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USA Today
22-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
March Madness Day 2 recap: Wrap up of potential Sixers draft prospects
The Round of 64 of the men's NCAA Tournament got underway on Thursday with a full slate of games as March Madness began. The tournament is a time for young players to show what they can do and improve their draft stock for when the time comes in June. The Philadelphia 76ers won't know if they will have a first-round pick until the lottery drawing on May 12 as their pick is only top 6 protected. As they sit in their current situation, the Sixers are working on trying to be in the best position possible in order to keep that pick. With that being said, day 2 of the NCAA Tournament featured some elite talent and players who are potential selections for the Sixers if they can keep their first-round pick: Cooper Flagg, Duke Stats in win over (16) Mount Saint Mary's: 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks Flagg will be the No. 1 pick in June's draft so the Sixers would have to get extremely lucky, but there is always a chance in the lottery. The Atlanta Hawks made the play-in tournament in 2024 and still ended up nabbing the No. 1 pick so grabbing Flagg is still technically a chance. He is going to have an immediate offensive impact on the floor for any NBA team who chooses him. Khaman Maluach, Duke Stats vs. (16) Mount Saint Mary's: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists Maluach is a guy who the Sixers could look at in the 4-5-6 range. He stands at 7-foot-2 and he uses his size to his advantage on a nightly basis. He has soft hands which helps in the pick-and-roll game and would be a solid candidate for Philadelphia in the draft. Kon Knueppel, Duke Stats vs. (16) Mount Saint Mary's: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals Knueppel had a quiet start to the tournament, but that's mainly because Flagg and Tyrese Proctor took over the scoring load for the Blue Devils. He only took four triples and made one of them, but he has the ability to be a rotational wing in the NBA. VJ Edgecombe, Baylor Stats in win over (8) Mississippi State: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block Edgecombe has some elite NBA-level athleticism that will make him an immediate player in the league. He still has some cleaning up to do in terms of his shot, but he is ready for the league right now and one has to believe Edgecombe would make an impact right away. Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois Stats in win over (11) Xavier: 16 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds Jakucionis will be a top pick come June and if the Sixers can grab him, it would be helpful. He has good size at 6-foot-6 and has a high basketball IQ for somebody so young. He has the makings of somebody who can hop off the bench and give a team some good production as a bigger guard or even some playmaking from the wing. Ian Jackson, North Carolina-2nd Round option Stats in loss to (6) Ole Miss: 1 point, 1 steal It was a tough, short tournament run for Jackson who went 0-for-3 from the floor and 0-for-2 from deep. A good 3-point shooter, Jackson is better than what he showed against Ole Miss and would be worth a second-round flier. Labaron Philon, Alabama-2nd Round option Stats in win over (15) Robert Morris: 1 point, 8 assists Philon didn't do much in terms of scoring the ball, obviously, but his playmaking was on full display. He didn't turn the ball over and the eight assists are a big number for a potential backup point guard. One has to wonder if the Sixers would go in this direction in Round 2, but Philon is an option.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Duke cruises in Cooper Flagg's return
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz and basketball analyst Isis 'Ice' Young react to the Blue Devils' 93-49 win over Mount Saint Mary's in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. View more Mount Saint Mary's made the NCAA tournament, which is in and of itself fabulous, but when he got to take on Duke, we all know who that, how this was gonna end. Duke absolutely slams him, but ice young Jason Fitz as we break this down. Ice, this game was all about Cooper Flagg, who was back for Duke in the first round, even though some of us wondered if he would be there. Yeah, I mean, it's so good to see him on the court and playing. He played 22 minutes, and that was right around what I thought he was going to play, coming back from this ankle injury and getting back on the floor. Obviously you see the numbers there, and so he looked pretty good, pretty confident. I didn't see him favoring one way or another, but you want a game where he can get back in rhythm and Duke can really establish. themselves as a number one seed. I thought that in this game, they just look like themselves. How they ran through the ACC. They ran through Mount Saint Mary's scoring in transition, knocking down threes, got good minutes out of Procter and Nala Wa, and that's what it's gonna take for this team as the number one seed to continue to advance is a number of players stepping up and it's not just being about Cooper flag. OK, but now in the 2nd round they get Baylor, a little bit of a revenge game for Jeremy Roach, but uh, how do they match up with Baylor in your mind? Yeah, I think this is a good matchup. One, because Baylor right now is playing a fun style. They put up some good numbers today in their win versus Mississippi State. You mentioned Jeremy Roach, but Langston Love, VJ Edgecombe, I mean, some of these guys are very experienced. They played in tournament games before. I think it'll challenge Duke defensively to see if they can stop these guys from getting a piece of the paint. On the other side for Bayer though, do they have enough in terms of offensive weapons to compete with Duke? I don't think so. I still see Duke getting through this game, but it makes for a very interesting second round. Yeah, what we know is all eyes will be on that ankle every single time Cooper Flag takes the court. Close
