NCAA Basketball: 20 breakout candidates for 2016-17

Who are the 20 NCAA basketball breakout candidates to watch for the 2016-17 season?

Whether it’s a freshman transitioning into a sophomore, a player stepping into a bigger role or a prospect who worked day-and-night in the gym to take their game to the next level, every year there are players who’s names go from under the radar to nationally known.

In 2015-16, we saw Providence’s Ben Bentil, Colorado’s George King, Villanova’s Josh Hart and Duke’s Grayson Allen (just to name a few) transform themselves from role players to one of the top players on their respective teams.

Bentil became the ‘Robin’ to Kris Dunn’s ‘Batman.’ George King went from averaging 1.5 points in 5.5 minutes a night to 13.6 points in 25.4 minutes an outing. Josh Hart went from a sidekick to one of the top players in the Big East Conference. Grayson Allen was a bench warmer (at least until the National Championship game) in 2014-15, before becoming one of the top scorers in the country this past year.

So who’s going to be this year’s breakout stars?

We will avoid selecting freshman, as they have yet to play a college game and expectations are unknown for the most part. We don’t know how they are going to adjust to college basketball or truly how impactful they will be in year one.

These 20 players that we have selected have an opportunity to not only elevate themselves as potential NBA draft picks down the road, but have the chance to raise the level at which their team plays at in 2016-17.

Next: 20. Zylan Cheatham