Walker Kessler Prospect Ranking MIP 99

With the start of conference tournaments, many prospects could benefit from a deep March run, while others fall and falter. Before we enter the madness, we dropped our full 99 player draft rank below highlighting a few rising and falling players. If you are interested in the always updating prospect rank, you can read more here.

Rising

#16 Ochai Agbaji: Currently slotted as our 16th ranked prospect, Agbaji continues to sky rocket up draft boards. A national player of the year contender, and in my opinion the favorite, came back to school and rapidly addressed the deficiencies in his game. Last season, I thought the Kansas star should have been selected in the 2021 draft if he chose to remain in the selection pool. My main concerns, which you can read about in greater detail here, were his inefficiency on the offensive end of the floor. While he was always gifted based on athletic ability his junior year was marked as “a year of regression”. This season, he rewrote the narrative. Shooting a career best from the field, behind the arc and at the line he has also increased his rebounding effort and continues to make a real impact on each passing game. A middle second round pick last year and a presumed second rounder at the start of the season, Agbaji has exceeded all expectations and is pushing toward the lottery. If he can have a long successful March campaign he may find himself leaving the green room earlier than ever expected. 

#29 Walker Kessler: Sophomore Walker Kessler has seen a day and night transformation since moving on from UNC. The seven foot center wasn’t on many draft boards headed into the season and for good reason, after never starting a gam his freshman year and only averaging four points in twenty nine contests it felt like Kessler was on his way to be a four year “never was” in the college basketball universe. A stunning player and prospect coming out of high school he never found his footing at North Carolina but had a major revival under Bruce Pearl as a more traditional interior big man. He does most of his work around the rim at an eye popping 62% from the field. While he has not developed any type of perimeter shot and his free throws are a major question mark, his size potential and sophomore performance have put him in the conversation for a first round pick. While we have him ranked 29th in our prospect list, a solid conference tournament could put him squarely in the first round. 

Falling

#25 Patrick Baldwin Jr.: Baldwin went to play for his dad at Milwaukee and it ended in disaster on the court. Issues staying healthy, shutting it down for the season and missing out on a tournament bid Baldwin’s draft future is now up for debate. Once a presumed top ten pick, he has slowly slipped into the twenties. Sitting as the 25th ranked prospect in our pre-march rankings, Baldwin can truly on go down from here. It feels like what is keeping his first round shine afloat is the chance he can recapture his high school prowess in an NBA system. It is hard to make final judgement on a player who has so much career left but this experiment could end up equally as bad if not worse than when Makur Maker chose Howard over other top programs around the NCAA. Hopefully, Baldwin will be able to show his ability at the combine and retain some of his pre-college draft stock. Another year in college as a transfer feels off the table for such a highly touted player but may be the best way to reclaim his draft status. It is clear he will be betting on himself in either scenario and will be interesting to see if he is a first round selection.

 #12 Jalen Duren: Duren is a lottery pick and a solid contributor for the surging Memphis Tigers. While he isn’t plummeting off draft boards like some of the other prospects on our list below, he hasn’t improved his stock during the season and can’t seem to hold his ground established in the preseason. We don’t imagine Duren to fall outside of the lottery but the month of March generally propels names that weren’t ever imagined to be lottery picks into the conversation. If NBA organizations start to think Duren is less valuable than the players that surround him in the ranking, even though he is clearly a top four power forward in the draft, he could find himself outside the lottery and inside the green room waiting longer than anticipated. If you are interested in taking a deeper dive into individual prospects, take a look at our scouting section here!

