March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Iowa State's Joshua Jefferson is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the forward's draft night will play out.
Joshua Jefferson 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 18 overall, Memphis Grizzlies
A few years ago, research indicated that the Grizzlies tend to value a few statistical similarities in their draftees: Efficient shot selection, added value beyond scoring and defensive playmaking. For the second year in a row, Iowa State do-it-all Joshua Jefferson is an impactful dribble-pass-shoot forward who meets many of the qualifications that led Memphis to find players who spent many years on their roster. The All-Big 12 forward is someone who looks destined to have a sustainable NBA career.
It may be peak March Madness time, but don’t forget about the pros! There are six NBA games on the board, full of player props to bet on.
I’ve dug through the odds and found my three best bets for today, which include Amen Thompson stuffing the stat sheet against the Atlanta Hawks and Scottie Barnes dishing out the dimes when the Toronto Raptors face the Denver Nuggets.
Those and more NBA picks for Friday, March 20, below.
The Houston Rockets are the best rebounding team in the NBA. They not only have great length, but everyone crashes the boards.
Tonight, they play the Atlanta Hawks, who have a great rebounder in Jalen Johnson, but are not a great rebounding team. The Hawks rank 21st in rebounding rate and surrender the fifth-most opponent rebounds per game.
So, let’s target Amen Thompson. He’s been a beast on the boards since the All-Star break, averaging 8.5 rebounds, hauling down double-digit boards seven times over 14 games.
With that in mind, let’s not just take the Over on his rebounds; let’s back him to record another double-double.
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Where to watch: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast-Atlanta, SCHN
Prop #2: Ty Jerome Over 18.5 points
-120 at bet365
The Memphis Grizzlies' injury report is something out of a horror story. But it has created an opportunity for Ty Jerome.
Jerome returned to the Grizzlies lineup at the end of January, and he’s basically been the only reliable bucket getter for them ever since.
The Grizz shooting guard is averaging 20.2 points while shooting 42.5% from three in the 13 games he’s played since his return.
Tonight, he takes on the Boston Celtics, who are big faves, but that could also mean they let off the gas late. Jerome has topped this number 10 times during those 13 games.
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Where to watch: NBCSB, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast-Memphis
Prop #3: Scottie Barnes Over 4.5 assists
-115 at bet365
The Toronto Raptors have won three in a row thanks to an offense that is clicking. They’ll need that to continue to keep up with the high-powered Denver Nuggets, and I like their chances.
While the Nuggets have one of the best offenses in the NBA, the effort at the other end of the floor has been lacking. Denver ranks 21st in defensive rating and opponent assists per possession.
The Raptors are one of the best teams at moving the basketball, ranking fifth in assist rate. So, give me Scottie Barnes Over 4.5 assists. Despite a bit of a dip lately, he averages 5.3 assists per game and had 10 assists in Toronto’s other meeting with Denver this season.
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March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Tennessee's Nate Ament is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the forward's draft night will play out.
After a relatively slow and inefficient start to the season, Tennessee freshman Nate Ament is starting to realize some of his lofty expectations. The freshman averaged 21.6 points per game while shooting 38.9 percent on 3-pointers during a 13-game stretch before an injury against Alabama on Feb. 28. The All-SEC forward then had 27 points (4-of-6 on 3-pointers) with eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal against Auburn on March 12. It will only take one team to fall in love with Ament and given so much of what he brings to the table cannot be taught, that team is probably picking fairly early in the lottery.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Florida's Thomas Haugh is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the forward's draft night will play out.
Thomas Haugh 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 14 overall, San Antonio Spurs
After winning a national championship with Florida last season, Thomas Haugh was instantly regarded as one of the most interesting players who elected to return to college. The All-SEC forward has one of the top motors in the NCAA and he is an incredibly skilled basketball player. He does not need the ball in his hands very often to make a difference on the floor for his team, and he can serve as a glue guy for a contending team looking to win an NBA title like the Spurs.
SAN ANTONIO, TX - MARCH 19: Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns looks on during the game against the San Antonio Spurs on March 19, 2026 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Phoenix Suns come limping home after a long, arduous road trip. When their plane lifted off from Sky Harbor, they were 37–27, sitting 1.5 games back of the seventh seed in the Western Conference. By the time they touched back down, they were 39–31, now 3 games back of that same spot, a subtle shift in the standings that carries a heavier weight when you feel everything that happened in between. There are plenty of reasons why, and the context matters.
