Written by Jonathan Wasserman at BleacherReport.com
A handful of NBA prospects appear on the verge of breaking out. And though the everyday college hoops and draft follower knows these six rising standouts, the national love hasn’t quite been there for any of them.
It should be by March. I pegged four freshmen, a junior and senior as soon-to-be household names.
One is a projected top-10 pick and arguably the most under-appreciated prospect in the country. Another is the son of a Hall of Fame guard—a senior who’s finally getting taken seriously as a potential future pro.
February and March represent two bigs months for prospects to make final impressions, between the remaining regular-season games and the conference tournaments. Look for the following names to blow up over the next four weeks.
Malik Beasley (Florida State, SG, Freshman)
Back in October, Beasley wasn’t even the flashiest freshman name on Florida State’s roster. I’d argue now he’s the team’s top pro prospect and one of the better ones in the country.
Despite averaging 17.3 points and scoring at least 15 in 18 of 23 games, he’s flown under the national radar. But with the Seminoles winners of four straight and big games ahead for them against Syracuse, Miami, Duke and Notre Dame (before the ACC tournament), the buzz has started and should continue to strengthen.
He’s oozing with NBA explosiveness, which shows up on showtime dunks in transition. But he’s also showcased a balanced scoring attack in the half court.
Beasley has been consistently accurate from long range as a spot-up shooter, having averaged 1.7 threes per game and shot 41.7 percent. And though not the most creative one-on-one player, he’s shown he can attack closeouts and score in the mid-range with pull-ups off two feet and floaters off one (39 percent on two-point jumpers, per Hoop-Math.com).
Making 56.9 percent of his two-point attempts, Beasley has done an admirable job of scoring off the action within Florida State’s offense (50.7 percent of his field goals at the rim have been assisted) by cutting and slashing.
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