The days of top college super stars staying in school are long gone. The NCAA has become a one-and-done league for top prospects, and while it may or may not be hurting the college basketball product, it certainly makes each year interesting for NBA Draft geeks.
Eight out of the last nine No. 1 overall picks were one-and-done prospects, and there’s no end to that trend in sight, barring a potential change to the eligibility rules. While the 2018 NCAA recruiting class is weak compared to the last two classes, the top guys are still largely projected to make up the top of the draft order next June.
Duke and Kentucky once again hit the one-and-done jackpot, landing a top-3 recruit each in Brandon Ingram and Skal Labissiere respectively, and they should be in contention to make deep runs next March. Yet, with top-10 prospects such as LSU commit Ben Simmons, Cal commit Jaylen Brown and Mississippi State commit Malik Newman choosing schools that don’t normally field one-and-done prospects, it’s bound to be an interesting year in the NCAA.
The November season openers, let alone next year’s NBA Draft, are still a long way away, but early analysis never hurts. Here are the top-5 one-and-done freshman prospects for the 2018-17 NCAA basketball season.