Did UConn players boost their draft stock in NCAA Tournament?

It's one of the most common catch phrases of the NCAA Tournament, right up there with "you need good guard play in March" and "One Shining Moment."

"A big tournament could really boost his NBA stock."

Makes sense. If a player can prove himself against the best teams and on the biggest stage of men's college basketball, it has to help his potential draft status, right? 

Well, sure. That is often the case. It certainly helped former UConn men's basketball star Kemba Walker get selected No. 9 overall in 2011, and probably helped Shabazz Napier a few years later (although some expected Napier to be taken a few slots higher than No. 24).

Staying in the Big East, Villanova's Donte DiVincenzo got a big boost after leading the Wildcats to the 2018 national title, going No. 17 overall. Hasn't done a whole lot in the NBA since.

"Sometimes, you do great in the NCAA Tournament, like the UConn guys did, and they win it, they get drafted based on 'what have-you-done-for-me-lately?,'" one Eastern Conference NBA scout said. "(NBA executives) get drunk off the tournament and they get a boost from that. That can happen a little."

"But then there's this other thing," the scout added, "where guys look at his college career and say, 'OK, he did well. But I want to see him against NBA-type guys, older dudes, in workouts, in Chicago.' They want to see him in a different environment, where it's not just playing against Providence or whatever."

That's a big part of what this week is all about at the NBA Draft combine in Chicago. Jordan Hawkins, Adama Sanogo and Andre Jackson Jr. are all there. Tristen Newton is in town, as well, at the G-League Elite Camp. If the performance of all four players in this year's NCAA tourney didn't open the eyes of NBA executives already, this week is another great chance to do so.

"If they excel at it, if they go to Chicago and play really well against all these other guys that are in the same boat as them, all of a sudden guys put a lot of value on that," the scout noted. "And sometimes they probably put too much value on that. Because sometimes guys go to Chicago and do great. And people are like, 'What happened the last four years, you're not going to look at his career, good or bad?'"

So where do Hawkins, Sanogo, Jackson and Newton stand entering this week? We chronicled Jackson's "tricky" situation last week. Let's take a look at Hawkins, Sanogo and Newton.

Jordan Hawkins

Despite some streakiness in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament, Hawkins proved himself as one of the best shooters in the country while averaging 16.3 points and shooting 43.5% from 3 over the Huskies' six-game run. That dagger 3-pointer with just over five minutes left in the championship game, after San Diego State and whittled a 15-point deficit down to five, cemented his clutch legacy.

"People started realizing, 'Wow, this guy is either the best shooter in the country or in the top two with Gradey Dick (of Kansas),'" the scout said. "The way he closed the year, he just made himself a hell of a lot of money. I wouldn't be surprised if someone takes him in the lottery. He's got potential lottery talent, the way that spacing, the 3-point line, the value of shooters today, just how important it is."

Added a second scout: "It's one thing to have a guy who can stand still in the corner and catch and shoot 3's, but it's another, like him, when you're flying off screens, moving defenders around and kind of manipulating assignments. There's a lot of value to that."

The NBA Draft lottery will be determined on Tuesday. The top 14 picks in the draft are lottery picks, and there appears to be a good chance Hawkins gets selected there. CBSSports.com has him being taken 13th overall. NBADraftRoom.com sees him going No. 10. USA Today's consensus mock draft, which compiles mocks from 11 different sites, has Hawkins going 14th.

"I don't want to say the guy's going to be a Hall of Famer and one of the best 3-point shooters ever like Reggie Miller, which is what Ray Allen did," said a scout. "But he, to me, is more like Ray Allen than he was to Jeremy Lamb coming out. He's really pretty special."

"He could be one of the best wings ever to come out of UConn."

And that's saying something, although another scout was a bit more guarded with his optimism. 

"It'll be interesting to see how he does in the pre-draft stuff. He's front and center on people's minds because of the title run, and he had so much exposure. But maybe as more guys who might not have made the tournament or got knocked out early, when they re-enter the consciousness of some of these execs and get in the buildings for workouts, I wouldn't be shocked if he slid down a little bit, because the tourney luster wore off a little bit."

Adama Sanogo

The NCAA tourney's Most Outstanding Player certainly boosted his profile in March and April. Sanogo was nearly unstoppable in the low post, and sprinkled in a few 3-pointers, as well. But can a 6-foot-9 center have similar success in the NBA? Or can Sanogo contour his game for "The League."

"I love Adama," said one scout. "He played fantastic in the NCAA Tournament. I think he's a guy that was a really, really good college player, similar to Oscar Tschiebwe, Drew Timme — very, very good college players. But yet, their game doesn't naturally transition to the NBA, with the way the game is played today, with the spacing. He's a little undersized as a center. He's almost more of a natural G-League, two-way guy, in my opinion."

"Now, can someone take him in the second round? Absolutely. Middle to late in the second round he could be selected, by helping himself in the NCAA Tournament. Now, we've got to see what happens in Chicago, how things go where guys rise up, some guys go back a little, as we get closer to June."

It's hard to bet against Sanogo, who attempted exactly one 3-pointer (a miss) over his first two seasons at UConn but shot 19-for-52 (36.5%) from distance this past season.

"As good as he was in the tournament, it's a different game in the NBA," another scout noted. "He's not going to have that size or athletic advantage over most other big men in the league. He's going to face an uphill battle. But if you told me five years from now he's a third center, or maybe even a low-end backup in the NBA, crazier things have happened."

Tristen Newton

The consensus among the scouts is that Newton is highly unlikely to be drafted, and should return for another season at UConn. 

Despite a strong performance on the second day of the G-League Elite Camp on Sunday (14 points, 3-for-4 from 3-point range), Newton was not one of the eight players from camp invited to the NBA combine.

The 6-5 point guard could certainly continue to boost his resume this week, but as one scout theorized, the only way he's likely to be drafted if he agrees to sign a two-way contract with a team sometime before or on draft night. Otherwise, Newton might be better served returning to UConn and potentially earning some name, image and likeness money while trying to repeat as a national champion.