Busting Brackets
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Big East Basketball: 2018-19 breakout candidates from each team

By Lukas Harkins

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 10: Sean McDermott #22 of the Butler Bulldogs drives to the basket against Collin Gillespie #2 of the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 10, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 10: Sean McDermott #22 of the Butler Bulldogs drives to the basket against Collin Gillespie #2 of the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 10, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 30: Scruggs of the Xavier Musketeers looks down the court. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 30: Scruggs of the Xavier Musketeers looks down the court. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Paul Scruggs, Xavier Musketeers

Sophomore | Guard | 6-foot-3 | 207 lbs

Xavier’s rising sophomore class has, in my opinion, two players destined to be college stars. Both Naji Marshall and Paul Scruggs boast a ton of talent and represent the future of the program under head coach Travis Steele. For this upcoming season, though, I think that the player that can make the biggest jump for the Musketeers is Scruggs. This does not mean that Scruggs will be a better player than Marshall this year but I believe he might improve more from last year’s campaign.

Scruggs played in all but one game for Xavier this past season, averaging 4.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 16.8 minutes per game. An all-around player, Scruggs showed flashes of his potential last year although he never exploded for a big game. In fact, he only scored in double figures five times on the year and never dropped more than 15 points. However, part of this is due to the fact that he was playing behind two elite wings in Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura.

With this duo gone, Scruggs should slide into the rotation nicely next to starting point guard Quentin Goodin. Scruggs might not be a primary scoring option just yet in 2018-19 but he will surely exhibit a higher usage rate than the 17.4% of this past season. One of the top recruits in the class of 2017 (No. 34), Marshall still has plenty of room to grow. With an offseason under his belt and more opportunity coming during this season, he could emerge as a standout player for the Musketeers.

Others considered: Naji Marshall and Quentin Goodin.

Next: Preseason Big East rankings

Big East basketball clearly has some players primed for big years. Whether or not any of them actually live up that potential, though, remains to be seen. Regardless, it should be an extremely fun year for the conference.

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