NBA Draft Scouting Notebook: Standout Performances from Conference Tournament Action
NBA Draft prospects who turned heads with their play in high-stakes games.
March Madness is in full swing, and I’ve spent the last few days glued to the TV, taking notes and watching a ridiculous amount of college basketball. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed it—aside from the brutal late nights, like that Oklahoma-Kentucky game that didn’t wrap up until nearly 1 AM Central Time. But this time of year isn’t just about the chaos of upsets and buzzer-beaters; it’s a critical stretch for NBA prospects. Conference tournaments serve as a proving ground, giving NBA scouts and executives a chance to see multiple teams in one location over multiple days. Sometimes, they’ll catch a prospect two or three times in a high-pressure setting, and a strong performance in March can do a lot—it can solidify draft stock, shift narratives, put a player firmly on the radar, or even raise new concerns.
With that in mind, I’m highlighting five standout performances from the past two days that caught my attention, followed by some honorable mentions.
Some of these guys are still battling for a conference championship, while others will spend the next 24 hours anxiously waiting to find out if their team has done enough to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday.
Standout Performances
Yaxel Lendeborg
Alabama-Birmingham
Senior
Forward
6’9” | 240
Stat Line: 30 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocks
Every year in March, a performance comes along that forces you to take a step back and say, Wow, that might be one of the best games I’ve ever seen. For me, that game came on Friday night, courtesy of Yaxel Lendeborg. I’m not a gambling man, but if I were, I’d bet that you won’t see a more dominant performance for the rest of the conference tournaments or the NCAA tournament.
The numbers alone are absurd—30 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks. That’s 9 stocks. That’s Nikola Jokić-level production on offense with Victor Wembanyama’s defensive impact. On Friday night, he looked like a mix of both, dominating in a way you rarely see at the college level—or any level.