How did last year’s top basketball recruits turn out? And how to watch them in NCAA tourney.

Entering the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season, the prevailing thought was that the 2023 recruiting class could be considered “a down year.”

And while it’s true that the 2024 NBA draft — and the projected one-and-done college basketball players set to take part in it — is viewed as a lackluster group overall, there are still stars among the bunch, some of whom will truly emerge over the coming weeks during the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

With March Madness beginning this week, several highly touted college basketball prospects from a year ago are about to take center stage.

Here is a guide to which of the five-star men’s college basketball recruits from the 2023 recruiting class (as listed by the 247Sports Composite) will be playing in the NCAA Tournament, how their freshman seasons have gone and what to watch for from these players in March Madness.

The number listed next to each player is their overall ranking as a 2023 college basketball recruit, per the 247Sports Composite. All 26 players listed were five-star recruits.

Wednesday’s games to watch

▪ (7) Cody Williams of Colorado is the only five-star recruit set to play in the First Four this year.

A 6-8 forward, Williams has averaged 12.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for a Buffaloes squad making just its second NCAA appearance since 2016. Williams has dealt with ankle and wrist injuries this season.

Colorado will take on Boise State in a 10 seed play-in game at 9:10 p.m. Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, on truTV.

Thursday’s games to watch

▪ (3) Justin Edwards, (4) Aaron Bradshaw, (6) D.J. Wagner and (16) Rob Dillingham represent the quartet of five-star freshmen that John Calipari brought to Kentucky this season. Obviously, their developments have not followed in line with their recruiting rankings.

Edwards, a 6-8 guard, struggled for most of the season before finding his scoring form toward the back end of SEC play. Tasked by Calipari during his offensive struggles to provide value on the defensive end and with hustle plays, Edwards is averaging 8.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Bradshaw, a 7-1 frontcourt player, didn’t make his college basketball debut until early December after sustaining a foot injury during the McDonald’s All-American Game last spring. That injury eventually necessitated a medical procedure last summer. Bradshaw, one of three 7-foot big men Calipari has at his disposal, has had a few breakout moments this season, but he appears to be the most out-of-favor big at the moment. That hasn’t affected Bradshaw’s infectious personality within the UK program.

Wagner, a 6-4 guard, was one of the crown jewels of Kentucky’s recruiting class, and has provided the most value during his freshman season as a communicator and point-of-attack defender for a UK team that has struggled with both of those aspects, especially in the games Wagner has missed. The Wildcats’ five-game winning streak to close the regular season coincided with a run of distance-shooting success for Wagner: Across a three-game stretch during this winning streak, Wagner made 9 of 14 3-point attempts (64.3%).

Dillingham, an ultra shifty 6-3 guard, has been one of the breakout stars of this college basketball season. Despite coming off the bench alongside National Freshman of the Year Reed Sheppard, Dillingham has become a go-to scoring option for the Cats and has scored 20-plus points on eight occasions this season. His stature and defensive abilities remain knocks against his NBA potential, but Dillingham has proven to be an elite scorer who will be an NBA draft lottery pick in a few months’ time.

Kentucky is a 3 seed and will play 14 seed Oakland at 7:10 p.m. Thursday in Pittsburgh on CBS.

▪ At one time, (11) Elliot Cadeau of North Carolina held recruiting interest from UK, although a scholarship offer never came. Cadeau, a 6-1 guard, reclassified from the 2024 to the 2023 class and is averaging 7.6 points and 4.2 assists this season for the Tar Heels. Cadeau had a season-high 10 assists in a home win over Tennessee in late November.

North Carolina is a 1 seed in the West Region and will play the winner of a 16 seed play-in game between Howard and Wagner at 2:45 p.m. Thursday in Charlotte on CBS.

▪ (12) Omaha Biliew, a 6-8 forward, has largely been a non-factor on an Iowa State team that enters March Madness with plenty of momentum after crushing 1 seed Houston in the Big 12 Tournament championship game. Biliew, who was born in Iowa, hasn’t scored more than four points in a game since December.

