NCAA's Top Defender is a Prospect Raptors Must Keep Tabs On

The Toronto Raptors should be eyeing Virginia's Ryan Dunn during March Madness as a potential first-round pick in this year's NBA Draft

Keep an eye on Virginia’s Ryan Dunn.

At this point, March Madness scouting may be the most fun Toronto Raptors fans have over the next month or so and the Virginia wing is certainly a player to keep in mind.

The 6-foot-8 wing is exactly the kind of player Toronto used to be loaded with. He’s long and rangy with the versatility to guard multiple positions and the kind of toughness that has earned him recognition as possibly college basketball’s best defender. He’s averaging 1.3 steals per game and he’s elite as a help defender, leading one of the country’s best defenses with 2.3 blocks per game.

“The irony of the Raptors’ trade of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby this season is that Masai Ujiri’s squad now actually needs more 6-foot-8-ish dudes. Dunn is college basketball’s best defender, though shooting is by far his biggest weakness. If he develops a more reliable jumper, as Siakam and Anunoby did in Toronto, then this could be the best landing spot for him,” wrote Kevin O’Conner in his latest mock draft for The Ringer.

Dunn would have been a typical Raptors prospect a few years ago. He’s shooting just 20.6% from three-point range this season on just one attempt per game and unless he’s scoring near the hoop, he doesn’t offer much else in terms of offensive production.

But Toronto has taken chances on players like Dunn in the past and with a glaring need for a wing defender, the 21-year-old sophomore makes a ton of sense for the Raptors if he’s on the board at No. 17 when the pick formerly owned by Indiana rolls around.

Dunn and the 10th-seeded Cavaliers will tip off Tuesday in the First Four round against Colorado State at 9:10 p.m. with a chance to take on Texas in the Round of 64.