three point shooter and you saw that in the Wichita game. He does a lot of things. I like James Young a lot."
4. Kyle Anderson (UCLA)
"Super athletic small forward. He's long. Just a sophomore. He's climbing up a lot of people's boards."
3. Gary Harris (Michigan State)
"An NBA-ready shooting guard from Michigan State. You can plug him in right now. He can do a little bit of everything."
2. Aaron Gordon (Arizona)
"He's drawing comparisons to Blake Griffin. Now, clearly he's not as strong as Griffin right now. Griffin also played two years in college, whereas Gordon looks like a one-and-done. He might be a little small, but he can run the floor, is good defensively and can jump out of the building."
1. Julius Randle (Kentucky)
"This one is obvious. He's an automatic double-double guy at the next level."
Honorable Mentions: PG DeAndre Kane and F Melvin Ejim (Iowa State)
Listen below for the full discussion:
The 16 Best NBA Prospects In The Sweet 16
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