Matt's Draft Journal

Projected Top Pick, Zion Williamson (Duke) (Photo Credit: Associated Press) The resumption of the NBA schedule began last night following the layoff of a few days since the All-Star break, signaling the beginning of the second half of the season. Over the next couple of months leading to the beginning of the playoffs in mid-April, teams across the league will continue to scrap for position in the standings. Some with an eye towards improving their record and seeding in hopes of qualifying for the post-season. Others whom while not "tanking", per se, most concerned with improving the fortunes of their future, positioning themselves for a particular draft pick. Simultaneously, college players are in the second-half stretch of their respective seasons and have had a significant opportunity to showcase their talent throughout the schedule so far. Similarly, the coming months for them as prospects will be pivotal as they posture themselves to be selected within a certai...

Duke freshmen Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish, Tre Jones, RJ Barrett The biggest rivalry in college basketball and one of the fiercest in all of sports will add another chapter tonight when 8th ranked North Carolina travels down Tobacco Road to take on 1st ranked Duke. There have been plenty highly anticipated contests between the two teams in their long, tangled history together, though their matchup tonight might take the cake in the excitement ahead of each and every game to have previously taken place. In a nationally televised contest, set to tip-off at 9 PM EST the Tar Heels and Blue Devils will be playing in front of a sold-out crowd that reportedly will include former President Barack Obama and likely millions tuning in from around the country. The game which has tickets that have reached Super Bowl-level prices on the resale market will provide two prestigious programs, with two Hall of Fame coaches, and several stars in the game of college basketball. Buoyed by their ...

Ja Morant, Murray State A wild week of college basketball, which saw some striking comebacks and intriguing individual performances was culimnated with a complete weekend of competitive matchups. With Monday thru Thursday already having offered a number of appealing games, granting a few frenzied finishes for fans to bare witness to, Friday thru Sunday — highlighting the holiday weekend — spotted a number of standout showings from stars in the numerous scheduled games who were the driving force in deciding the final result for their respective squads. As the schedule for teams around the country dwindles down to the last handful of games before conference tournament competition comes into play signaling the beginning of March Madness, the magnitude of each passing performance by indivdual players increasingly intensifies. Not only in terms of taking control of their team's potential NCAA Tournament chances, prospects are now looking at a limited number of remaining opportu...

Grant Williams, Tennessee and PJ Washington, Kentucky will probably see plenty of each other again in the post tonight A super Southeastern Conference (SEC) matchup is scheduled for Saturday night, as two teams ranked in the top five of the country collide in what is one of the biggest games of the college basketball season to date. 1st ranked Tennessee riding a 19-game winning streak will head to Lexington looking to take down 5th ranked Kentucky in a game set to tip-off at 8 PM EST. Standing at 23-1 on the season, Tennessee is one of the most efficient teams in college basketball on both sides of the floor, making them a complete team worthy of being the top-ranked team in America. With five players scoring in double figures between 11.5-19.5 points per game, the Volunteers average 85.4 per contest with a 51.5 field goal percentage. Defensively, the athletic squad holds opponents to 67.5 points per game on 39.1 shooting from the floor.  With just one loss on the sea...

Ricky Devito, Seton Hall (Photo Credit: Dave Wegiel)

Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome (right), and De'Andre Hunter (left) led Virginia to the win over North Carolina  In one of the biggest regular season games of the season in the ACC, two top-10 teams in the country tangled together in a highly competitive matchup. The result was a 69-61 victory for Virginia on the road at North Carolina, bouncing back from a loss just a couple days prior to the other college basketball blueblood in the Tar Heel State to Duke.  Following the tip-off it was the Tar Heels who jumped out to an early 11-8 lead just past four minutes into the game, before the visiting Cavaliers took control over the next three minutes going on a 10-0 run, taking an 18-11 advantage with 12:43 in the first half. North Carolina would come up with a few stops and create a couple of turnovers, while also making a couple 3-point shots to cut their deficit to 1 point at 19-18, with 9:01 left in the half. Though it was Virginia who maintained control of their lead and exten...

Coby White, North Carolina  Another weekend of college basketball came and went, with a number of top teams on the take and talented players performing in an effort to propel their programs to a win. The result being a bevy of burgeoning prospects rising above the rest as programs across the country counted on the contributions of college basketball stars to catapult them past their counterparts. In the following segment, fans can fix their attention to a few prospects whose performances shined on a day where strong showings from plenty of players were spotted throughout the entire schedule of games. Six individuals account for a spot on the, "On the Scene Team," highlighting their positive play on over the weekend as well as how each prospect's draft stock is currently holding up.

Zion Williamson, Duke rises high in the air to block the shot ofDe'Andre Hunter, Virginia (Photo Credit: Rob Kinnan/USA Today Sports) During a week which has seen some of the top teams and prospects in play already, the arrival of another Saturday on the college basketball schedule means more meaningful matchups for fans to focus in on. This is a pertinent time of the season for both programs and players alike with less than a month before March Madness arrives, as the in-conference schedule continues to draw down to it's last few games of the year and opportunities for prospects to pick up steam heading into their conference and potential NCAA tournaments are limited. Last weekend's slate of games across the landscape of college basketball allowed for a canvass to showcase more than a few highly anticipated matchups between high-ranked, quality teams. Although this Saturday hasn't yielded the same type of anticipation across the country, don't be foo...

Reggie Perry, Mississippi State and Naz Reid, LSU battle for a rebound (Photo Credit: Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press) On Thursday night 21st ranked LSU traveled to Mississippi State in an SEC contest between two of the top teams in the conference. In an overtime decision, the Tigers took down the home team, Bulldogs by a score of 92-88, improving to 18-4 on the season and 8-1 in-conference. The loss dropped the Mississippi State to 16-6, with a 4-5 record in the SEC. The game itself was filled with plenty of possessions and numerous changes of momentum during both halves, as each team competed with valor, having various players step up to make plays during the action-filled game. LSU leaped out to an early 16-8 lead with 11:52 in the first half, before Mississippi State went on a 17-0 run over the next 4:45 to take a 25-16 advantage at the 8:02 mark. The Bulldogs remained out in front heading into halftime, 42-34. Falling behind by 10 points with 15:35 in the second h...

Dedric Lawson, Kansas (Photo Credit: Nick Krug)

Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Virginia Tech (Photo Credit: Virginia Tech Athletics)

Duke RJ Barrett, St. John's Shamorie Ponds (Photo Credit: Bruno Rouby/Getty Images)

Gonzaga Brandon Clarke contests shot of BYU Yoeli Childs (Photo Credit: Rick Bowmer/Associated Press)