4 under-the-radar WNBA Draft Prospects to watch in the NCAA Tournament

It’s March. For many of you, that means a chance to watch your favorite college team try to win a championship, or to watch your favorite players go head to head.

For others, this is the first time all year that you’re really tuning in to college basketball. Maybe you just only watch when the excitement is at its highest, or maybe you’re someone who prefers the pro game, so you’re just tuning in to watch some draft prospects.

If you’re in that latter group, this one’s for you. We all know — or should know — to pay attention to Paige Bueckers and Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron, but what about some of the under-the-radar players who could see their names called in April’s WNBA Draft?

These players might not be first round locks, but they’re worth monitoring during this year’s NCAA Tournament to see how they play.

Maddy Westbeld – Notre Dame

Look, I get it. If you’re talking about the WNBA and this Notre Dame team, you’re focusing heavily on Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron, who most people agree are the No. 2 and No. 3 prospects in this class, respectively.

But don’t forget about Maddy Westbeld. The 6-foot-3 forward is only fifth on the team in scoring behind the two aforementioned players plus Hannah Hidalgo and Liatu King, but that’s mostly just a product of how stacked this team is, and of the fact that Westbeld’s season got off to a slow start as she missed the first 13 games with a foot injury.

But while Westbeld isn’t shooting a ton, she’s been efficient when she does. Her 57.3 percent mark from inside the arc ranks in the 93rd percentile and she’s been solid from outside as well. She can be a solid stretch four at the next level.

JJ Quinerly – West Virginia

I’m a huge fan of West Virginia’s JJ Quinerly, a 5-foot-8 combo guard who is just a complete menace on the defensive end. Quinerly, the 2024 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, ranks in the 99th percentile among guards in steal rate at 5.4 percent and the 96th percentile in steals per personal foul, showcasing that she can terrorize opposing ball-handlers without making too many mistakes in the process.

Quinerly is the kind of player who I think will really benefit from the WNBA’s expansion over the next couple of seasons. She’s a good college scorer but has never quite found her touch from deep, and she works best as a secondary ball-handler instead of a primary one. But with more roster spots opening up, the range of what kind of player is useful opens up as well. A defensive specialist shooting guard should stick more easily in a 16-team league than a 12-team league because a larger player pool allows for specialists to shine more.

And it’s not like Quinerly is bad at shooting the ball. She’s been above the Division I average this year on all major shot types except for corner threes, and she has the toughness to work her way inside. She’s also done a very good job with elbow jumpers, shooting over 40 percent from both the left and right elbow.

Janiah Barker – UCLA

When Janiah Barker began her career at Texas A&M, there were a number of people who viewed her as a future lottery pick and even potentially as a future No. 1 overall pick. As recently as October, The Next’s draft trio of Emily Adler, Hunter Cruse and Lincoln Shafer — arguably the most knowledgable group of draft analysts out there — had Barker ranked No. 2 on its big board.

Unfortunately, Barker’s never really put all the promise together. In theory, she’s a versatile big who can defend any position and who has flashed some shooting potential. However, it just feels like she’s gotten lost this season at UCLA, and her shooting touch from three-point range has tanked, going from 34.3 percent last year down to 16.1 percent this season. Her free throw shooting has improved, but still ranks in just the 29th percentile.

Still, a strong NCAA Tournament could propel Barker into the back of the first round. She still has the tools to be a great player; it just didn’t happen with the Bruins this season. There will be teams that bet on the upside here, even if three college seasons have shown that she can’t consistently hit that upside.

Rori Harmon – Texas

College fans should need no introduction to Rori Harmon. The Texas point guard is one of the sport’s premier defensive playmakers and her impressive 2.21 steals per personal foul show just how precise she is when she goes for the ball.

Harmon’s also one of the best passers in the game. Her 5.9 assists per game rank 12th in Division I and 3.06 assist to turnover ratio ranks 12th as well.

What makes Harmon a fascinating pro prospect is that she does two very useful things at a very high level. Who doesn’t want an elite defender and playmaker?

But Harmon has also shown major issues when it comes to scoring the ball. At 5-foot-6, Harmon’s size gives some concerns about whether or not she could translate defensively to the WNBA. Personally after watching her closely for four years at Texas, I think she’d be fine on that end, but her size does give me pause on the offensive end, because it’s going to be tough for her to navigate to the basket. That means she’ll need to fall back on jump shooting and, uhh…that could be an issue.

Harmon’s a below-average shooter when outside of the paint. Per CBB Analytics, she shoots 32.5 percent on midrange shots, which isn’t awful but does rank 0.8 percentage points below the Division I average. Where she really struggles is from 3-point range, as her 24.2 percent mark on above-the-break 3s ranks 6.7 percentage points below average.

Can Harmon improve as a shooter? Probably! She reminds me a lot of Jordin Canada, who entered the WNBA as an elite defensive guard who just couldn’t shoot the ball. It took time, but Canada has become a respectable shooter — it’s still a weakness in her game, but she’s capable of attempting and making threes now. That’s the path for Harmon to find WNBA success — use her playmaking and defensive skills to earn a roster spot, then keep that spot by improving her jump shot.