Iowa State is a 2 seed and will play 15 seed South Dakota State at 7:35 p.m. Thursday in Omaha, Nebraska, on truTV.

▪ (14) Xavier Booker, a 6-11 forward, has only made two starts for the Michigan State Spartans this season. He’s averaging 3.6 points and 1.6 rebounds across 25 games played, but he scored 11 points in a close loss at 1 seed Purdue this month.

Michigan State is a 9 seed and will play 8 seed Mississippi State at 12:15 p.m. Thursday in Charlotte on CBS. This will be the first game in the round of 64.

▪ (15) Kwame Evans Jr. and (24) Jackson Shelstad of Oregon both helped the Ducks play their way into the NCAA Tournament over the weekend by winning the final edition of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament.

Evans, a 6-9 forward, has played in all 34 games for the Ducks this season and has started 27 of those contests. He boasts per-game averages of 7.5 points and 4.9 rebounds. His most productive college game came late last month in a rivalry win over Oregon State in which Evans had 22 points and nine rebounds.

Shelstad, a 6-foot guard who is originally from Oregon, averages 13.1 points per game and is one of Oregon’s top three scorers. Shelstad scored a combined 50 points across the Ducks’ 3-for-3 showing in the conference tournament.

Oregon is an 11 seed and will play 6 seed South Carolina at 4 p.m. Thursday in Pittsburgh on TNT.

▪ (21) Elmarko Jackson, a 6-3 guard, has played in all 32 games for the Kansas Jayhawks this season, starting 17 of those. Jackson is averaging 4.2 points and 1.7 rebounds for a Kansas team that, short of winning the national championship, will finish with more than 10 losses for the first time since 1989.

Kansas is a 4 seed and will play 13 seed Samford at 9:55 p.m. Thursday in Salt Lake City on TBS.

Friday’s games to watch

▪ (9) Ja’Kobe Walter, has been one of the best freshmen in college basketball this season, and he’s done so on one of the best teams. Walter, a 6-5 guard from North Texas, is averaging 14.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for the Baylor Bears. Walter has started all 33 of Baylor’s games this season, and is averaging more than 32 minutes played per contest.

Prior to Baylor’s loss to Iowa State in the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament, Walter had scored 10-plus points in 10 straight games.

Baylor is a 3 seed and will play 14 seed Colgate at 12:40 p.m. Friday in Memphis on truTV.

▪ (10) Stephon Castle, a 6-6 guard, has offered a solid first-year presence for the team viewed as the favorite to win the national championship for a second straight season. The UConn guard is averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for the Huskies, and Castle has played at least 20 minutes in 15 straight games for head coach Dan Hurley’s team, which is the No. 1 overall seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

UConn is a 1 seed and will play 16 seed Stetson at 2:45 p.m. Friday in Brooklyn on CBS.

▪ (13) Jared McCain, (17) Sean Stewart, (19) Caleb Foster and (20) TJ Power of Duke were all part of the second-best recruiting class in 2023, behind only Kentucky.

McCain, a 6-3 guard, has started each of Duke’s 32 games this season and is averaging 13.4 points and 4.9 rebounds. He packs plenty of scoring punch, and has scored 20-plus points in seven games. This includes a 35-point outburst in a road win at Florida State last month.

As part of that performance, McCain set a Duke freshman record for made 3-pointers (eight) and tied Zion Williamson’s record for most points scored by a Blue Devils freshman.

Stewart, a 6-9 forward, has played in 29 games, and has come off the bench in all of them. He’s averaging 2.7 points and has scored in double figures in two games.

Foster, a 6-5 guard, has played in 27 games with 15 starts. He’s averaging 7.7 points and is shooting 40.6% on 3-pointers, but has only attempted 69 shots from deep. Foster scored a season-best 18 points in November’s Champions Classic win over Michigan State.

