NCAA BASKETBALL
Who are the top NBA prospects to watch in the 2023 NCAA March Madness Final Four?
Listing of UConn, Miami, Sand Diego, and FAU players and their underdog National Basketball Association draft rankings.
It was a year of contrasts and surprises, and the list of teams appearing at the March Madness Final Four confirms that. Nobody expected four teams who built their quality through a unison style of play, a very much team-organized system that did not necessarily need stars. They proved themselves with a strong work ethic and surprises between UConn, Miami, San Diego State, and FAU. There is not a single former McDonald’s All-American who will be playing in Houston this weekend for the NCAA semifinals. This is the first time it had happened since 1979, when NCAA introduced the seeding system.
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Some names rise above others among the players we will see at the Houston tournament. This is just a short list of players considering their characteristics and numbers they showed with the most significant changes to score a professional deal at the next NBA draft.
Adama Sanogo, Center, UConn
Sanogo was a defensive force in the middle for UConn early in his college career. As a junior, he enters the NCAA tournament as a versatile and talented scorer who continues to grow his game. Sanogo completed the regular season as the Big East’s leading scorer with a versatile offensive play style. Sanogo had only one three-pointer attempt in his career during his first two seasons with the Huskies — now, as an experienced five constantly goes one or two threes every game with a 36 percent success. With this ability, he can impact the game from the perimeter offensively and feel like an experienced college big man on the court. UConn’s objectives of a successful NCAA tournament run start with his exceptional two-way play.
Isaiah Wong, Guard, Miami
Wong, 22 years old from Piscataway, New Jersey, has been on college basketball and NBA map since aiding the Hurricanes to the Elite Eight in last year’s NCAA tournament and chose to get back to school and help Miami complete their goals.`Wong leads the Hurricanes in points, assists, and steals, and when he gets in the zone, his high-percentage execution goes into multiple games. During a six-game winning run in December, Wong scored over 20 points in four of those six games. Wong has a proneness for blazing in these critical game situations and could steal the show again in Houston.
Matt Bradley, Guard, San Diego State
The Sand Diego State Aztecs are primarily a defensive team, but Matt Bradley holds the team’s offensive centerpiece. He is an unconventional scorer, not prone to getting big numbers, but he connects the little things well, and most important for the tournament: He doesn’t fade in big games. Bradley had the same offensive efficiency against top 50 opponents this season as he did the rest of the schedule, showing his game unsolvable even for highly-regarded contenders.
Alijah Martin, Guard, FAU
The 6′2″ tall and 209lbs guard, Alijah Martin, was born in Summit, Missouri. He led his Hurricanes in scoring all season, highly contributing to the National Basketball Final Four 2023 tournament qualification. He ended the season as No. 2 in 3-point field goal percentage (.400), No. 5 in 3-pointers made per game (2.55), No. 7 in steals (1.61), and No. 16 in scoring (13.91) in C-USA. Led the team in scoring (13.9 PPG), rebounding (5.3 RPG), and steals (53).
His final tournament four-game field-goal percentage of 38,6% and 12,5 points average will undoubtedly be needed in FAU’s first game against San Diego State.