2025 March Madness Prospects and Their Cards
For the purposes of this article, prospect rankings from CBS Sports were used.
Conference tournaments are over and teams have been selected, we're officially in March Madness season with the big contest set to start with the First Four games starting on Tuesday, March 18.
With all eyes on the games, let's take a look at the top three 2025 NBA Draft prospects, and their cards, that will be hitting the court this week.
1. Cooper Flagg | Duke
The freshman power forward coming out of Duke is undoubtably the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft. He's 6-foot-9 and weighs 205 pounds and averaged almost 19 points per game.
While he doesn't have much out there for cards right now, the 2024 Topps McDonald's All-American set is the most recent set and his more recognizable. You'd be buying at the peak of the market right now. He's just about to be on college basketball's biggest stage as Duke secured a No. 1 seed this year, and he'll more than likely be the first pick this year.
Currently, Flagg's 2024 McDonald's All-American Chrome base autograph is going for at least $600 or more according to eBay's sold listings.
RELATED: Cooper Flagg's Cards looking at March Madness Impact
2. Kasparas Jakucionis | Illinois
While Kasparas Jakucionis is number two on this list, he is actually No. 4 according to CBS. Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey are two and three respectively, but they both play for Rutgers and the Scarlet Knights failed to make the tournament this year.
Kasparas Jakucionis is a 6-foot-6, 205 pound forward from Lithuania. As an 18 year old freshman, Jakucionis played more than 30 minutes a game and scored 15 points per game.
Unfortunately Jakucionis does not appear to have any cards. A search on eBay revealed no cardboard, but there are quite a bit of memorabilia up for sale. Whether it's a signed photo or signed basketball, there are some things out there to invest in. Just not cards, the way it looks.
3. VJ Edgecombe | Baylor
Next on this list (and No. 5 on CBS Sports) is VJ Edgecombe. He's an 18 year old freshman guard. He averaged 15 points per game after logging more than 30 minutes per game.
If you want an auto of Edgecombe auto, there out there. He was featured in the 2024-25 Panini Prizm Draft picks and his autographs are very inexpensive. According to eBay sold listings, his orange Pulsar Penmanship numbered to 49 went for $69.95 on March 14. Currently though, still for sale are autos from as cheap as $15 and up.
His orange Pulsar Penmanship is probably one of the better looking pieces found on eBay.
RELATED: '24 Topps McDonald's All-American Set to Feature LeBron Auto
Regardless of the amount of cards these prospects have, there's surely to be more coming after they hear their name called on draft night. It's crazy how these young players can shoot up and value so quick after the draft, but it's also not surprising to see much of that value plummet only months later.
Either way, it's fun to watch and root for these young guys to make a name for themselves.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz