My Final 2026 NBA Draft Board teapawt.net/criggsNBA/status/20654…
The case against Cenac high in this class comes down to a lack of functional utility outside of his raw tools. He’s dependent on everyone else, creating just 33 of his 143 made field goals with a 5.5 ast%, opting for an inefficient diet with a 2pt/blk% drop off without Tugler.
Even when accounting for Houston's high SMR/low FTR offense, his scoring and creation profile is too frail considering his lack of shotblocking and playmaking. Too much value is going to be tied to his shooting if he is playing the role of a jumbo wing rather than as a big man.
Smaller than you'd like for a wing, but with Philon declaring Amari has a great chance to show off some more ball handling skills. In 517 poss. without Philon he was >1 ast/usg with a meaningful increase in 2pt self creation and FTR (27 → 63.4). Great baseline to build off of.
Despite being age 26.4 and 24.8 on draft night, respectively, Chad Baker-Mazara and Richie Saunders have produced consistently throughout their careers and profile nicely for a complementary wing role. Both will almost certainly be in my final top 30.
My favorite CBB award is back, but I believe the MVP was snubbed...
St. John's went 7-1 in Feb with the 2nd best defense while Zuby took on a huge playmaking load (23.7usg/29.7ast w/ TO aversion!). He has showcased an absurd combination of physicality and cognition for his size.
February 2026 NileHoops NCAA Teams of the Month
MVP
High Major-Bennett Stirtz
Mid Major-Allen Graves
Best Coach
High Major-Todd Golden
Mid Major-Bryan Hodgson
S/o @GavinOLeary9 for his BPM differential concept, that was the main way I identified talent
A little undersized for his playstyle, but is extremely good at what he does. Brown has been productive for all four years of his collegiate career and will end up in my final top 30.
My favorite sleeper for this cycle is SMU combo guard BJ Edwards. Great intersection of feel and athleticism with good positional size. Low usage with a lot hinging on his ability to be a full time primary, but great career usg/ast. Should be a priority late 2nd / UDFA target.
Mikel Brown Jr is someone I remain pretty skeptical of. Sophomore age and skinny (20.2 / 190lbs), his scoring process is extremely enticing (FTR, 3PR, FT%), but he continued to struggle with turnovers (1.5 A/TO, sub 1 USG/AST), and only shot 10-41 (24.4%) on non-rim 2s.
Hardaway continued to struggle with TOs and overall offensive efficiency with no real lead guards, leading to the worst season of his career. A history of disappointment and mediocre results, as he continues to fail to build a competent roster. It's hard to have any faith. #GTG
Despite barely playing this year, Jayden Quaintance remains a top five prospect for me with his oreb/ast/stock intersection at such a young age. Played his entire freshman season at 17 years old and apparently has grown since. He was listed 6'10.5/255lbs at Kentucky.




