This is a team that spent the entire trip without Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams, two starters who anchor both ends of the floor in different ways, and their absence was felt in the margins, in the rotations, and in the moments where you need stability and instead are searching for answers. Sprinkle in games where Grayson Allen could not go, add in the fact that Royce O’Neale, who had been a constant presence all season, missed time as well, and you start to see the shape of it. The continuity was not there. The availability was not there. The rhythm never had a chance to fully settle in.
Health has been an issue. It is not the only issue, but it is the one that keeps showing up, the one that keeps nudging everything else slightly off balance, the one that forces adjustments that are necessary but rarely ideal. And when you are navigating that over the course of a six-game road trip, it compounds. It stretches you thin. It asks players to take on roles they are still growing into, and it tests how sustainable your identity really is.
The result? A 2–4 trip that feels like it could have been more, but also one that tells a deeper story about where this team is right now, and what it is still trying to figure out as it heads home.
One of the primary reasons the Suns did not fare better on this road trip is simple: if this team wants to be better, Devin Booker has to be better late in games.
When you look at the last four games Phoenix has played, Booker has struggled in the fourth quarter, and the reason is not hard to find. Opposing defenses know exactly where the pressure point is. With so many rotation players unavailable, it becomes much easier to load up on him, to send extra bodies, to crowd his space, and to force somebody else to beat you. That is the tax of being the engine. That is the burden of being the one every defense circles before the game even tips.
You could see it clearly against San Antonio. Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson made the plan obvious: blitz everything until the ball ends up in Rasheer Fleming’s hands. That strategy worked. Fleming missed the free throws, Wemby hit the game-winner, and Phoenix walked away with another late-game lesson and another loss that felt avoidable.
Fleming is a 57% FT shooter. Not sure why you keep him in after the timeout and then on the inbounds play pass it to him. Spurs forced the timeout with three traps one each on Jalen, Collin and Book. Then the game plan was to deny everyone else on the inbounds play and even have…
Boston had a similar rhythm, only Phoenix played into it.
The Suns were so committed to getting Booker the ball late that they kept initiating actions in ways that made life easier for the Celtics’ defense. Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard were draped all over him possession after possession, and still Phoenix kept trying to force the offense through that same point of attack. The result was an offense that stalled out completely, allowing Boston to close the game on a 12-1 run and turn a competitive finish into another frustrating collapse.
Three nights prior, Toronto followed a familiar script. Booker is the driver of the offense, so naturally the Suns kept trying to put the ball in his hands and let him organize the late-game attack. Some poor officiating played its part, sure, but the larger issue remained the same. Phoenix became too predictable, too dependent on one initiation point, and when the resistance tightened, the offense did not have enough counters to survive it. The game slipped. Then it was gone.
That is three of the four losses on this trip. Because of late-game execution, because of predictable offense, and because of an inability to adapt quickly enough when teams made Booker the entire focus of their defensive plan. The only loss that does not really fit that description is Minnesota, which felt less like a choke and more like a team running out of answers.
And that is where the frustration should live. Not in the idea that Booker is incapable, because he is not. Not in pretending he is the only problem, because he is not. But if Phoenix wants to climb out of this lane it keeps drifting into, its best player has to find a way to be sharper, calmer, and more effective when defenses inevitably come hunting for him late. That is what stars are asked to solve. That is what this version of the Suns keeps running into.
So yes, there is some real cause and effect here. When there is no proper release valve around Devin Booker, it becomes harder to expect him to operate cleanly. Defenses know where the play is headed. They know who matters most. They know where to send the extra attention. That context is real, and it matters. At the same time, two things can be true. He is your max player. He is the one who is supposed to rise above moments like this and execute.
One way to create cleaner offense for Booker, especially against teams with high defensive IQ, is to place him in secondary and tertiary actions within the same possession, allowing the defense to shift first, allowing the floor to bend a little, and then giving him a better chance to either get to a clean look or create a positive possession. We saw some of that on the trip, and it worked at times. It is a smart adjustment. It is a necessary adjustment.
It also should not be necessary every single time.
Because when you watch other teams late in close games, their primary offensive players still get the ball and still make things happen. Phoenix is not some broken defensive team either. They sit 10th in defensive rating, and yet the Suns still watched Jaylen Brown score 18 points in the fourth quarter, Julius Randle put up 11, and Wemby deliver 9, including the buzzer beater. Those players were not hidden away in secondary actions all night, hoping the defense might forget about them. They got the ball, they handled the pressure, and they executed.
