There might not have been any bigger breakthrough in the college hoops season that was between one player and one team than sophomore big man Obi Toppin and the Dayton Flyers. During a season in which he garnered Naismith honors hype, Toppin averaged 20.0 points per game, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 blocks, and one steal.
Toppin was able to do all that while shooting better than 63 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc. He’s a truly special breakthrough talent that should fall in the top 10 of the draft lottery.
What might end up holding the Iowa State Cyclones versatile sophomore 6-foot-5 point guard Tyrese Haliburton more so than anything else was the wrist injury that ended his season. Just when Iowa State started to find any sort of momentum in Big 12 play in what amounted to a down season for them through and through, Haliburton went out for the rest of the year.
There is still no official word in yet to whether Haliburton will declare early for the NBA Draft, but he should given his status right now on draft boards. He averaged 15.2 points per game, 5.9 rebounds, and 6.5 assists, while shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from beyond arc.
The North Carolina Tar Heels don’t have their usual deep draft class coming out of Chapel Hill this year. But there is one standout guard that could make a difference right away for whichever NBA team he lands with, in freshman 6-foot-3 and 190 pound floor general Cole Anthony.
Averaging 18.5 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, four assists, and 1.3 steals, sounds great until you get to his shooting percentages. The only thing holding Anthony back from being a projected top three pick in this draft is his 38 percent field goal shooting and 34.8 percent clip from beyond the arc.