The East Bracket of the 2026 NCAA Tournament might be the most-watched by NBA scouts, not because of the names you already know, like Cam Boozer, Darrien Peterson, Mikel Brown Jr., and Braylon Mullins, but because of the names you might not: Donovan Dent, Jeremy Fears, Dominique Daniels, Zuby Ejiofor, and David Punch. If you’re a college basketball sicko, this is your bracket. These are the players who make you love college hoops.
Keep in mind Mikel Brown is set to miss at least the first round or
two. We love him here, but this is focusing on guys who will get time during the tournament.
Cam Boozer (F, Duke)
Freshman Cam Boozer is having one of the best freshman seasons in the history of college basketball. He’s averaging over 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists on efficient shooting, including nearly 41% from three. While injuries have derailed some of this draft’s top prospects in this year’s draft, Boozer has put Duke on his back, leading his team through injury woes.
So what does he still need to prove to lock up the number one pick? At 6’9″ and 250 pounds, he already has the size and strength to contribute from day one in the NBA. He plays both ends of the floor, makes winning plays, and brings high character to go along with NBA bloodlines. His father, Carlos Boozer, was a two-time All-Star.
The online draft community will nitpick his athleticism or the occasional blown defensive play in the paint, usually a product of foul trouble awareness, not effort, but NBA front offices won’t care. They’ll be lining up to build around a player like Boozer for the next decade. Duke goes as far as he takes them, and if they cut down the nets, expect his name to be the first called on draft night, hopefully in a Mavericks hat.
First Round Game: Against Siena on Thursday
Zuby Ejiofor (F, St. Johns)
But if Duke wants to raise a trophy, they’ll likely have to go through St. John’s in the Sweet 16, and that means dealing with DFW native Zuby Ejiofor. You probably haven’t heard his name much yet, but by the end of March, you won’t forget it. Ejiofor just led the Johnnies to the Big East Tournament title, dismantling UConn by 20 points with an 18-point, 9-rebound, 7-block performance. His full-season line tells the same story: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal per game. That’s a résumé NBA scouts can’t ignore.
A big March could push Ejiofor into the first round or early second. He was recently mocked to the Mavericks at pick 50 in the latest No Ceiling Mock Draft. If he and Boozer square off in the Sweet 16, get your popcorn ready, it’ll be one of the best individual matchups of the entire tournament.
First Round Game: Against Northern Iowa
Darryn Peterson (G, Kansas)
There may not be a more electrifying or more confounding player in all of college basketball right now than Kansas’ freshman phenom, Darryn Peterson. He’s averaged 18.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on 44/38/82 shooting splits on the year. While those numbers aren’t exactly thrilling at first glance, the film tells a different, if very complex story. highs have been incandescent displays of two-way skill, like the January 31st first-half beatdown of BYU, where Darry notched 18 points and three steals on six-of-eight shooting.
The question marks have been…well, questionable, such as the January 31st second-half disappearance of Peterson, where BYU closed the halftime 20-point gap and nearly staged a comeback as he watched from the bench after cramping up shortly after play resumed. The rare, poor shooting night and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7 apg to 1.5 tov) critiques aside, the Kansas star has proven both his baseline and lofty ceiling on both ends, even while fighting distressing cramp episodes and dealing with hamstring and ankle injuries. The major question with Darryn now is simply whether he can withstand an NBA season and a star player’s minutes load.
Darryn, despite being a consensus top-three pick in this loaded class and often mentioned as the number one guy, still has plenty to gain from this tournament. The path to becoming the number one pick in the draft for Peterson is clear: play the games, show his talent, and lead a Kansas team that leans on him offensively as much as any team in the nation leans on its star to the Elite 8 with a few good showings along the way. Peterson has played 27 or more minutes in each of his last eight games, so he will likely play the minutes necessary to squeeze every bit of potential out of this team in the tournament. He got the hype train rolling and made people believe one insane first half at a time. It is time to silence doubters and be the player draftniks predicted he could be, or see himself left in the dust by AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer, who will be carrying similar offensive loads in this tournament.
First Round Game Against Cal Baptist
Braylon Mullins (G, Connecticut)
Braylon Mullins’ high school reputation as an athletic, toolsy three-point sniper preceded him, despite his freshman season starting later than most due to injury. He wrapped up the regular season at 12.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, and 1.0 spg on 44/35/85 splits while launching 6.5 three-point attempts per game. All in all, a fine college season for a freshman shooter getting his bearings under him for a good bit of it. However, it was a season that left some wanting for a prospect draft analysts suspected would rise into the back end of the NBA Draft Lottery over the course of the year. If ever there were a stage to make his final case to NBA teams, a lengthy run in the NCAA Tournament for the second-seeded UCONN Huskies would be just what the doctor ordered.
It’s clear what Mullins has to gain (or lose, depending upon your perspective) from March Madness: he has the chance to vault himself into the lottery as Arizona’s Brayden Burries appears to have after overtaking Koa Peat as the school’s star freshman. The other side of that coin is a couple of lackluster performances, which could lead to him being drafted as low as the early to mid-20s of the first round. The remedy? That’s as simple as it’s ever been: Braylon has to shoot the blood out of the ball and use his clear athletic advantages at 6’6” and 196 lbs with long arms to be a presence as an off-ball defender closing passing lanes and rotating to contest shots. He has the tools, the infrastructure, and the coaching. Either he lights a few schools on fire with a handful of 4+ made three-pointer games, or we will see him be the 22nd player to shake Commissioner Adam Silver’s hand on draft night.
First Round Game: Against Furman