That is the standard.
Yes, I think it is a good idea to avoid force-feeding Booker late to the point that opposing defenses can load up on him and choke off the entire possession before it starts. That part is basketball survival. That part is smart. But it also should not have to live there permanently. At some point, your best player has to be able to take the ball in those moments, see the coverage, absorb the pressure, and still deliver. That is what this league asks of stars. That is what Phoenix needs from Devin Booker.
When you look at Devin Booker’s fourth quarter production over the last four games, the problem becomes pretty clear. He is averaging 5.0 points, but doing it on 35.3% shooting. He has not hit a three. His assist-to-turnover ratio sits at -0.6, and he is a -17 in plus/minus. That is the part of the story that keeps showing up late, and it is hard to ignore.
What makes it feel so strange is everything else he is doing.
Over those same four games, Booker is second in the NBA in scoring at 31.8 points per game. He has poured in 127 total points, yet only 20 of them have come in the fourth quarter. So the scoring volume is there. The aggression is there. The burden is certainly there. But when games tighten, when the floor shrinks, when defenses stop messing around and start sending real pressure, that is where Phoenix has needed more from its best player.
In short, when the defenses get tougher, Devin Booker has to get tougher. That is the blunt truth. It feels weird saying considering that Booker has been one tough son of a bitch this season, but to be the best, you have to rise above what the opposition is attempting to do to you.
Now, there is context here, and it should not be ignored. He is missing key pieces around him, and that absolutely affects what late-game offense looks like. The spacing changes, the counters change, and the trust points in a possession change. But one of the biggest issues hurting Phoenix right now is that there has been no real release valve in the form of Jalen Green.
Green has scored 81 points over the last four games, which looks good at a glance, until you see where those points are coming from. 55 of them have come in the first half. That is where the split gets interesting and troubling. In the first half, Green is shooting 45.8% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc. Once the second half arrives, and especially as the game leans into winning time, his production falls off a cliff. During this losing stretch, he is shooting 26.5% from the field and 20% from deep after halftime.
So Booker is carrying the early burden and fading late. Green is contributing early and disappearing later. And when both of those trends hit in the same game, Phoenix runs into the exact problem that has defined so much of this road trip, an offense that can survive for long stretches, but not always close. That is where the Suns keep getting stuck.
So again, two things can be true at once.
Devin Booker has to be better in the fourth quarter, especially when you are measuring him against the opposing team’s best players, the ones who are stepping into those same moments and delivering. And Jalen Green has to do his part to make life easier on Booker, to be a real threat that defenses have to respect when the game tightens. Because right now, that balance is not there. During this losing stretch, Green is shooting 14.3% from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter, and when that shot is not falling, it allows defenses to stay locked in on Booker without fear of being punished.
Yes, context exists. Yes, injuries have reshaped what this team looks like on a nightly basis. But that is part of the league. That is part of every season. Champions adjust. They find solutions within the reality in front of them. They do not wait for perfect conditions to execute.
Phoenix is not there yet. Not this season.
BOOK:
But what you are looking for is the beginning of those habits. The ability to recognize what defenses are doing, to counter it in real time, and to execute with purpose when the game is on the line. This road trip, frustrating as it may feel, offered plenty of those moments. Moments where the Suns were tested. Moments where they came up short. Moments that can either sit with you or sharpen you. The hope is they choose the latter.
Because if they do, these losses stop being empty. They start becoming part of something, small steps that, over time, can turn nights like these into something different when it matters most.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Alabama's Amari Allen is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the forward's draft night will play out.
Amari Allen 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 26 overall, Atlanta Hawks
Alabama's Amari Allen is a 6-foot-7 freshman who averaged 12.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists with 1.7 "stocks" (combined steals and blocks) per game for the Crimson Tide during SEC conference play. The SEC All-Freshman wing also shot 39.5 percent on 3-pointers while attempting 4.8 shots per game beyond the arc. Allen is a good connective piece who plays hard and knows how to make the right play.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 15: Mikal Bridges #25 of the New York Knicks looks on during the fourth quarter of the game against the Golden State Warriors at Madison Square Garden on March 15, 2026 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yesterday was a dream if you know anything about college basketball … or the upcoming NBA Draft.
