Beyond the Big Names: Discovering Under the Radar Gems in the 2026 NBA Class
Finding the players making noise away from the national spotlight.
The Stars at the Top
It’s early in the college basketball season, and it already feels like the 2026 NBA Draft is on track to meet every lofty expectation. The players we anticipated leading the conversation, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Duke’s Cameron Boozer, have each made strong cases for the number one pick. Right behind them, North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, Tennessee’s Nate Ament, Arizona’s Koa Peat and Mikel Brown Jr from Louisville are all pushing for top five consideration. And even beyond the headliners, Houston’s freshmen Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr are rapidly climbing draft boards across the country.
While it’s cool to talk about the big dogs and future rotation guys of the draft, it can get kind of boring, at least to me. Yeah, I know Boozer is going to destroy the smaller low major front court bigs. Wilson had seven dunks in his opening night performance. It took probably two possessions for anyone to see that Peterson is going to be very hard to contain, especially if he keeps up his current three point volume.
The freshmen stars aren’t just beating up on the smaller schools, they are having standout performances against high major competition as well. They’re proving early on that their games translate no matter who is standing across from them. It’s safe to say there’s a ton of talent in college basketball and it’s a fun time to be a scout.
The Hunt for Hidden Talent
But my favorite part of scouting is finding the hidden talent. That’s what makes me feel like a scout. Finding the next Austin Reaves or Toumani Camara is always my goal. Everyone loves an underdog story and finding the sleepers always provides good material.
Last year, I talked a lot about Penn State’s Yanic Konan Niederhauser and why I thought he was a first round pick. Fast forward to June 2025 and the Los Angeles Clippers selected the Swiss seven footer with the 30th pick in the draft. And I got to see his reaction in person. You could almost see his basketball career flashing before his eyes as he walked down the stadium aisle at the Barclays Center.
Its kind of easy to spot the guys who we expect to be in the league, but the true talent is finding the guys who are hiding.
So let me spotlight a few guys.
Andrew Holifield: The Late Bloomer With Real Upside
The path to the NBA isn’t always a straight line and really never is for under the radar guys, and it surely hasn’t been for Lamar’s Andrew Holifield. It’s really early in the evaluation phase for Holifield, but in the small sample size, he might have a chance at being an NBA player. Andrew Holifield hails from Beaumont, Texas and is a candidate for best story in college basketball. The 6’10” forward graduated from Westbrook High School in Beaumont in 2022 and had stops at Jarvis Christian and Ranger College before making the jump to Division I basketball at Lamar.
In the two years prior to playing in the Southland Conference, Holifield grew four inches and maintained all of his wing skills. Holifield is a knockdown shooter, making 38 percent of his 3’s as a junior. Through five games this season, he’s making 44 percent of his 3’s on 4.5 attempts per game. Not just a shooter off the catch, the skinny combo forward is making 54 percent of his jumpers off the dribble according to Synergy. Holifield has a good handle he uses to create space for himself to shoot contested jumpers.
I’m completely buying his ability to stretch the floor in a scaled down role and am intrigued by his shot blocking ability (2.0 blocks per game.) I would like to see Holifield more active on the glass as he seems like he’s too good of an athlete to only average 5.5 rebounds per game. But with his size and his shooting ability, he’s definitely someone to monitor as a potential second round pick.
Arrinten Page: The Skilled Big Finally Putting It Together
Another talented kid with another great story of perseverance is Northwestern’s Arrinten Page. Unlike the aforementioned Holifield, the basketball community knew about Arrinten Page. The 6’11” big was a four star recruit out of Atlanta and was ranked 52nd nationally. Page chose to head to the west coast and attend Southern California where he saw limited action, only playing 10.7 minutes per game. His sophomore year, Page took his talents to Cincinnati but again couldn’t find his way to consistent playing time, logging only nine minutes per game.
In his junior season, Page now finds himself in the Big 10 playing for the Northwestern Wildcats and it looks like it is finally all coming together. In six games, Page is averaging 15.7 points, 7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1 block per game. In my opinion, Page has more of a power forward skill set as he’s not a great rebounder or shot blocker. But he can pass and he can put the ball on the ground. He uses his handle to face up and beat slower bigs off the dribble.
The Northwestern staff trusts Page to be a playmaker as he routinely finds guards on backdoor cuts. Page had his first real test of the season against Virginia when he put up 20 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in an overtime loss. He caught lobs and knocked down two threes while showing you why he was so highly touted coming out of Wheeler High School. Page followed that performance with a 10 point, 6 assist outing against South Carolina. Again, showing his versatility, Page did most of his damage off the dribble.
He looks like a good change of pace backup big at the next level, almost like how Trey Lyles was able to carve out a ten year career coming out of Kentucky. The question is whether Arrinten Page will be able to maintain his confidence and consistency throughout the season, as he won’t be catching anyone off guard anymore. And this won’t be my last article mentioning sleepers either.
Stefan Vaaks: The Sharpshooting Estonian Betting on the Big East Stage
Lastly, there is 20 year old Estonian wing Stefan Vaaks from Providence. The 6’7” forward brings a blend of shooting and playmaking that NBA scouts value highly. Vaaks is aiming to become only the third Estonian basketball player ever to reach the NBA following Henri Drell and Martin Müüsepp. He is deadly off the catch and just as confident shooting off the dribble from beyond the arc. Through six games, Vaaks is shooting 38 percent from three on 7.3 attempts per game. In three games against power four teams Virginia Tech, Colorado and Penn State, he is averaging 14.3 points per game while shooting 33 percent from three.
I feel comfortable in his shooting ability transferring to the next level, as he has consistently shot the ball well throughout his international career on a high volume of attempts. How much opportunity he will get to operate as a pick and roll ball handler remains to be seen, but he shows good decision making and court vision when he gets a chance to get downhill. Vaaks is a decent athlete, but only nine of his 60 field goal attempts this season have been at the rim, three of which have come in half court situations.
There will be plenty of chances for Vaaks to prove he belongs on an NBA roster with Providence competing in the Big East. And this will not be my last article mentioning sleepers either.
 |
|