March Madness 2016: Elite Prospects Who Will Improve Draft Stock

Does March Madness translate to June Jubilation?

NBA prospects taking part in this year’s NCAA tournament certainly hope so. The uber-popular event is the perfect stage for stars to shine before making the NBA leap.

This year, it’s young at the top of the draft board. Surprise! NBADraft.net projects that four of the top six picks will be freshmen.

For those youngsters, using March Madness to springboard up the rankings or quiet the doubters is ideal. For upperclassmen, it’s about exhibiting poise and leadership.

Here are three players who will all take advantage of the biggest event in college hoops.

Kris Dunn

Draft projection: No. 5

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Providence star Kris Dunn could’ve gone out for the draft last year, but he opted to return to the Friars for his senior season.

Early on, things were great. Providence was winning and Dunn was a swishing-and-dishing threat who could easily go for 20-plus points and six-plus assists.

Then the Big East came rolling in.

Providence was ranked No. 12 back on Dec. 31. The Friars were 13-1 and fresh off a commanding 81-71 win over No. 9 Butler. Dunn poured in 20 points, nine assists and seven boards.

"As long as we've got Kris Dunn here, we're going to make sure he earns his scholarship because he's not going to be here much longer," head coach Ed Cooley joked, per ESPN.

After that, the Friars went 8-8 in conference play, with losses coming against Marquette, Seton Hall, Xavier, Georgetown, DePaul and Villanova. In the Big East finale, Providence faces St. John’s on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Clearly, the team is no longer ranked. Dunn—whether it’s been illness, fatigue or other factors—has not looked like a future pro star. David Woods of IndyStar summed things up pretty neatly after Pirates point guard Isaiah Whitehead nearly carried SHU to a victory against No. 5 Xavier:

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Friars pegged as a No. 9 seed in the tourney with a first-round showdown against No. 8 Texas. After that is a potential clash with No. 1-seeded North Carolina.

If Dunn can get Providence there, the national spotlight will be his once again.

Hey, it's not like this dude can't step up when it matters, right?

Skal Labissiere

Draft projection: No. 14

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Remember Skal Labissiere?

When he arrived at Kentucky in 2015, both Rivals and Scout had him ranked ahead of Ben Simmons as the top overall prospect. Apparently, he was also dominating likely NBA Rookie of the Year (and former Wildcat) Karl-Anthony Towns too.

"As a junior-to-be, he worked Karl Towns over," Rivals national recruiting analyst Eric Bossi told Bleacher Report’s C.J. Moore. "The summer before out in [Las] Vegas, he was ridiculous. He looked like a guy who was ready to play in the NBA from a skill level right then and there."

While KAT is collecting praise and accolades in the Association with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Labissiere is averaging a modest 6.4 points and three rebounds per game.

This dude is 6’11”—three rebounds? Tyler Ulis, his 5'9" point guard, averages 3.2 boards.

Maybe those totals are low because Skal is only getting 15.8 minutes after having his spot taken right out from under him. That’s what happens when you don’t live up to the hype.

In Kentucky’s last 10 games, here are Labissiere’s scoring totals:

Ouch. Just once has the big fella reached double digits in that span.

Yet NBADraft.net still has him cracking the top 15 picks. His combination of size, length and touch still make him an intriguing pick, but as a scout told Moore, it probably won’t be a team that needs him badly.

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"I think a team that doesn't need him right away will draft him," the scout said. "I think if you're a team that needs production in the next two or three years, he's probably not the guy for you."

Lunardi has the Wildcats slotted as a No. 4 seed with a first-round game against Akron, a team with one player 6’9” or above.

If Calipari gives him any semblance of playing time, expect Labissiere to flash some of the potential that had scouts and rankings services drooling just one year ago.

Ben Simmons

Draft projection: No. 1

Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

OK, don’t freak out.

Ben Simmons is projected by NBADraft.net—and everyone else—to get taken first overall this June. The next few picks are a tad hazier, but Duke’s Brandon Ingram is pretty solid at second.

Still, things haven’t been perfect for the big 6’10” freshman from Australia.

Mark Rutherford painted a clear picture for SB Nation on Feb. 25:

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Whether or not that backlash, or just the base attention, has finally taken its toll on Simmons is anyone's guess, but recent evidence points to something bothering the future millionaire.

He came off the bench in last Saturday's loss to Tennessee because of what Johnny Jones deemed an "academic issue," and then ended an embarrassing loss against Arkansas with a technical foul. Toss in some uncharacteristically high turnover numbers (16 in LSU's last three games), bad body language and a lack of effort on the defensive end, and the criticism surrounding Simmons has, for the first time this season, extended past simply the amount of media attention he receives.

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Simmons has the makings of the perfect modern-day NBA big man. He’s a mountainous in size but still possesses supreme ball-handling, passing and scoring skills. But what’s all that without wins?

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

College wins don’t translate directly to NBA wins. Neither do losses. But a player as hyped as Simmons should at least have LSU in the NCAA tournament.

According to FiveThirtyEight's Neil Paine, No. 1 overall picks rarely miss the tourney altogether. The numbers are staggering:

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And, sure enough, in the 15 years before Simmons only one No. 1 prospect was on a team that missed the NCAA Tournament: Nerlens Noel, in 2012-13. The other 92 percent of No. 1s at least got to the round of 64, and even Noel’s case comes with a huge asterisk. Before Noel was lost for the season with a knee injury, his Kentucky team was on the bubble at 17-6, but improving; afterward, the Wildcats closed out the season 4-5 and stamped a nonrefundable ticket to the NIT.

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There’s still a faint glimmer of hope for a berth, though: winning the SEC tournament.

Simmons is already the consensus No. 1 pick. But if he can get the Tigers through the likes of Texas A&M, Kentucky and Vanderbilt and earn a spot in the Madness, there will be nothing left to nitpick.

All NBA draft info is courtesy of NBADraft.net.