A.J. Dybansta dropped 35 and 10 (despite the loss), Cameron Boozer had 22 and 13 (despite the tight win), Darius Acuff Jr. did Darius Acuff Jr. like things. It was great and with the Nets have a lottery pick, likely a high one and two seconds at 33 and 44, there’s a big positive. Watching the NCAA tournament gave me some hope, because I know that one, two or three of these players will be playing in Barclays one day soon.
As Ziaire Williams said two days ago at a Special Olympics event at the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center, “We have something very special brewing here in Brooklyn. A year or two from now we’ll be in the mix for the playoffs and winning a lot more games.” Yup, hope springs eternal.
March Madness also helped me to forget about current circumstances at Barclays, particulary the beating Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jared McCain, and the OKC Thunder gave the Nets a few days ago. Was it expected? Maybe, but man did it feel like EVERYTHING went in for the Thunder.
Tonight, the Nets will hope to bring some intensity back in their building as they will be taking on their crosstown rivals in the New York Knicks. The Knicks, who are third in the Eastern Conference with a 45-25 record, are looking to prove that they can get over the hump in this year’s playoffs. With the season winding down, games like this will have separate meanings for both squads. For the Nets, tank, tank, tank. For the Knicks, use this game as preparation to get ready to win a championship.
Where To Watch
Catch today’s action at 7:30 p.m. ET on the YES Network and NBA League Pass, as well as streaming on the Gotham Sports App. You.’ll also be able to watch on MSG
Injury Report
Michael Porter Jr. (left hamstring strain), Noah Clowney (right wrist sprain), Day’Ron Sharpe (left thumb surgery), and Egor (left plantar fascia injury management) will be out. Ziaire Williams is questionable with left hand soreness. The three two-ways will be available as will 10-day Malachi Smith. Expect them to get a good run.
For the Knicks, Josh Hart (knee) and Deuce McBride (pelvis) will be out of play.
The Game
If I were to be a Knicks fan, I would be concerned about my chances in this year’s playoffs. Despite winning their last four games, the Knicks have lost key games against opponents with similar championship hopes. On February 19, 126-111 loss to the Pistons. February 24, 15 point loss to the Cavs. March 4th, three point loss to OKC, and so on and so forth. If the Knicks want to bring a championship to the Mecca, wins against the top teams matter, especially with everyone at the point where they are getting ready for April.
The Knicks chances at success start with Jalen Brunson, who will most likely have his way tonight. Averaging 26.3 points on 46% shooting, Brunson is a master of creating his own shot with his level of pace. Karl-Anthony Towns has a chance to go off as well, as he grew up right across the bridge and down the turnpike to Piscataway. With averages of 20 and 11.8 rebounds, Towns could get Claxton in foul trouble early with his level of physicality. And there is no back-up. None.
For the Nets, the main objective is just to have fun. I gotta say it is really cool to see all the Long Island guys get their shot and show what they can do. The world is noticing it as well.
Then, there’s the tank which with the loss of Michael Porter Jr. is now in high gear.
And of course, we have to note that if the Nets go down tonight, it will be their 14th straight loss in the Battle of the Boroughs, extending what is already a record in the Nets vs. Knicks rivalry. Do not expect to hear many Nets fans either. This one has the potential to be quite ugly.
Player to Watch
Mikal Bridges is not having a good time. The former Net has become the whipping boy for Knicks fans who for whatever reason are disappointed in their team’s season. Add to that what the Nets got for Bridges — five first rounders, all but one unprotected; a first round swap, also unprotected; a second rounder later traded for two future seconds, etc. etc. — and what the Knicks agreed to pay him — four years and $150 million — and you have a recipe for fan angst. “Worst trade ever” is a growing mantra, even if inaccurate.
Indeed things reached a bit of low point the other night when Mike Brown played him for only 21 minutes.
“We all have to play better. It’s no secret Mikal hasn’t shot the ball well, but he’s given us life at times and given us life the right way at times,” Brown said. “I thought he was fantastic at Indiana, on both ends of the floor. It’s not just Mikal, it’s us collectively as a group.”
Not a great endorsement. You might call it damning by faint praise.
Brown is not wrong to point at the bigger picture, but the numbers make it hard to look away from Bridges specifically. Over his last six games, he is averaging just 6.5 points on 32 percent from the floor and under 21 percent from three. He went scoreless against the Lakers, got benched in crunch time against the Clippers, and has not reached 15 points in six straight outings.
