Madness frequently serves as a forum for high-profile NBA talents to showcase themselves on the sport's biggest stage. But this year might be even better than in year's past. Projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg — the anchor for a likely No.

With Rutgers' loss to USC in the first round of the 2025 Big 10 tournament, the collegiate careers of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey have presumably come to a close. As two of the top prospects of the 2025 NBA Draft, Harper and Bailey have yet to make an official announcement but are expected to declare in the coming weeks.

Despite Rutgers' 14-16 season, the projected top-five picks have shown why they're elite prospects. Here's what NBA executives and scouts are saying.

Rutgers basketball’s loss in the Big Ten conference tournament signaled the end for Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. The two star freshmen were the talk of college basketball. While the two are projected to forego an additional year and enter the NBA Draft,

Dylan Harper sat down in the corner of Rutgers men’s basketball’s locker room at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a towel over his head. The five-star freshman guard likely just played his last game as a Scarlet Knight — and of his collegiate career — after his team lost 97-89 to USC in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday.

From the corner of the tiny Rutgers locker room at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the team’s two star freshmen were sitting practically shoulder to shoulder when they were asked each of them a natural question after the end of a disappointing season.