No. 3 Leron Black
The Illinois basketball team has some talented players on it right now. The one player who is currently most ready for the NBA is Leron Black. He has the framework for an NBA future but the next two seasons will tell his basketball story.
Black has had an up and down time while at Illinois. He has dealt with issues on the court, like anger and fouling out too much, and he has also dealt with issues off the court that could end up costing him draft spots.
But, overall, Black could still resurrect his NBA potential. He stands at 6-foot-7 and has a 6-foot-11.5 wingspan that NBA scouts will drool over. If he could just hone his energy and aggression into dominating the boards, then Black could have a special final two seasons in Champaign.
Look for Black to continue his three-point shooting as well. Last season he only shot 29.7-percent from deep but he continued to improve as the year went on. This is what NBA scouts look for as well.
Black did pretty well overall last year too. Despite having a lackluster team, Black ended up averaging 20.2 minutes per game and in that time dropped 8.1 points and 6.3 rebounds. He will increase all those stats this season. Look for Black to continue to develop and, I believe, he has potential to be a late first-round pick in the NBA Draft.