Jarace Walker, Houston

This isn’t the type of NCAA Tournament that will give NBA fans an idea of what they can expect in the upcoming draft.

The likely first two picks in the draft — Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson — aren’t playing college basketball. That’s a major change from last year, when the first six picks in the draft all had played in the NCAA Tournament a few months earlier.

It’s also worth noting that Villanova freshman Cam Whitmore, generally regarded as one of the top NBA prospects in the college ranks, won’t be playing in this NCAA Tournament because his Wildcats failed to qualify.

But there are plenty of guys in this tournament who should have long NBA careers. A look at some of the top NBA prospects in this year’s field (listed alphabetically): honors. He’s averaging 14.1 points and 4.9 rebounds, and shooting 39.9% (79 of 198) from 3-point range. He has shown he can play well against top opponents. Some of his games with at least 20 points came against North Carolina State, Indiana, Iowa State, Baylor and Texas. Firstround game: Thursday vs. Howard. is the SEC player of the year and has led Alabama to its first No. 1 seed. He averages 19.7 points and 8.3 rebounds and is shooting 39.9% (99 of 248) from 3-point range. First-round game: Thursday vs. Texas A&m-corpus Christi.

Although senior guard Marcus Sasser is Houston’s best player, Walker is the Cougars’ top pro prospect. The 6-8 freshman isn’t particularly polished yet, but he has shown flashes of his enormous potential. He scored at least 21 points four times in an eight-game midseason stretch. NBA teams love his versatility. He should develop into a guy who can defend multiple positions, block shots and shoot the 3-pointer. First-round game: Thursday vs. Northern Kentucky.