March Madness 2012: NBA Prospects with Most to Prove in Big Dance

The NCAA Tournament could be the last time we see some of the best players in the country in a college uniform. After the Big Dance is all over, some of them will pack up and head for the greener pastures of the NBA.

The consensus is that the 2012 NBA draft class is going to be pretty stacked, especially when compared to 2011's perilously thin draft class. There weren't many future superstars to be found in last year's draft. There are going to be a lot of potential superstars in the 2012 draft class.

A handful of potential NBA draftees don't need a prove a thing in the Big Dance. It's abundantly clear that they have the talent to cut it in the NBA, and that's really all there is to it.

Other potential NBA draftees have work to do in the Big Dance. They have talent, but they need to prove to pro evaluators that they have star potential. Owning the NCAA Tournament will do the trick quite nicely.

There are four players who spring to mind.

4. Austin Rivers, Duke

It's my personal opinion that Rivers should return to Duke for his sophomore season. His freshman season went very well, but he was not the superstar that many people expected him to be. Another year to hone his skills would do him some good, and would pay off in the long run.

But Rivers cannot be ruled out as a potential one-and-done candidate. If he has it in mind to leave for the NBA, though, he would be wise to boost his draft stock in the Big Dance.

Rivers does not have an excess of talent around him on the Blue Devils, but the team itself is at its best when he's at his best. He's only a freshman, but Rivers will have to put Duke on his shoulders in order for the team to make a run through the Big Dance.

We know Rivers can do this, and that's when he looks like a future NBA star. There are times when he gets hot, and can be seen taking and making smart shots and knocking down shot after shot from distance. When Rivers is going good, he looks like a guy who could be an above-average scoring two-guard in the NBA.

This version of Rivers comes and goes. If Rivers isn't at his best in the Big Dance, scouts will continue to nitpick his game, and the decision to go pro could easily come back to bite him.

If Rivers is at his best, he'll be in the lottery discussion. Believe it.

3. Terrence Jones, Kentucky

Terrence Jones arrived at Kentucky amidst plenty of hype, and the next thing any of us knew he was off to a blazing start in his freshman season.

Ever since that blazing start, Jones has been largely hit-or-miss. Not unlike Rivers, Jones looks great when he gets hot. When he's not hot, he may as well be invisible.

Jones' biggest problem is that he's surrounded by NBA talent, making it very, very hard for him to stand out. Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are both viewed as lottery picks, and Doron Lamb has plenty of talent in his own right. When the three of them are at their best, Jones has a tendency to get lost in the shuffle.

I highly doubt Jones will be returning to Kentucky one way or the other, but the NCAA Tournament is his chance to shine like he hasn't shined since early on in his freshman season. He's not going to elevate his name about Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist on any big boards, but a great showing in the Big Dance will serve to remind scouts and front office people exactly why Jones was so hyped in the first place.

There's no denying Jones has NBA-worthy talent. What he needs to show is that he has lottery-worthy talent.

2. Perry Jones III, Baylor

Perry Jones III is another player who was surrounded by plenty of hype when he began his college career. He proceeded to live up to it with a freshman season that saw him average 13.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

Had Jones decided to go pro, he probably would have been a lottery pick, maybe even a top-10 pick. When he decided to return to Baylor, it was easy to think that another year of development would make him a potential top-five pick.

Instead, Jones' stock has gone the other direction. The talent is still there, but it's alarming that Jones did not show any improvement in his sophomore season. He didn't necessarily regress in any big way, but he didn't become the star that he should have become.

At least, not yet. The Bears are going dancing, and they have enough talent to make a deep run through the tournament.

Jones can do both his team and himself a big favor by spearheading Baylor's NCAA Tournament journey. All too often during the regular season, he was just another guy, and he's better than that. By all rights, he should be Baylor's best player every night.

If he puts the team on his shoulders and carries it through the Big Dance, scouts will notice. There is still time for Jones to put his name in the top-five discussion.

1. Jared Sullinger, Ohio State

At the beginning of the season, Jared Sullinger was the top big man on most, if not all, NBA draft big boards.

That is no longer the case. Sullinger has been surpassed by Anthony Davis and other bigs, and there are legit questions about whether or not Sullinger truly is star material.

This is what happens when you go from averaging a double-double in your freshman season to averaging slightly less than a double-double in your sophomore season. There's not a huge difference between Sullinger's freshman and sophomore numbers, but what difference that does exist goes to show that Sullinger just wasn't as dominant as a sophomore as he was as a freshman.

There's really not much to it. Ohio State needs Sullinger to be dominant to have any chance of making a deep run in the tournament, and he needs to be dominant to rescue his sliding draft stock. 

If Sullinger can do that, the questions about his athleticism are going to be outweighed by appreciation for his basketball IQ and his instincts around the basket. These are the things that make Sullinger special. All he has to do is show them off.