NBA Draft Prospects to Watch in New College Basketball Crown Event

The NCAA Tournament is underway, with the First Four kicking off on March 17.

There are a number of NBA Draft prospects in March Madness this year, as most of this year's potential lottery picks are seeded in the big dance. A few other prospects, however, weren't on teams who reached the NCAA Tournament, with players like Hannes Steinbach likely finishing their college careers.

Steinbach wasn't the only potential first-round pick to not earn a bid in March Madness, though. Players like Baylor's Cameron Carr and Tounde Yessoufou aren't competing for a national title, but they have an opportunity to play a few more games at the collegiate level.

The Bears aren't playing in the NIT, college basketball's traditional alternative to the NCAA Tournament. Instead, Baylor, alongside Oklahoma, Rutgers, Stanford, Creighton, Colorado, Minnesota and West Virginia, will compete in the new College Basketball Crown event.

After 16 teams competed in the tournament last season, the event welcomes the aforementioned eight teams to Las Vegas from April 1-5 for a shot at winning $500,000 prize pool.

Carr and Yessoufou are the highest profile draft prospects in the event, as both players will likely be selected in the first round.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, Carr is averaging 19.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 51% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. The redshirt sophomore wing started his career at Tennessee, where he spent two seasons, before transferring to Baylor ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.

After appearing in just 18 contests, averaging 5.7 minutes per game, in his time with the Volunteers, Carr enjoyed a breakout season in Waco, significantly boosting his draft stock. In a recent projection from Derek Parker at NBA Draft on SI, the former four-star recruit went No. 20 overall to the Toronto Raptors.

Unlike Carr, Yessoufou entered the 2025-26 season as a well-known prospect in the 2026 NBA Draft.

After an illustrious prep career in California, the Benin-born wing player was rated the No. 14 overall player and No. 2 small forward in the 2025 recruiting class by 247Sports. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, Yessoufou is a strong and powerful athlete who could blossom at the next level.

As a freshman, the five-star recruit averaged 17.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2 steals per game while shooting 46.9% from the field and 30.2% from 3-point range. Parker's latest mock draft slotted Yessoufou to the Memphis Grizzlies at No. 16 overall.

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