The Providence Friars had their up and down season come to an end on Saturday night when they were blown out by North Carolina, one of the favorites to win the whole tournament. Providence had a couple of really great moments this year, but the team's ceiling was never all that high because it relied heavily on just two players.
Those players were Ben Bentil and Kris Dunn. Dunn is considered one of, if not the, best point guards in the nation, and many see him as a future star in the NBA. The junior point guard has flown up draft boards due to his performance this season, and now he will get a chance to move on to the next level.
Dunn is expected to declare for the 2016 NBA Draft and forego his final season of eligibility at Providence. After last season there was some thought that Dunn would enter the draft because he was a likely first round pick, but he decided to come back for one more year, and it worked in his favor big time.
There is a new NBA rule that allows college players who declare for the draft to pull their name out a little less than a month before the draft takes place, but that likely won't apply to Dunn. The 6-foot-4 point guard is projected to be a top five pick and is considered arguably the best point guard prospect.
For some players going back to school for another year does not help their draft stock but, that cannot be said for Dunn. The big question about him after last season was whether he was a good enough shooter for the NBA, as he only shot 35 percent from three as a sophomore, but he improved on that this year as it went up to 37 percent. Dunn also increased his scoring average from 15.6 points per game to 16.4. The two-time Big East Player of the Year saw his assist totals dip this year, but that's because the Friars needed him to take on more of a scoring load.
There aren't a lot of holes to poke in Dunn's overall game, as he is also a very good defender on top of all of the offensive abilities. Dunn accomplished just about everything an individual could hope to accomplish in college, so this is definitely the right time for him to take that step up. Providence will miss him, but Dunn will make an NBA team very happy to have him.
