The 2026 NCAA tournament is set to be a massive NBA Draft showcase.

The upcoming draft is considered to be exceptionally deep and littered with college basketball talent. However, not every top draft prospect will be playing in March Madness. Here are five players who could be picked in the first round this summer who will not be on the floor during the NCAA tournament. 

North Carolina F Caleb Wilson

The possible top-five pick had the bad luck of suffering an injury while rehabbing from an injury.

Wilson had been sidelined for most of February after fracturing his left hand in the Tar Heels’ Feb. 10 loss to Miami. As he was working his way back from that hand injury, Wilson broke his right thumb while dunking during a non-contact drill in practice on March 5.

Wilson had been on track to potentially return for the NCAA tournament and maybe even part of all of the ACC tournament. Instead, the Tar Heels are playing the entire postseason without their best player.

Before he was injured the first time, Wilson was averaging nearly 20 points and over nine rebounds a game while shooting almost 58% from the field. He had been a star since putting on a Tar Heels jersey, too. The top recruit scored 22 on 8-of-10 shooting against Central Arkansas before going 9-of-11 from the floor and scoring 24 points in a 13-point win over Kansas.

But his offensive game isn’t the only reason he could be picked highly in the draft. Wilson has the potential to be a plus defender at the next level too.

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Texas Tech F JT Toppin

Toppin could be the type of player whose game doesn’t translate perfectly to the NBA level. But he’s still a possible first-round pick and his torn ACL is a massive injury for a Texas Tech team that was very capable of getting to the Final Four with him on the floor.

After he was a consensus All-American and the Big 12 player of the year in 2024-25, Toppin took on an even greater offensive workload this season. Before going down against Arizona State on Feb. 17, Toppin was averaging 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds a game while shooting just under 55% from the field. A year ago, Toppin shot just over 55% from the floor on 3.6 fewer shots per game.

He scored at least 10 points in all but one game this season and had 31 points and 13 rebounds in the Red Raiders’ overtime win at Arizona on Feb. 14.

Without Toppin on the floor, guard Christian Anderson became even more important for Texas Tech. But he slipped and appeared to injure his groin in a Thursday loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament. Anderson suffered a muscle strain, but said after the game that he was “feeling good.” Tech needs him at 100% to make a run to the second week of the tournament.

USC G Alijah Arenas

The 18-year-old son of Gilbert Arenas appeared in 14 games this season for the Trojans after suffering a torn meniscus in July. And the knee injury came three months after he had been placed in an induced coma after he was trapped in his Tesla Cybertruck after a car crash.

Given his tumultuous 2025, it was an impressive accomplishment for Arenas to even see the court this season. And he showed flashes of why he can be a top-10 pick, though his season — like USC’s — was uneven at best.

Arenas shot just 34% from the field this season and had six games with multiple 3-point attempts without a make. He was just 13-of-61 from behind the arc and had only two games where he shot 50% from the field.

But Arenas still has major potential and was a top-30 recruit in the high school class of 2025. It would not be surprising at all if he declared for the 2026 draft and was a lottery pick in June.

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Washington F Hannes Steinbach

The freshman big man has been a double-double machine for the Huskies. Steinbach averaged 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds a game this season. He never scored fewer than 10 points in a single game and had just seven games with fewer than 10 rebounds.

He was especially dominant against USC on March 4. Steinbach had 22 points and 24 rebounds in the Huskies’ 91-72 win. Twelve of those rebounds were on the offensive end, too, and he was 9-of-12 from the field.

Steinbeck didn’t shoot much from behind the arc — just 53 attempts — but was a passable 34% and could show enough promise to force NBA teams to not leave him alone outside at the next level. The Germany native may not be a lottery pick, but he could be a top-20 selection for a team looking for some help on the inside.

Baylor G Cameron Carr

After playing just 18 games across two seasons at Tennessee, Carr emerged as Baylor’s best player this season.

The junior averaged 19.2 points and 5.5 rebounds a game while shooting 51% from the field and almost 40% from behind the 3-point line. He dropped over 20 points in four of Baylor’s last five games and dropped 27 against St. John’s in November.

Carr did have two games during Big 12 play where he was just 1-of-11 from the field, however. He missed 10 shots and made one in a 10-point loss at Cincinnati in January, and had the same line while going 1-of-7 from behind the arc in an 82-71 loss at Louisville on Feb. 14

Arizona’s Jaden Bradley sent the Wildcats to the Big 12 tournament championship game with his buzzer beater against Iowa State.

Bradley hit a contested fadeaway as time expired for an 82-80 win over the Cyclones in what could have been the best game of conference tournament week. Bradley made two baskets in the final minute, as Arizona took the lead late in the second half and hung on.