Best Mid-Major Players to Watch During Conference Tournament Week
If you want to check out a few mid-major prospects before their season ends, now might be the time
Happy March!
The conference tournaments are here, and while the mainstream networks carry tons of games from high-major conferences, the mid-majors tend to be the most consequential games. That’s both for bubble teams and for NBA draft prospects, by the way.
Most mid-major teams don’t quite have the resumes to earn at-large berths to the NCAA Tournament, and might not even qualify for the NIT. What’s that mean? This is likely your last chance to see several prospects with legitimate 2023 NBA Draft hopes in action with their college teams.
Let’s cruise around the country to hit on some of the conferences that have multiple draftable prospects.
West Coast
Julian Strawther (Gonzaga), Max Lewis (Pepperdine), Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara)
What a wild bracket. Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, the top two teams in the league, get an automatic berth to the conference semifinals. For those hoping to tune in to see Julian Strawther play, Monday would be the first opportunity, although the Zags are so safely in the NCAA Tournament that these WCC games might not be the most intriguing for him.
Instead, most eyes will be on that potential Santa Clara and Gonzaga matchup on Monday for Brandin Podziemski. Podz has emerged as a trendy first-round pick in the eyes of several scouts, and a run to the NCAA Tournament or WCC Finals would do him wonders. While the Broncos lost twice to Gonzaga, Podz has had two strong showings, averaging 15.5 points and shooting 40% from deep.
At the kickoff of the tournament, Pepperdine and potential first-rounder Max Lewis will do battle with Pacific. The Waves are a porous team, and without a league championship, their season will end at their next loss. Thursday night March 2nd could be the last chance to see Lewis in action before he declares for the draft, and after a pretty prolonged slump over the last month, he could use a positive performance to end on.
Atlantic 10
DaRon Holmes (Dayton), Tyler Burton (Richmond)
It’s hard to believe that the Atlantic 10 is likely to be a one-bid league this year. With the conference tournament approaching March 7-March 12, the conference crown will come down to the wire. There are so many teams on the cusp of being in that bubble conversation, though none have resumes that vault them ahead of a crowded high-major field.
The same can be said about many of the prospects here. There are quite a few fringe second-rounders, though none are certain to be drafted or even declare. We could talk about others like Jayden Nunn (VCU), James Bishop (George Washington), Yuri Collins (Saint Louis), or Tafara Gapare (UMass), but they seem more like fringe guys than anything.
Let’s focus on two who are clearly on the outside of the NCAA Tournament picture. First is DaRon Holmes with Dayton. The Flyers do have a chance to win the league, currently sitting at 20-10 and garnering a first-round bye in the A-10 tournament. Holmes has a lot of interesting tools for NBA teams, and he’s a good passer and finisher on offense. Yet it’s hard to say what his one NBA trait is that will make him a better pro big man than others he’ll compete for minutes with.
After graduating a ton of talent last year, the Richmond Spiders have taken a step backward this season. Tyler Burton is the last man standing, a true 3-and-D wing with good touch inside, strong athleticism, and a high basketball IQ. He plays well in Richmond’s Princeton offense and is very smooth. He’s one of our favorite mid-major guys this year.
Side note: get well wishes to Richmond coach Chris Mooney, who has stepped away from the team for open heart surgery. Get well soon, coach!
Missouri Valley
Tucker DeVries (Drake) and Ben Sheppard (Belmont)
If your favorite NBA team is looking for a 3-and-D type of wing, the MVC Tournament might be the right place to look. Both Tucker DeVries and Ben Sheppard are draftable players; Sheppard a senior and DeVries a sophomore on good teams with a legitimate chance at making the NCAA Tournament.
While Bradley is the odds-on favorite in the league, Belmont and Drake could both make a deep run — and I wouldn’t be surprised to see either in the NIT field. DeVries gets a ton of extra attention and plays on an experienced Drake team. He’s a natural shooter with fantastic feel. As teams increasingly face-guard him, his statistical performances have dipped, but the way he’s guarded speaks volumes about what opposing coaches think about him.
As for Sheppard, he’s a long and lean shooter with a more diverse game than just drilling shots off screens. Though, in Belmont’s offense, you’ll see him come off his fair share of actions. Both Belmont and Drake will be in action this week, giving scouts a chance to see them before Champ Week takes over the high-majors a week from now.
Conference USA
Teafale Lenard (Middle Tennessee) and Eric Gaines (UAB)
Later into next week, the Conference USA will get its shine to showcase what makes it one of the most underrated leagues in the country. Florida Atlantic is a top-tier team. North Texas is vastly underrated. Middle Tennessee and UAB could easily go dancing. Even Rice and Charlotte in the 5 and 6 spots are in contention to win 20 games this year.
Two prospects stand out as draftable in 2023. One is the defensive-minded wing Teafale Lenard from Middle Tennessee. We’d think Lenard should come back for another year, but the defensive activity and length he possesses could cause teams to push for him to come out and be a second-rounder this year. There’s a lot Lenard has to do to develop offensively before being a true NBA player. The tools are all there, though, and watching MTST press can be wildly exciting.
No team is more exciting to watch in C-USA than the UAB Blazers. That’s due to scoring guard Jelly Walker and his explosive counterpart Eric Gaines. The Blazers have one of the better backcourts in the country, with Gaines standing out as a potential NBA player someday. He’s incredibly slick with the ball, has insane vertical burst for his size, and has become a good 3-point shooter on the season. In a draft class devoid of really good point guards, Gaines could be a late-riser thanks to the unteachable traits he brings as an athlete.
Mountain West
Jamal Mashburn Jr. (New Mexico), Tyson Degenhart (Boise State), and Isaiah Stevens (Colorado State)
Of course, no mid-major is deeper and more likely to get multiple teams into the Big Dance than the Mountain West. Five teams have 20 wins or more already, San Diego State is nationally ranked (and should be an at-large team), and two teams at the bottom (Wyoming and Colorado State) have experienced, deep teams that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
There could be some major upsets at play in the conference tournament, so savor your chances to see any of these pro prospects play. Isaiah Stevens of Colorado State will have an uphill battle to lead the Rams to multiple games due to their seed, but man is he a controlled player. Clutch in big moments, Stevens can run a team and really shoot the basketball. He might project more as a Euro All-Star due to the desire for volume, but he’s a guy we’d expect to do really well at the P.I.T. and other upperclassmen settings.
Boise State’s Tyson Degenhart is a stretch-4 who will sometimes play the stretch-5 in their high-powered offense. He loves to mismatch guys, has been sturdy on defense for them, and is a really good shooter. His NBA role will be different (he’s firmly a 4 at the next level) but you can see some shooting and overall glue qualities that make him a draft sleeper.
The fun guy to watch is Jamal Mashburn Jr. at New Mexico. He leads the Lobos with 19.4 PPG and is a really good tough shot-maker. His pedigree and name recognition certainly helps him, but this kid can go. The Lobos have struggled of late as teams figure him out a bit more, though their slip from a top-25 team to the backside of the bubble likely will make for a desperate and aggressive team in the MWC Tourney.
Other Prospects to Watch: Jalen Slawson (Furman), Grant Nelson (North Dakota State), Taran Armstrong (California Baptist), Emoni Bates (Eastern Michigan), Antoine Davis (Detroit Mercy), Drew Pember (UNC Asheville)