Top Non-Power Conference Players in the 2025 NBA Draft
With Nique Clifford of Colorado State and Rasheer Fleming of Saint Joseph's, what other non-power conferences players should you know about in the 2025 NBA Draft?
The NBA Draft is upon us, starting on Wednesday June 25th. Over the years, we’ve seen great players from the non-power conference ranks hear their names called and contribute on deep, successful NBA teams.
Looking at the NBA Finals, there was a whole pool of non-power conference players. On the Pacers, Obi Toppin hails from Dayton, Pascal Siakam from New Mexico State, Ben Sheppard from Belmont. For the Thunder, Jalen Williams played at Santa Clara, Ajay Mitchell is a UC Santa Barbara alum, and Dillon Jones was a Weber State standout.
Let’s take a look at some players from the non-power conference ranks that should and could hear their names called this week.
Use the code “BracketBusters” when checking out at Crow’s Nest Coffee Roasters to receive 20% of your order! Want two bags of coffee shipped to your door every month? Sign up for a monthly subscription here and receive 25% off your monthly subscription!
Guaranteed First Round Picks
Nique Clifford ~ Colorado State
The Mountain West is a unique conference because in football it doesn’t meet the requirements of being a “Power Conference”, but in basketball it’s consistently been a 3-4+ bid league for years. As a result, it produces high quality basketball players and Nique Clifford of Colorado State is just another player to hail from the ranks.
Just two seasons ago, Clifford averaged 5.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists at Colorado. He then transferred to Colorado State and took off. Last year, he averaged 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 49.6% overall and 37.7% from deep. The 6’6 guard will make a perfect wing in the NBA. He’s an offensive weapon and can lock down players on defense. On the boards, he finished 24th in the country with a 26% defensive rebounding percentage.
Clifford could go as high as a lottery pick, but don’t expect him to fall below the mid-way point in the first round of the draft.
Rasheer Fleming ~ Saint Joseph’s
We expected so much more out of Saint Joseph’s this season, but Rasheer Fleming is still going to be a first round draft pick. On the season, he shot 64.6% from inside the arc which was 80th in the nation. He added on a 39% three-point shooting percentage which placed him at 287th in the nation following 159 attempts at 6’9. He finished 47th in the country in effective field goal percentage, 48th in the country in true shooting percentage, and 190th overall in offensive rating.
Defensively, he isn’t far behind with his skill set. He features a 7’5 wingspan and he finished with a 4.9% block rate last season, which was 203rd in the country last season. His length also allows him to pick off passes in the paint and disrupt offenses.
The stretch-four forward has the ability to come into the league and immediately contribute at a high-level in year one. I have published a piece with
on Rasheer Fleming, so if you’d like a full deep dive into Fleming’s skillset and career outlook check out the article below!
Likely Second Round Pick
Kobe Sanders ~ Nevada
After developing into a star over four seasons with Cal Poly, in which he averaged 19.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in his fourth year, Kobe Sanders transferred for his fifth year to Nevada. He picked up right where he left off, averaging 15.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 46% overall and 34.2% from deep.
Offensively, he finished with a 115.7 offensive rating which was 464th in the country. He featured a 57.2% true shooting percentage and a 45.5% free throw rate, which was 237th in the nation. He’s also a playmaker on offense, where he ended with a 30% assist rate, placing him at 70th in the country. At 6’9, he features a unique skillset to handle the ball and run an offense as an oversized guard with the physique of a skinny four.
Most draft boards have Sanders going in the second round, and I would agree. Offensively, Sanders has a chance to contribute in year one if he gets placed on the right team. In my opinion, there’s still some work to be done on the defensive end, so it’s realistic that he might bounce between the G-League and the NBA for the first season. However, that potential with his size to effectively operate as a secondary ball handler is too high for a team to pass on.
Want to support my writing, but don’t want to sign up for a monthly subscription? Consider “buying me a coffee” via the link below!
Sign up for Bracket Busters’ Discord to discuss all things Mid-Major Basketball!
Likely Undrafted
Max Shulga ~ VCU
From Max Shulga’s freshman year at Utah State to his final two seasons at VCU, he improved as each year went on. He finished averaging 15 points, four assists, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 43.5% overall and 38.7 from deep.
Offensively, he finished 86th in the country with a 125.6 offensive rating. His shooting percentages dipped a bit as the year prior he finished 34th in college basketball with a 64.3% true shooting percentage. This past season, he still finished with a strong 59.4% rate which was 256th among his fellow players. His free throw shooting dipped as well as the year prior he shot 87.6% from the stripe at 4.4 attempts per game, but just 78.3% last year with 5.4 attempts per game. He is physical enough to get himself to the line, so look for him to do the same at the next level.
Shulga also plays strong on-ball defense. he featured a 3.3% steal percentage which was 157th in the country. At 6’5, he fits as an excellent secondary ball handler or even as the primary ball handler if need be for his team.
Shulga is the type of player that could be a surprise pick in the second round, but I believe he’ll end up going undrafted. However, he’ll absolutely find a roster spot for a team and I’m looking forward to how he can work his way to a role on a team.
Augustas Marciulionis ~ Saint Mary’s
For those of you that followed Bracket Busters throughout last season, you know that I’m a big fan of Augustas Marciulionis. He was Saint Mary’s floor general as he featured an average of 14.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He also shot 44.6% overall and 34.7% from three-point. His 32.9% assist rate was 42nd in all of college basketball.
There’s some question around how can his offensive skills translate to the next level. I think it’s worth keeping in mind though that despite a 33.7% three-point shooting rate, he was a part of a team that didn’t treat three-point shots as a pivotable part of their offensive schema. The Gaels finished 257th in three point shooting last season at just 32.2%.
I don’t believe that we’ll hear his name called, but he is good enough to earn a roster spot on a team, most likely on a two-way contract. He could serve as an additional point guard off the bench as his 6’4, 200 pound frame gives him the physique that he’d need to keep up at the professional level. Marciulionis could carve his way into a rotation.
John Poulakidas ~ Yale
Poulakidas is not going to hear his name called, but he should find his way onto a Summer League roster and at the very least a G-League roster spot for next season if he doesn’t want to go play overseas instead.
The 6’6 guard had a prolific college career at Yale. Last season, he finished averaging 19.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists on 45.1% shooting (14.7 attempts per game) and 40.8% from deep on 7.9 attempts per game. He was a high volume shooter, but he did it while still shooting over 40% which is an incredible feature. He also maintains control of the ball as he finished with just a 5.9 turnover rate which was sixth in the country.
He’s virtually non-existent on defense, which is fine. He could serve as a pure offensive weapon at the professional level.