2025 NBA Draft: Three College Players with Underrated Statistical Profiles

Let's dive into the statistical profiles of three players who should be on draft radars for the 2025 NBA Draft.

Feb 15, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores guard Chris Manon (30) `but against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

The NBA Draft is around four months away, and while that may seem like plenty of time, the college basketball season ends in a little over a month. With that, a multitude of decisions must be made from players and agents alike on whether to declare for the draft, transfer schools, or stay at the school they are currently enrolled in. There's many talented players who, for one reason or another, end up returning to college despite being talented enough to be in the league. Here's three players that, based on their statistical profiles, should be receiving more attention on NBA radars and may deserve a chance to be drafted in June.

Chris Manon, Vanderbilt

Manon is a graduate senior who transferred from Cornell. A prospect I've been able to see many times in person, Manon has real explosiveness and verticality that becomes evident in transition.

The high-motor player is a 6-foot-5, 215-pound guard who's averaging 5.1 points, three rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 16.5 minutes per game while converting 67.7% of his attempts at the rim (62 attempts) and 80% of his free throws (35 attempts). While his three-point percentage could improve (shooting 18.5% from three on 27 attempts), his point-of-attack defense, passing, rebounding, and overall ability to make winning plays cannot be understated. He's recording an 8.4 offensive rebound percentage, a 12.1 assist percentage, a 5.5 steal percentage, and a 6.2 block percentage -- extremely impressive numbers, especially for a guard. Manon has the 50th-highest Box Plus-Minus in all of college basketball at the moment.

Isaac Celiscar, Yale

Nov 11, 2024; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers center Will Berg (44) has a shot blocked by Yale Bulldogs forward Isaac Celiscar (8) during the second half at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Celiscar is a 6-foot-6, 210-pound freshman who is averaging 7.4 points, 1.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 0.5 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game while shooting 65.7% at the rim (67 attempts), 33.3% on non-rim twos (27 attempts), 33.3% from beyond the arc (18 attempts), and 81% from the free throw line (42 attempts). Additionally, he's recording an 11.1 offensive rebound percentage, 19.7 defensive rebound percentage, and a 13.2 assist percentage.

While his profile doesn't immediately pop, he's one of eight freshmen on track to meet my Efficient Tall Freshman (ETF) Query. The query has a 64% stick rate on a sample size of 67 players. The other seven on track to meet the query this season are Cooper Flagg, Asa Newell, Dylan Harper, Tre Johnson, Kon Knueppel, Derik Queen, and Liam McNeeley. This alone makes Celiscar someone to monitor over the next few seasons.

Read More: The Efficient Tall Freshman (ETF) Query: A January Update for the 2025 NBA Draft

Bennett Stirtz, Drake

Drake's Bennett Stirtz (14) drives down the court on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, at the Knapp Center. / Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 6-foot-4, 180-pound junior is starting to garner more attention lately, but the Division II transfer is averaging 18.7 points, 6.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game while shooting 69.3% at the rim (127 attempts), 37% on non-rim twos (100 attempts), 37.7% from beyond the arc (114 attempts), and 78.9% from the free throw line (142 attempts). He's also recording an impressive 4.9 stock percentage.

Drake is in first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with Stirtz leading the team to a 24-3 record so far this season. He's tasked with being the offensive engine, as Stirtz has been unassisted on 77.6% of his made field goals this season while assisting an estimated 35.8% of his teammates' made field goals when on the floor. The 21-year-old has the 16th-highest Box Plus-Minus in all of college basketball -- right above Kam Jones (17th) and right below JT Toppin (15th). Lastly, Stirtz is in the 83rd percentile in points per possession as a pick-and-roll ball handler (including passes) (544 possessions) and is shooting 48.6% on catch-and-shoot threes (37 attempts).

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All play-by-play data is courtesy of Synergy Sports.

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