Duke vs. UNC: Battle of Tobacco Road Features Multitude of Elite NBA Prospects
NBA scouts will be drooling.
On Saturday night, fans will witness the greatest rivalry in college basketball as Duke and North Carolina face off in the season finale. The game will feature a handful of highly sought-after pro prospects. Here are those players:
6. Mason Plumlee (PF, Duke)
The 6’10”, 235-pound Plumlee makes his presence felt in the paint with eye-opening athleticism. He is a phenomenal rebounder and is averaging 9.4 boards a game this season, leading the Blue Devils. Plumlee is Duke’s most talented big man by far, and he must be relied on heavily if they want to knock off the Tar Heels again.
5. Kendall Marshall (PG, North Carolina)
Marshall doesn’t fit the athletic that mold top-notch point guard prospects have fallen into over the past few drafts. Instead, he boasts phenomenal court vision, pinpoint passing ability and a sky-high basketball IQ. The 6’4” floor general won’t become a YouTube sensation with posterizing dunks, but he knows how to run an offense like no other.
4. John Henson (PF, North Carolina)
As soon as 210-pound Henson is introduced to a weight room, no one will score a point in the paint against the Tar Heels. At 6’10”, he has the combination of length and leaping to disrupt opposing penetrators with ease. It isn’t difficult to see how Henson inhales 10.3 boards and denies 3.1 shots a game.
3. Tyler Zeller (C, North Carolina)
Zeller is one of the few first-round prospects in the 2012 draft class that are capable of playing center at the next level. He also possesses surprising speed for a man standing at 7’0”, 250 pounds. Zeller is averaging 16.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game his senior season at UNC.
2. Austin Rivers (SG, Duke)
Rivers is cocky, but he’s talented enough to back it up, as UNC fans painfully know. As a freshman at Duke, Doc’s son is averaging 15.3 points per game. His shooting ability and handles are unmatched, but his killer instinct is even more impressive.
1. Harrison Barnes (SF, North Carolina)
Depending on how Barnes performs in the NCAA tournament, his name is potentially the first that will come out of David Stern’s mouth on draft day. He owns the skill set to be a top NBA scorer for years to come. This season, Barnes is averaging 17.4 points a contest.
David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.
