CHICAGO — The NBA Scouting Combine is meant to be a place where college basketball’s top prospects gather under one roof to be interviewed and inspected. Now, though, very few of the top players are anywhere to be seen. At the recommendation of their agents, they are mostly scarce, if they are even here at all.

But on Thursday, there was former Providence guard Kris Dunn, a potential top-five pick, sitting at a small table surrounded by microphones and voice recorders. He already had completed some physical measurements and was happy to sit front and center in a space so many others were absent from. But why?

“The reason I’m here is to support my guys: Ron Baker, Damian Jones, Jakob Poeltl,’’ Dunn said. “We’ve all been working out in LA, and I’m out here supporting those guys and my great [Providence] teammate, Ben Bentil. I’m going to have his back throughout the whole process. I want him to do good out here, so I’m just here to support my guys.’’

And that might say as much about Dunn as any interview he completes with a team. Those close to him describe him as a team-first player who wants success for others more than he wants it for himself.

If he had left Providence last year after being named the Big East Conference player of the year, he would have been a high first-round pick. Friars coach Ed Cooley even said if Dunn had been his son, he would have encouraged him to chase his professional dream.

But Dunn elected to return for his redshirt junior season, and he insists very little of it had to do with boosting his draft stock. It irritated him that he had not won an NCAA Tournament game at Providence, so he guided the Friars to a first-round win over USC. It motivated him to know he was so close to earning his college degree, and on Saturday he will return to Rhode Island and graduate with his classmates.

“There’s not too many people where I come from who graduate from college,’’ Dunn said. “I wanted to be a good role model for New London [Conn.], for Providence, and mainly for my family, my two little sisters who are about to go into high school. I wanted to come back also to build my legacy at Providence. They’ve shown me so much love and support.’’

Along the way, Dunn did not hurt his draft stock, either, as he averaged 16.4 points, 6.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Friars, who won 24 games and took a turn ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams. Cooley said he believes Dunn is the best defensive player in the draft.

“This year allowed him to work on some of the weaknesses he had, allowed him to see the game differently,’’ Cooley said. “His skill level improved, his confidence improved. And when you look at his body, his strength and size really improved. I think it allowed him to become a more complete player.’’

Bentil, who has not signed with an agent yet and could still return to Providence next season, was touched that his teammate came to the combine in part to support him. He has seen him play more often than anyone here, and he believes some team will be getting a star.

“The moves he did during the games, he’d do moves and he’s running back down the court and I’m looking at him like, ‘Yo, that’s tough,’’’ Bentil said, smiling.

ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla put Dunn on his short list of players who would be candidates to be selected with the third overall pick of the draft, after Duke’s Brandon Ingram and LSU’s Ben Simmons. The Celtics are clearly loaded in the backcourt, but they will enter Tuesday’s lottery with the best odds of securing the No. 3 pick.

“He’s likely the best point guard in this draft,’’ Fraschilla said. “He’s got NBA size, strength, ability to pass the ball. [He’s] older, mature.’’

Dunn turned 22 in March, and he thinks his age can be an asset for a team that is looking for a player to step in and play immediately. During interviews with teams, he said, he has tried to sell himself as both a relentless basketball player and a man of high character.

“I’m definitely prepared,’’ Dunn said. “I think it’s the maturity level. I’m happy that I came back for a whole other year because I wasn’t ready to go to the NBA. Right now I’m in a good space. I’m calm, I’m relaxed, I have a great support system around me.’’

And while his maturity and his age could be assets, Dunn smiled on Thursday and admitted that in this environment, with his dream so close, he feels like he is 18 again.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.