Patrick O'Bryant, C, Bradley: O'Bryant was suspended for the first eight games of the season for getting paid for work he allegedly didn't do in the previous summer. He came back with a bang in his first three games, averaging 16.6 ppg, 13 rpg and 3.5 bpg, and scouts began declaring him the best center prospect in the draft.
However, after those three games, he was up and down most of the season and looked like he was at least one year away from the draft.
He's had another coming-out party in the tournament, holding his own against a very talented and athletic Kansas front line and then outplaying Pittsburgh's Aaron Gray, a player many people projected as a potential first-round pick.
O'Bryant's 10 rebounds against Kansas and 28 points and seven rebounds against Pittsburgh have put him back on the first-round radar screen. Scouts were especially impressed at how O'Bryant handled the more physical Gray on Sunday.
While O'Bryant is still very much a project, his length, athleticism and big-game production in the tournament could land him in the late lottery if he can produce another big game against top-seeded Memphis on Thursday.
