NBA Draft: Prospects To Watch In The NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16

Mar 21, 2015; Louisville, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Karl-Anthony Towns (12) drives to the basket against Cincinnati Bearcats forward Octavius Ellis (2) during the first half in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum! Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky

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NBA Draft Projection: Top-2

On a team littered by NBA draft prospects, it’s difficult for one single player to jump off the screen at Kentucky. But when the Kentucky Wildcats need a basket in crunch time, they often turn to Karl-Anthony Towns in the post. He doesn’t possess the offensive prowess or isn’t as polished as Duke’s Jahlil Okafor, but is often physically bigger enough than his opponent to cause enough damage inside.

Towns averages 10 points and nearly seven rebounds per game on 56 percent shooting from the field, but isn’t asked to do much on perhaps the deepest team in the NCAA. He is the prototypical NBA big with huge upside, that hasn’t even begun to scratch his surface.

Matchup: Towns will be matching up against a physical team in West Virginia that forced the Terps into a season-high 23 turnovers in the round of 32. The Mountaineers want to make the game ugly, and that could entail turing to bully the Wildcats’ big men, including Towns. 

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