PlayerPositionCollegeConferenceOriginal RankDraft Day
Jabari SmithPFAuburnSEC21
Paolo BancheroPFDukeACC32
Chet HolmgrenSF/PFGonzagaWest Coast13
Jaden IveySGPurdueBig 1044
Bennedict MathurinSGArizonaPac-1285
Keegan MurraySF/PFIowaBig 10106
Dyson DanielsSG/SFG-LeagueG-League237
Shaedon SharpeSGKentuckySEC68
AJ GriffinSFDukeACC59
Jalen DurenCMemphisAmerican1110
Jeremy SochanSF/PFBaylorBig 122011
Johnny DavisSGWisconsinBig 10712
Malaki BranhamSGOhio StateBig 102913
Tari EasonSFLSUSEC914
Mark WilliamsCDukeACC2115
Dalen TerrySG/PGArizonaPac-125016
Jalen WilliamsSFSanta ClaraWest Coast5517
Ousmane DiengSFFranceInternational3018
TyTy WashingtonPGKentuckySEC1419
EJ LiddellPF/COhio StateBig 102720
Jaden HardySGG-LeagueG-League2221
Blake WesleySGNotre DameACC3322
Ochai AgbajiSGKansasBig 121523
Wendell Moore Jr.SFDukeACC1724
Kennedy ChandlerPGTennesseSEC2625
Jake LarviaSFWake ForestACC6526
MarJon BeauchampSGG-LeagueG-League1627
Patrick BaldwinSF/PFMilwaukeeHorizon2428
Kendall BrownSFBaylorBig 121229
Nikola JovicPFSerbiaInternational1330
Walker KesslerCAuburnSEC2531
Bryce McGowensSGNebraskaBig 103732
Christian BraunSGKansasBig 123132
Josh MinottSG/SFMemphisAmerican6034
Trevor KeelsSGDukeACC3235
Jean MonteroPG/SGOvertime EliteInternational1836
Ismael KamagateCParis BasketballInternational3437
Andrew NembhardPGGonzagaWest Coast7038
Jaylin WilliamsPFArkansasSEC5739
Justin LewisSF/PFMarquetteBig East4540
Ryan RollinsSGToledoMACN/A41
Max ChristieSGMichigan StateBig 103942
David RoddySFColorado StateMountain West3843
Caleb HoustanSFMichiganBig 103544
Christian KolokoCArizonaPac-122845
Michael FosterPFG-LeagueG-League5446
Aminu MohammedPGGeorgetownBig EastN/A47
Dereon SeabronSGNC StateACCN/A48
Jabari WalkerSF/PFColoradoPac-124449
Hugo BessonPGNZ BreakersInternationalN/A50
Yannick NzosaCCongoInternational4751
Dominick BarlowPFOvertime EliteOvertime EliteN/A52
Leonard MillerSFCanadaInternationalN/A53
Gabriele ProcidaSG/SFItalyInternational11454
Ron Harper Jr.SFRutgersBig 108855
Alondes WilliamsSG/PGWake ForestACC4956
John ButlerPFFlorida StateACCN/A57
JD DavidsonPGAlabamaSEC3658
Khalif DiopCSpainInternational6959
Peyton WatsonSFUCLAPac-126460
Trevion WilliamsPFPurdueBig 104161
Keon EllisSGAlabamaSEC4062
Collin GillespiePGVillanovaBig EastN/A63
Orlando RobinsonCFresno StateMountain West7864
Matteo SpagnoloPG/SGItalyInternational6165
Isaiah MobleyPF/CUSCPac-127466
Iverson MolinarPGMississippi St.SEC5267
Jamaree BouyeaPGSan FransicoWest Coast11868
Kofi CockburnCIllinoisBig 108969
Julian ChampagnieSFSt. John'sBig East4570
Vince Williams Jr.SFVCUAtlantic 1011571
Kenny Lofton Jr.PFLouisiana TechConference USA11272
Scottie Pipper Jr.PGVanderbiltSEC10973
Ziga SamarPGSloveniaInternationalN/A74
Jared RhodenSGSeton HallBig East10475
Jordan HallPG/SGSt. JoesA104876
Zvonimir IvisicPFCroatiaInternationalN/A77
Moussa DiabatePFMichiganBig 10N/A78
DeVante JonesPGMichiganBig 105679
Brady ManekPFNorth CarolinaACCN/A80
Johnny JuzangSGUCLAPac-126881
Karlo MatkovicPFSerbiaInternationalN/A82
Tyrese MartinSG/SFUConnBig East11183
Ibou Dianko BadjiCSenegalInternational8184
Keve AlumaSF/PFVirginia TechACC9685
Andre JacksonSG/SFUConnBig East10086
Tevin BrownSGMurray StateOhio ValleyN/A87
Gabe BrownSFMichigan StateBig 10N/A88
James AkinjoPGBaylorBig 12N/A89
Tristan VukcevicPFSerbiaInternational10190
Bryson WilliamsPFTexas TechBig 12N/A91
Eric AyalaSGMarylandBig 1010892
Darius DaysPFLSUSECN/A93
Izaiah BrockingtonSGIowa StateBig 12N/A94
Fanbo ZengCG-LeagueG-LeagueN/A95
Mario NakicSFSerbiaInternational10396
Jules BernardSFUCLAPac-12N/A97
Kok YatSFOvertime EliteOvertime EliteN/A98
JD NotaePG/SGArkansasSEC11699