NCAA Tournament Prospect Watch: Kaminsky caps terrific season in Final Four

The NCAA tournament felt even more loaded with potential NBA prospects this year than it did in 2014, thanks to one of the most heralded draft classes of all time. Maybe it's the battle to be No. 1 pick, or the constant shuffling of those in the lottery, or the fact that 33 of ESPN's top-40 prospects were all on teams that made the field of 68. Maybe we just love this time of year regardless of prospect quality.

In any case, there were 74 prospects in the tournament ranked in the top 100 by either ESPN, DraftExpress or both, and 19 made it to the Final Four. Each day of the tournament, we checked in to see how said prospects performed, and today's edition wraps things up.

Pre-Tourney Previews: EAST | WEST | SOUTH | MIDWEST | Kentucky
Day One review: Russell, Towns shine
Day Two review: Okafor holds serve, Kaminsky dominates
Day Three review: Hollis-Jefferson locks up Russell
Day Four review: Rozier and Winslow excel
Week One Trending: 5 stocks going up
Week One Trending: 5 stocks going down
Day Five review: Towns scores 1 point, Dekker breaks out
Day Six review: Harrell, Winslow and Poeltl radiate
Day Seven review: Dekker stars, Towns beasts
Day Eight review: Okafor loses hold on No. 1 spot, Harrell has elite half

Frank Kaminsky out-duels top-two picks

Frank Kaminsky is the Player of the Year. He averaged 18.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 blocks while shooting 55.1 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from long range. He's a 7-footer who hits triples. 

And still, Kaminsky entered the tournament on the fringes of the lottery. He's a senior. He's not exactly fleet of foot. He's going to be a defensive liability at the next level. He's floor when teams are seeking upside. You get the idea.

If Kaminsky's season-long sample size wasn't quite enough, he made the most of the highest profile small sample imaginable, outplaying the potential No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the Final Four. 

First, Kamisnky scored 20 points with 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks against Karl-Anthony Towns and Kentucky, then he followed it up with 21 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and a block against Jahlil Okafor and Duke. He shot 14-of-27 for the Final Four, hit 3-of-7 from outside, and was generally the best big on the floor in both games.

His offensive game was on full display despite the loss in the national championship game.

He's generally a bit too much of a gambler when defending the post, but he flashed some solid defensive instincts against Okafor and in help.

It's unlikely that Mr. Steal Your Girl's strong play vaults him too far into the top-10 of the NBA draft, and he seems unlikely to elevate his stock in workouts. Still, he just outplayed the presumptive top two picks and had Wisconsin close to winning the championship game. It's tough to have a better couple of days than that.

Tyus Andronicus

It's too easy to point to an undersized point guard with a big championship game and make a comparison to Shabazz Napier's late draft surge from 2014, but Tyus Jones definitely got himself noticed Monday.

The Final Four Most Outstanding Player scored 23 points, 19 of them in the second half, hitting 7-of-13 overall and 2-of-3 from outside.

Hyper-efficient all year long but a bit below the radar thanks to his modest averages - 11.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.6 steals - he grades out really well by projection systems. More importantly for his draft candidacy, he showed the intangibles more qualitative scouts look for in hitting several clutch baskets for Duke down the stretch of a championship victory.

Jones entered the tournament as a bubble first-round pick likely to return to school. He leaves as a potential top-20 pick who could ride his freshman momentum to a spot in the NBA next season.

• Towns may not have come away with a win against Wisconsin and the resultant head-to-head battle with Okafor, but his performance certainly keeps him in the mix as the No. 1 pick. Towns was strong offensively, shooting 7-of-11 for 16 points with five offensive rebounds (and nine overall). It was a tough matchup defensively and he looked solid, even with Kaminksy's strong showing. Towns has passed Okafor on the primary boards but the top spot is going to come down to team preference and taste.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein had a very quiet offensive night but was able to show off his defensive versatility against Wisconsin's varied attack. He's a near-lock for the lottery and teams who value a player who can guard five positions will give him a look as early as No. 5.
  • Trey Lyles was a mixed bag, scoring nine points on 3-of-7 shooting but grabbing a solitary rebound and looking like he may not be able to guard threes at the next level. He's firmly in the first round and should workout well, possibly landing him in the lottery.
  • Teammate Devin Booker may now find himself out of the lottery after another quiet game - one without a triple - and it sounds as if he's considering a return to Lexington. Dakari Johnson likewise sounds on the fence. Marcus Lee will return, a smart play considering he, like Johnson, barely played in such a crucial game, and Tyler Ulis will get a chance to run the show after closing his freshman campaign with a six-point, two-steal outing. 
  • The Harrison twins had similar lines but it was Andrew, who has a much higher draft stock, that did himself more favor with 13 points and four assists, though neither was able to run the offense well late.

• It's always just one game, and Okafor still flashed some nice moves in the title game, but posting three of his worst scoring outings - he scored 10 points with three rebounds Monday - in the final four games of the season is disappointing. He didn't defend Kaminsky all that well but that's not a grave concern considering Kaminsky is probably an NBA four, a player type Okafor won't be tasked with guarding. Overall, his tournament was somewhat disappointing and may have cost him the No. 1 ranking entering the combine, but if you liked him before, a quiet championship game shouldn't change that.
  • Everyone is going to love to hate Grayson Allen the next few years. The Duke freshman scored 16 points off the bench Monday, giving him 25 in the Final Four after averaging four for the season. He'll be in the lottery discussion for 2016.
  • Quinn Cook closed out a strong tournament and senior season with a bit of a dud, scoring six points with an 0-of-3 mark from outside. He's probably off the draft radar.
  • Firmly on the draft radar is Justise Winslow, who was among the players who did the most for themselves in the tournament. Winslow wasn't at his very best Monday, committing four fouls and two turnovers while shooting 3-of-9. But he continued to show he should be in the discussion in the top-five thanks to his defense, versatility and offensive potential, finishing the tournament averaging 12.7 points on 50.9 percent shooting and 8-of-14 from outside with 9.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.5 steals.

• Sam Dekker closed out a terrific tournament with a poor shooting night, but he's still done more than all but maybe a handful of players in upping his draft stock over the last three weeks. He was 0-of-6 from outside and 6-of-15 overall Monday, but finished the tournament averaging 19.2 points on 57.1 percent shooting and a 41.7 percent mark from outside, and he increased his defensive impact as the season went along. He's secured his spot in the first round.
  • Nigel Hayes may have done more for his stock early in the tournament than even Dekker, and he closed out with a 5-of-10 performance Monday, though he was relatively quiet otherwise. He scored 25 points and hit 5-of-9 from outside in the Final Four and could also have moved himself just inside the first round.

• One of the biggest questions with Michigan State senior Branden Dawson is consistent engagement, and he showed up bell-to-bell in the Elite Eight and Final Four. Against Duke he scored 12 points with seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals but also committed four fouls and five turnovers. It remains unlikely he gets drafted, but he didn't hurt his stock any.
  • Denzel Valentine spent the tournament nudging his way into the top-100 and finished strong with a 22-point, 11-rebound outing against Duke that came on 7-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-9 from outside. A senior season seems the most likely decision but it's possible Valentine tries to ride this momentum to a spot in the second round. He sure can shoot.