4 players who killed 2025 NBA Draft stock during March Madness

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Basketball players become megastars during March Madness. Every year, unheralded players burst onto the scene with Cinderella runs, and they boost their NBA Draft stock in the process. However, playing in the spotlight of the NCAA Tournament can have the opposite effect, too. If a player struggles under the bright lights, some scouts might assume they may fail at the NBA level, too, which could cause their draft stock to plummet. While scouts won’t put too much stock into one or two bad performances, there are some players from the 2025 NCAA Tournament who certainly hurt their status as a prospect more than they helped it. So, check out the gallery because here are four players who fit that description.

RJ Luis Jr., St. John’s

St. John’s basketball program was one of the sweetest stories of the college basketball season this year. Rick Pitino coached the team for the second straight season, and he has completely turned the program around. The Red Storm won the Big East Tournament for the first time since 2000, which led to them earning a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Their on-court success could largely be attributed to RJ Luis Jr. After scoring 18.2 points per game, Luis Jr. was named the Big East Player of the Year. However, he had a disastrous March Madness run. St. John’s had a relatively easy matchup against Omaha in round one, but they lost to number 10 Arkansas in the second round.

Luis struggled mightily in the game, so much so that Pitino benched him for the final five minutes of St. John’s loss. Luis Jr. was 3-17 from the field and just couldn’t get anything going. It was a bad time for the star player to have arguably the worst game of his career, especially because he was in a position to boost his draft stock. Luis Jr. was looked at as a fringe second-round guy before the tournament, and he might have played his way out of the draft. Perhaps he will return to school for another season, but a return to St. John’s might be out of the picture after Luis Jr.’s benching and Pitino’s post-game comments. Pitino praised other St. John’s players effort levels after the loss but he notably didn’t bring up Luis Jr.

Hunter Dickinson, Kansas

Hunter Dickinson’s Kansas career as a whole didn’t go exactly as planned. The center established himself as one of the best players in the nation during his time with Michigan, and he became the face of the transfer portal era when he left Ann Arbor for Lawrence. Dickinson was far from bad with the Jayhawks. In fact, he was a Second-Team All-American last season and a Third-Team All-American this year.

Still, Dickinson and his Kansas teams didn’t live up to expectations, especially because they were upset by a 10-seeded Arkansas team in the Round of 64. Dickinson did not show up to play in that loss. He only scored 11 points, as he went 4-13 from the field. At one point early in his career, Dickinson looked like a potential first-round NBA Draft prospect. After five seasons, he looks more like a college legend who might be selected in the second round. His 2025 March Madness blunder didn’t do him any favors in terms of that narrative.

Boogie Fland, Arkansas

John Calipari was known for his ability to recruit when he was the head coach. Calipari became the head coach for Arkansas this year, and Boogie Fland was the prized recruit that he landed. Fland was ranked as the 22nd best player in the nation, according to 247sports. Due to a lack of size and athleticism, scouts have had question marks about Fland’s ability to play at the next level all season long, though.

Still, he established himself as a potential first-round pick due to his shiftiness and ability to but the ball in the basket. It seemed like Fland’s season might have been ending on a sour note, though, as Arkansas lost five straight games in January before Fland suffered a hand injury that required surgery. The injury ended up not being season ending, though, and Fland was able to return for the NCAA Tournament.

While Fland’s minutes have been down as Calipari has eased him back into the rotation, the freshman hasn’t impressed when he has been on the court, even despite Arkansas winning their first two March Madness games. Fland only scored six points in each of those two games, and if he isn’t shining as a scorer, he doesn’t have much upside because of his aforementioned shortcomings.

Fland has a chance to boost his draft stock throughout the rest of the tournament if the Razorbacks make an extended Cinderella run, but so far, he has not looked like a first round prospect. That can certainly be attributed to the injury and his limited time back on the court. While Fland returning to help his team can be commended, fans won’t look past his poor shooting performances so far.

Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois

Kasparas Jakucionis has been a turnover machine as of late, and that continued into March Madness. The guard had six turnovers in each of his NCAA Tournament games. He had six turnovers in each of Illinois’ two games prior to the Big Dance as well. That is unacceptable for a guard. While you like to see Jakucionis getting high assists numbers, he shouldn’t be sacrificing ball security in the process. Jakucionis makes a lot of reads that just aren’t there.

He only had two assists against Kentucky, too. In fact, his six turnovers against both the Wildcats and the Xavier Musketeers were more than his field goal makes in both of those games. On top of turnovers, Jakucionis didn’t help his case as a shooter. Jakucionis went 3-15 from deep in tournament games. These glaring weaknesses were center stage during March Madness, and the Illinois guard might fall in the draft because of it.

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