The NCAA Tournament starts today as does one of the best weekends on the sports calendar. Everyone is a college basketball fan for the next few weeks. That means a lot of people are going to be getting their first extended looks at college prospects that are going to be in the NBA next season. Given that the Charlotte Hornets have nothing left to play for this season, we might as well turn our attention to the future where better and brighter things are (hopefully) coming.

Even though a lot of top prospects are coming from overseas or out of the G League, there are still plenty of players to watch in the NCAA Tournament that will be on the Hornets radar with both their first and second round pick. And given that this has been a weak incoming class of freshman, most of them are upperclassmen that play key roles on their teams.

Teams to focus on

There are two teams that have multiple prospects that are in play for the Hornets. Both have players that could be considered in each round.

Kentucky

Kentucky is stocked to the brim with guards. Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard both might be top five picks in June. Dillingham is the bucket getter while Sheppard is the tenacious defender with some of the most absurd efficiency stats you’ll ever see from a freshman guard. Their more high profile teammates, DJ Wagner and Justin Edwards, are both currently projected to be second round fliers. They both were top five recruits out of high school but haven’t put it all together in their freshman seasons, but that’s not been uncommon in recent seasons.

Colorado

The Buffaloes have three prospects projected to be drafted this summer. Freshman Cody Williams is a likely lottery pick. He’s a smooth, sweet shooting wing but is a little more projection than production right now. The production comes from point guard KJ Simpson and forward Tristan da Silva. Both are upperclassman projected to go in the top half of the second round.

Other players to watch

The only other NCAA prospect that currently seems to be in play in the top half of the lottery is freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter out of Baylor. He leads the team in scoring and has some really interesting potential as a 3&D wing. Baylor have the talent to make a run, so he has a chance to make a star turn if he gets hot.

From a Hornets fan perspective, the rest of the noteworthy prospects are going to be second round guys. Marquette have a chance to make a deep run and they have a couple of players in Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro that might fall to the Hornets second round pick. Kolek is a savvy floor general while Ighodaro is an athletic forward with a really high basketball IQ. Arizona is similar in that they’re a candidate to make a deep run with two prospects–Pelle Larson and Keshad Johnson–that are 2nd round prospects or priority undrafted free agents.

A few other players in list form:

• Terrance Shannon, guard, Illinois – fifth year senior that is highly productive and will probably be the main reason Illinois makes a big run if they make a big run
• Harrison Ingarm, forward, UNC – high IQ wing with 3&D potential if this year’s version of his outside shot is legit
• Alex Karaban, forward, UConn – not the best prospect on UConn but the only one that might be in play for a Hornets pick; a movement shooter with really good size
• Zach Edey, big, Purdue – Everyone knows who Zach Edey is. He’s big.

There are plenty more players that are going to be lots of fun to watch and going to names for themselves. Who else is everyone looking forward to watching?

If you want to join in on the fun of a bracket challenge with your fellow ATH community members, you can do so here.