Of course, should the Knicks win it all, still a good if not great possibility — and Bridges is a key part of their first NBA championship in 53 years, New York will have won the trade, period. The O’Brien Trophy trumps all.
And if he has a good game tonight, Knick fans will turn again on the 29-year-old and anoint him savior of the day. It’s the nature of the beast at MSG.
The Vault
I had to.
FYI, Jay-Z’s company, Roc Nation, has announced the music titan will perform two hometown shows at Yankee Stadium over the summer.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Kansas's Darryn Peterson is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the guard's draft night will play out.
Darryn Peterson 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 2 overall, Washington Wizards
While he is no longer perceived as the near-certain No. 1 overall pick that he once was due to relative inconsistency and injury issues, many scouts and evaluators feel that Darryn Peterson is the most talented player in this class. The Wizards would put the All-Big 12 guard in a strong position to begin his career alongside Trae Young and Anthony Davis. It is incredibly rare to find a prospect who is able to score as efficiently as Peterson while holding a usage rate as high as his has been this season.
It’s no secret that a loud contingent of the Knicks faithful is ready to hit the panic button onMikal Bridges following his latest offensive stupor. Given the massive expectations and the absolute haul of picks the front office surrendered to get him, watching him whiff open layups can cause understandable frustration.
But before you call up local sports radio to demand head coach Mike Brown bench the $150 million man, understand this is more of a short-term nuisance than a critical threat. You need only look back to last season, or Bridges’ whole career, to see there’s nothing to worry about.
Let’s break down just how rough this downturn has been, first.
Since the calendar flipped to March, the 29-year-old wing has been in an absolute offensive freezer.
Bridges has failed to eclipse 15 points in any of the last nine games, averaging 8.3 points a night on abysmal efficiency. He’s shooting 42.9 percent from two and 24.3 percent from three, far below his usual averages and his season as a whole.
Rock bottom came against the Lakers on March 8, when he played 27 minutes and posted a zero in the scoring column, going 0-6 from the floor. He’s only been to the line eight times during this stretch, exacerbating the dry spell by not getting easy looks.
Yet, despite the ragged scoring, Bridges isn't pouting. He isn’t demanding shots, forcing bad looks, or throwing up his hands in frustration.
Instead, he’s still digging in defensively, still running the floor hard, and making other plays. He has averaged 1.7 stocks in his shrinking minutes.
So, why shouldn't this mid-March meagerness matter in the grand scheme of things?
Feb 19, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) looks to pass as Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) defends during the first half at Madison Square Garden. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
First, Bridges, like every other player who has ever touched a basketball, goes through slumps. And as soon as you look beyond these last two weeks, you realize how strong a season he’s had.
He’s otherwise averaging 16-4-4, shooting 59 percent from two, 39 percent from three, and doing more cardio than anybody else on the team despite never missing a game. He's been exactly the efficient, two-way third-ish option the Knicks needed alongside Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns for the vast majority of the 2025-26 campaign.
Then there’s the Iron Man tax. Bridges plays every single game, his long-vaunted active consecutive games played streak continually growing, now over 625 games.
While other guys tweak a hamstring, sit out a back-to-back, or take a rest day to get their minds and bodies right, Bridges stays on the floor. When fatigue hits, he just has to work through his slumps and heavy legs in real-time, and we’re likely seeing it now.
In fact, we saw it plenty of times last season. The reason you don’t remember is because much more important, memorable things happened soon after.
All that matters is the playoffs. Look no further than Bridges’ massive games to help New York win their series against Detroit and Boston.
In the meantime, it is mid-March, or the dog days of the season. The Knicks are close to locked into the second or third seed in the East, and there isn’t much to talk about when you’re largely rolling.
Despite Bridges’ recent offensive woes, the Knicks are 20-7 in their last 27 games, sitting pretty at 45-25. The next most hot-button issue on the team is the battle for rotation spot 10.
Ultimately, Bridges is a proven playoff performer who knows how to shoot his way out of a rut. The Knicks are built for the postseason, so let him work out the kinks now. When the games truly matter, history shows he’ll be ready.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Iowa's Bennett Stirtz is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the guard's draft night will play out.
