Yahoo Sports: The Ultimate Portal for Sports Fans

Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz, Isis "Ice" Young, Kevin O'Connor and former 13-year NBA veteran Marcus Morris analyze the upcoming talents participating in the 2025 NCAA Men’s Tournament and explore their potential impact on the competition.

View more

Video Transcript

So we've been talking about players to watch.

Let's each pick one for the whole tournament, not just for a region, but one person that you've really got your eye on.

And we'll start, of course, with Kevin.

Like who, who's the one person you're watching the most in this tournament?

We mentioned him earlier, Derek Queen from Maryland.

I just love watching this dude play basketball.

Marcus Morris compared him earlier to like a DeMarcus Cousins boogie.

I think that's a great comp.

Derek Queen, he's got the fluidity.

They handle the spin moves.

He can even pass a little bit even though it doesn't show up in the numbers.

Great rebounder, versatile offensively developed developing blossoming shooter as well.

But the dude gets the bucket as well.

Give it, give him the ball behind the three point line.

He's gonna find a way to get to the rim.

So Derek Queen, a player I love to watch, and I also can't wait to see how he performs in some of these tough matchups.

Good pick, yeah, I'm, I'm going Houston's LJ Cryer, um, guard play this time of year is so important.

You need an experienced guard, one that can score the basketball at a high level, and LJ Cryer can do that.

He averages 15, but he can give you 23, 25 day in and day out.

His assist numbers aren't high because he is a score.

That's not his job on this team.

I think come tournament time they're gonna rely on him to get a lot of clutch buckets.

I know I didn't pick Saint John's as my team to win it, but I gotta go RJ Lewis Junior again, complete player.

He's very flourishing under Rick Pitino, plays both sides of the ball, can score at three levels.

He is a bucket getter.

He leads the nation in offensive rebound as a guard.

He is a complete player, size.

He's not afraid of the lights.

I like him to get busy.

I like that pick a lot.

Um, I'm gonna go with somebody we teased earlier that, uh, I've been talking about.

I feel like on our show College basketball Power Hour for a minute.

Uh, Jace Richardson, Michigan State, uh, I said it earlier, I love coaches that I can trust, but I also love guards that I can trust, and the numbers are not as intimidating when you see him here on the screen as some of the other players that we've talked about in this process.

But to me, Chase is a guy that the moment's never too big for him.

He, he cuts to the basket aggressively when they need a bucket, and I think one of the hardest things to get back is momentum in the NCAA tournament when you don't have it and you need somebody that's gonna force contact and just stop a run.

That's something that Jay.

Does really really well and he's gonna have to because I believe Michigan State can advance in this tournament, but I also, because I don't trust their ability to shoot 3, they're gonna be slashing a lot.

The guard room in general is really good, but Jace is gonna have to play lights out.

I'd imagine they inserted him into the starting 5 in part for that reason, knowing that they need that juice from him offensively shoots almost 70% at the rim this year is a 6 ft 3 guard.

That's not just off of cuts, it's off of a lot of self-created chances.

as you said, Jason, son of an NBA player Jason Richardson feels like a guy who's more seasons and uh more advanced than you would expect for somebody as a freshman and the dude's bucket like the, the stepback threes, the side step threes, he can generate his own shot and play off ball.

I love the dude.

I have him as a top 10 pick right now and I know a lot of people have a late first round.

I think it's gonna become apparent as Michigan State makes their run how freaking good that dude is.

Well, and he'll just need to knock down the.

3, you know, he is the most consistent threat that they have.

So if he's not hot, it's, it's over, but if he's not hot, it'll look like a normal day for his party.

They'll score in the paint.

It is interesting.

The offensive efficiency numbers from 2 are incredible.

They have to be because they can't shoot.

Like if you, if you're trading 2s for 3s, then you better my biggest concern for them in this whole tournament is that if they start taking on a team that is just a hot outside shooter, they're not gonna be able to keep up bucket for bucket.

I'm not a big fan of Michigan State.

I, I'm gonna just leave that there.

You got you, your, your, your freshman guard.

You have to lean on to win games.

He wasn't even a starter.

They had to put him in the starting lineup because they could not score the ball.

They had to show something different.

I'm not a big fan of that.

I like him as a player, don't get me wrong, but I, I'm not a big fan of him carrying Michigan State.

I, I just, I, I can't see that.

Close