Power, a 6-9 forward, has played in 23 games, all off the bench. He’s averaging 2.3 points and had seven points in Duke’s regular season finale, a home loss to North Carolina. That was Power’s best scoring game since November.

Duke is a 4 seed and will play 13 seed Vermont at 7:10 p.m. Friday in Brooklyn on CBS.

▪ (18) Aden Holloway, a 6-1 guard for the SEC Tournament champion Auburn Tigers, has played in all 34 games and started 25 of those for head coach Bruce Pearl’s team.

Holloway averages more than 20 minutes played per game while scoring 7.6 points and dishing out 2.8 assists. Holloway did a little bit of everything during Auburn’s 3-for-3 showing in the SEC Tournament last week: Five rebounds in a quarterfinal throttling of South Carolina, six assists in a semifinal win over Mississippi State and seven points in the championship game win over Florida.

Auburn is a 4 seed and will play 13 seed Yale at 4 p.m. Friday in Spokane, Washington, on TNT.

Not in the NCAA Tournament

▪ (1) Isaiah Collier and (22) Bronny James of Southern California, (8) Mackenzie Mgbako of Indiana and (25) Andrej Stojakovic of Stanford all missed the NCAA Tournament with their respective teams.

Collier and James were part of one of the most disappointing teams in the country this season, at least relative to the Trojans’ preseason hopes and No. 21 ranking in the first AP poll of the season. USC went 15-18, with Collier, a 6-5 guard, averaging 16.3 points and more than four assists per game.

James, the son of still-active NBA legend LeBron James, suffered cardiac arrest during a summer workout, but recovered and played in 25 games this season with subdued stats. The elder James has spoken before of his desire to play with Bronny in the NBA, and a major talking point in the coming months — should Bronny, a 6-4 guard, elect to turn professional — will be whether NBA teams angle to acquire Bronny via the draft or free agency in the hopes of luring LeBron to their team.

Mgbako was originally committed to and signed with Duke, but he asked out of his national letter of intent last April. The 6-8 forward ultimately joined Indiana and averaged 12.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for an IU team that went 19-14 and missed the NCAA Tournament despite a late-season surge.

Stojakovic, a 6-7 guard and the son of NBA legend Peja Stojakovic, averaged 7.8 points and played in all 32 games for a Stanford team that went 14-18 and finished well off the pace in the final season of the Pac-12 Conference. Stanford head coach Jerod Haase was fired after failing to guide the Cardinal to the NCAA Tournament in any of his eight seasons at the helm.

Stojakovic has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Didn’t play college basketball

▪ (2) Ron Holland and (5) Matas Buzelis of the NBA’s G-League Ignite and (23) Trentyn Flowers and (26) AJ Johnson of the National Basketball League (Australia) all opted not to go the college basketball route.

Holland and Buzelis have had mixed results this season with the G-League Ignite, the NBA’s straight-to-pro option. Holland, a 6-8 forward, had per-game averages of 20.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists for Ignite, but injured his right thumb in late January and was ruled out for the rest of the season in February.

Buzelis, a 6-10 forward, is averaging 13.7 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Flowers, a 6-9 prospect, was initially part of former head coach Kenny Payne’s 2023 recruiting class at Louisville. In August, Flowers (who reclassified from the 2024 recruiting group) abruptly left Louisville to turn professional and signed with the NBL.

A desire to play point guard was reportedly behind Flowers’ move to the NBL, but things haven’t worked out well for him. Flowers averaged just five points and less than one assist per game across 18 games with the Adelaide 36ers. Ex-Cat Isaac Humphries was a teammate of Flowers this season.

Johnson followed a similar route to Flowers: The 6-5 guard had been signed to play at Texas, but bolted for the NBL last spring. The combo guard averaged 2.9 points across 26 games played this season with the Illawarra Hawks.

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