Chicago Bulls: 5 draft prospects to watch in March Madness

Draft prospects to watch in March Madness No. 4: Jaden Springer

One of the still more underrated prospects in this draft class up to this point is a star guard coming out of the SEC East. Freshman combo guard Jaden Springer is standing out for head coach Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers at a time when the entire team is playing at a very inconsistent level down the stretch.

At their peak, the Vols are one of the best and deepest teams in the entire country. But otherwise, Tennessee was able to lose to really anyone in the SEC when they weren’t playing cohesively.

Springer had a solid freshman campaign with the Vols, garnering All-SEC Freshman Team honors this year. To get those, he averaged 12.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks, in two dozen games played thus far. And he’s shot a solid 47.0 percent from the field, 44.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.6 percent from the free-throw line.

Tennessee got into the NCAA Tournament as a five-seed, and they’ll face the reigning PAC-12 Tournament Champion Oregon State Beavers (as the 12-seed) in the Round of 64 come the afternoon of March 19. That will be a good opportunity for Springer and the Vols to get through a confident major conference foe that also won their conference tourney last week.

Springer is both one of the more gifted athletes among combo guards in this draft class, and one of the more versatile. He’s a good shooter that can create his own looks off the dribble, or be a catch-and-shoot threat on the perimeter. The defending ability of Springer also greatly improved as the season moved along.

He’s surely a potential draft target to watch in March Madness for Karnisovas and the Bulls if they wind up picking in the teens in the 2021 draft.