Bennett Stirtz 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 16 overall, Toronto Raptors
The Raptors could use another guard and should have Bennett Stirtz on their priority list. After transferring from Division II to a mid-major and then to a high-major program, he is at the top of the class in creating his own shot off the dribble in isolation or the pick and roll. The All-Big Ten guard can also finish plays from dribble handoffs. Stirtz, however, occasionally struggled against highly ranked teams like Iowa State, Illinois, Michigan State and Nebraska. But the Raptors play at a slow pace, which would translate well for Stirtz, who is doing the same at Iowa.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, UConn's Braylon Mullins is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the guard's draft night will play out.
Braylon Mullins 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 20 overall, Charlotte Hornets
Braylon Mullins, a five-star recruit and former McDonald's All-American, missed the start of the season due to an ankle injury. But he has returned to action for the Huskies and has shown what makes him such an appealing player. He is a useful off-ball threat, which gives him an immediately practical role at the next level. The Big East All-Freshman wing is shooting 37.1 percent on 3-pointers since moving into the starting lineup.
Dennis Rodman is set to be a two-time Hall of Famer. Yes, a two-time Hall of Famer.
Rodman will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 17 as part of WrestleMania Weekend, ESPN reported Friday.
The five-time NBA champion with the Bulls and Pistons had a run with World Championship Wrestling beginning in 1997.
Dennis Rodman spent most of his 14-year NBA career with the Pistons. REUTERS
He will join the WWE Hall of Fame’s celebrity wing, which includes pro athletes like Pete Rose, William Perry, Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali.
The unique distinction will make him the only player in the Basketball and WWE Hall of Fames.
Rodman wrestled alongside the legendary Hulk Hogan in a pair of tag team matches.
Controversially, he also missed a Bulls practice before the 1998 NBA Finals for a “Monday Night Nitro” prior to a pay-per-view match, in which the duo faced Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone at Bash at the Beach in 1998.
His last match with WCW came in 1999 at the Road Wild event.
Rodman will be inducted alongside Stephanie McMahon, A.J. Styles and the tag team Demolition in Las Vegas.
But Rodman will be the only one of the five to have experienced such glory before. He was one of 10 members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2011 after a 14-year career.
Rodman led the NBA in total rebounds seven times, averaging 13.1 for his career. He was also named Defensive Player of the Year twice and was an eight-time All-Defensive Team member.
He won back-to-back titles with Detroit in 1989 and 1990 and three consecutive from 1996-98 with Chicago.
Rodman wrapped up his career with one-year stints with the Lakers and Mavericks before retiring in 2000.
Recently, Rodman has come under fire from his daughter, Trinity — who plays for the NWSL’s Washington Spirit — for his partying lifestyle as she was growing up.
Dennis Rodman during a WCW match in 1998. @WWE/YouTube
“We had an expedition and we kind of lived in that for a little bit,” Trinity said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in 2024. “We tried to live with him but he’s having parties 24/7, he is bringing random b—hes in. He loves the spotlight. He loves the cameras.”
Still, Rodman will have another turn in the spotlight with his WWE recognition.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Arizona's Brayden Burries is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the guard's draft night will play out.
Arizona freshman Brayden Burries had two breakout games in January, which helped solidify his draft stock. But the All-Big 12 guard has continued to display his tantalizing talent, scoring 31 points with seven rebounds and five steals against Colorado on March 7 and 20 points with 12 rebounds and five assists during a victory against No. 14 Kansas on Feb. 28. Burries has proven productivity and that he is able to defend, relocate, move the ball and make 3-pointers off the dribble.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Arizona's Koa Peat is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the Forward's draft night will play out.
The Miami Heat have drafted several prospects known for their athleticism, which means a player like Arizona forward Koa Peat will probably have some appeal to their organization. Peat is an ideal match for this franchise given his versatility as a playmaking forward. The All-Big 12 forward just needs a jumper to carve out regular minutes as a high-impact pro. Arizona plays at a significantly faster pace (4.6 extra possessions) when Peat is on the floor relative to when he is not, per CBB Analytics, which would fit very well with Miamis fastest-paced offense in the NBA.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Texas Tech's Christian Anderson is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the guard's draft night will play out.
Christian Anderson 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 21 overall, Detroit Pistons
While they are one of the best teams in the league this season, the Pistons are still struggling from the perimeter and could use more talented 3-point shooters on their roster. A simple fix would be drafting Texas Tech sophomore Christian Anderson, who has the third-most unassisted 3-pointers (59) in the NCAA, per CBB Analytics. Now playing at point guard, the All-Big 12 Most Improved Player is recording more than twice as many assists per 100 possessions as a sophomore now compared to when he was a freshman.
Amen Thompson
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