{"id":503964,"date":"2026-03-04T21:43:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T21:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/503964\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T21:43:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T21:43:06","slug":"evaluating-the-mountain-wests-top-nba-draft-prospects-as-the-conference-tournament-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/503964\/","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating the Mountain West’s top NBA draft prospects as the conference tournament looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year before the start of the Mountain West Tournament, I assess the Mountain West’s top NBA draft prospects. This year, there aren’t many to analyze, with the only MW player on ESPN’s top-100 Big Board<\/a> being San Diego State’s Miles Byrd (No. 61). Still, this is an annual tradition we will continue with a more robust “youngsters who need more time” category, which mostly includes non-prospects at this stage who are worth tracking in the coming years. Here is an evaluation of the MW’s top draft prospects entering the postseason.<\/p>\n

Tier V (youngsters who need more time)<\/p>\n

CG Colby Garland, junior, San Jose State: Garland has played for three schools in three college seasons and is averaging 20.1 points per game on good efficiency (49.7\/39.0\/83.7) while posting a two-to-one assist-to-turnover rate. He’s worth tracking.<\/p>\n

PF Kyle Jorgensen, sophomore, Colorado State: Jorgensen got off to a ridiculous start before a leg injury derailed things. At 6-foot-9 and shooting 42.1 percent from three with some playmaking skills, he could develop into a stretch four prospect.<\/p>\n

PF Elijah Price, sophomore, Nevada: Price plays with a strong motor and is a versatile defender who is above average at rebounding and drawing fouls. He must get better at finishing but has shown an improved jump shot in his second active season.<\/p>\n

CG Elzie Harrington, freshman, San Diego State: A former four-star recruit, Harrington had an excellent start to his freshman campaign that drew scouts’ attention but has since cooled off. He’s at least on the radar as a big point guard prospect. <\/p>\n

PF Tomislav Buljan, freshman, New Mexico: Buljan is a “freshman” at 23 years old, which will limit his NBA appeal. But the broad-shouldered Croatian has been productive (12.1 ppg, MW-best 10.1 rpg). He’ll have to develop some shooting ability.<\/p>\n

PF Carey Booth, junior, Colorado State: It’s easy to see why the 6-foot-10 Booth was a top-100 prep prospect who had stops at Notre Dame and Illinois. He looks like an NBA player and has elite athleticism with production now coming along as well.<\/p>\n

PF Gavin Gores, freshman, Wyoming: An underrecruited freshman from Wisconsin, the 6-10 Gores is a super athlete with nice upside. He is 2-of-16 outside of the paint, so there is the whole shooting aspect of the game. But he’s one to watch.<\/p>\n

SG Jake Hall, freshman, New Mexico: Hall has been dynamite as a freshman, averaging 15.9 points while making 89 3-pointers at a 44.5 percent clip. His size and athleticism is not ideal for the NBA, but if you shoot like he does, you’ll get some looks.<\/p>\n

PF Tyrin Jones, freshman, UNLV: Jones may be the nation’s best athlete, and his motor is unmatched in the league. There’s certainly some skill-development required, but that size (6-9\/190), athleticism and effort combination can’t be taught. <\/p>\n

Tier IV (Lloyd Christmas “So you’re telling me there’s a chance”)<\/p>\n

SG MJ Collins, senior, Utah State: Collins is having a breakout season at Utah State after two years at Virginia Tech and one at Vanderbilt saw him average 6.4 points per game. With the Aggies, he’s tallied 17.3 points while shooting 49.4\/37.1\/80.3. The playmaking, defense and size are not where they need to be for an NBA draft pick, but he should at least get into a G League roster. The same holds true for SDSU’s Reese Dixon-Waters, who has more size and defense but less athleticism.<\/p>\n

CG Mason Falslev, junior, Utah State: Falslev is a tweener in the pros as a shooting guard in a point guard’s body (6-4, 200). Falslev has NBA bounce and does a lot of things well, leading the MW in steals for the second straight season while shooting a career-best 41.2 percent from three while averaging 16 points per game. He’ll also rebound (5.8 per game) and can make plays with the ball in his hands (2.9 assists per game). But he’s 24 years old with not much future projection.<\/p>\n

CG Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, junior, UNLV: Gibbs-Lawhorn looks a little like Trae Young and plays a little like Trae Young. After two seasons as a reserve at Illinois where he averaged just 4.3 points per game, Gibbs-Lawhorn has exploded this year with a MW-best 20.6 points per game while shooting 50.9\/42.4\/84.1. He’s not a true point guard and is only 6-1 and 185 pounds, so the odds are stacked against him in terms of having an NBA career. But this season has at least brought notice.<\/p>\n

Tier III (could get to the NBA with a break)<\/p>\n

CG Jaden Henley, senior, Grand Canyon: Henley’s college tour has included stops at Minnesota, DePaul, UNLV and Grand Canyon, with improvement coming each season. Henley is a strong 6-7 with good athleticism. He’s not a point guard and not a great shooter (26.5 percent from three this season; 30.7 percent in his career). But Henley is averaging 17.9 points per game and has some Cody Martin-like abilities that could land him a spot in the league if he gets the right breaks.<\/p>\n

SG Corey Camper Jr., senior: Nevada: Camper is a fifth-year senior with two seasons in junior college and two at UTEP where he earned all-conference defensive honors. He’s flashed more offensive game at Nevada, averaging a career-best 17.1 points per game on 46.2 percent shooting, including 42.7 percent from three (he was at 32.1 percent from distance at UTEP). You’d prefer a little more size for a wing (he’s 6-5, 185), but there is three-and-D potential here.<\/p>\n

Tier II (likely NBA players)<\/p>\n

C Magoon Gwath, sophomore, San Diego State: Gwath has not had the breakout season the Aztecs would have wanted, but he’s an athletic 7-footer who can make threes (46.9 percent this season, 41.6 percent in his career) and protect the rim (3.9 blocks per 40 minutes). Gwath remains a project, and I don’t envision him entering the NBA draft this offseason. But I would not bet against a pro future as long as he can stay healthy and improving his productivity. He has a unique NBA skillset. <\/p>\n

SF Miles Byrd, junior, San Diego State: Byrd tested the NBA draft waters last offseason before returning to SDSU but has not elevated his stock, essentially repeating his productivity from a season ago. He’s a long wing (6-6, 185) with great defensive instincts and above-average athleticism but still hasn’t checked the “3” part in the 3-and-D, shooting a career-best 33.1 percent from beyond the arc (31.2 percent in his career). His defense could get him drafted, but the offense is a question mark.<\/p>\n

Tier I (slam-dunk NBA players)<\/p>\n

None<\/p>\n

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every year before the start of the Mountain West Tournament, I assess the Mountain West’s top NBA draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-503964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}