One of Kalkbrenner's former teammates, Baylor Scheierman, is another high-major recruit who went unranked yet reached the NBA out of Creighton. He was selected 30th by the Celtics last year. It's representative of an impressive player development culture, and Kalkbrenner has a chance to sneak into the back of the first round as well.

Khaman Maluach credits the NBA Academy for teaching fundamentals and life skills that shaped his path from Africa to the 2025 NBA Draft.

NBA Draft is just over a week away. In the era of NIL, the number of players taking the quicker route to the NBA is shrinking, which is why we saw 50 players withdraw from the draft late last month. Now,