College Basketball: 8 Players Poised For Breakout Seasons

Bradley Leeb-USA TODAY Sports

Zak Irvin (Wing), Sophomore & Caris LeVert (Wing), Junior – Michigan

Head coach John Beilein has started an annual parade of superstars in Ann Arbor, and you can expect the trend to continue with at least one of these dynamic talents contending for Big Ten superlatives. But don’t rule out the possibility of both of these deadly scorers rising to a level that sees them become the most potent scoring tandem in the country.

Levert showed signs of dominance last year, as he surpassed Glenn Robinson III as the Wolverines best non-Stauskas scoring option against most of Michigan’s toughest opponents. While no one expects the wiry Levert to be the playmaker that Stauskas was last year, there is potential for him to be an even more lethal scorer.

Levert sliding down to Stauskas’ secondary ball-handler role creates a spot in the starting lineup for Zak Irvin, a highly touted scorer who has already shown himself to be capable of making a leap. During Irvin’s junior year at Mt. Carmel High School in Indianapolis, he deferred to his teammate and future Big Ten adversary Gary Harris. When Harris left for Michigan State, Irvin returned as a senior to win the same Indiana Mr. Basketball award that Harris had won the year before.

Irvin will look to break out on an even bigger stage this year as the Wolverines second scoring option. Expect a good majority of this duos’ points to come from deep, where both Irvin and Levert connected on over 40% of their attempts last year.