NCAA Basketball: Sensational sophomores of 2016

2. Nick Emery (BYU)

After two years away from the game of basketball (LDS mission) and multiple medical procedures, no one was sure how Nick Emery would perform in his first season at BYU. Suffice it to say that the freshman point guard didn’t disappoint.

In his first year on campus, Emery put together the kind of season that had fans reminiscing of Danny Ainge in the late 1970’s. Emery torched records that had stood at BYU for decades and he did it with relative ease.

His 31.4 minutes per game were third most on the team and his 16.3 points per game were second only to senior guard Chase Fischer. He also logged 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He hit over 38 percent of his threes and shot 85.4 percent from the free-throw line.

Given his accomplishments as a freshman and lack of restraint on the offensive end of the court (13.3 field-goal attempts per game), one has to imagine that year two in Provo will be even better for Emery. He’ll be the early front-runner for West Coast Conference Player of the Year this season.

Considering what we’ve seen so far, what reason do we have to believe that he won’t be?

Next: 1. Ivan Rabb