March Madness: 10 breakout player candidates in 2019 NCAA Tournament

4. Ashton Hagans, Guard, Kentucky

Unlike Nevada, the Kentucky Wildcats are a team filled with young blue chip recruits, entering their first tournament experience.

As a two seed, the Wildcats find themselves in an incredibly pressure-packed scenario.

No matter how well Tyler Herro, Reid Travis, or E.J. Montgomery played down the stretch, it doesn’t matter in March. This is the majority of this Kentucky team’s first rodeo in the NCAA Tournament, and there will certainly be some growing pains.

Luckily for Kentucky, they have one player in particular that has the ability to weather the storm, even when the waves are at the rockiest.

That player is Ashton Hagans.

While Hagans is a freshman, he plays with the type of maturity that you would typically see in a senior. Hagans is a spectacular defensive player, averaging two steals per game.

In a game in December against North Carolina, Hagans recorded an astounding seven steals.

And you know what they say: defense wins championships.

Surely one players defense won’t be the deciding factor in Kentucky winning a championship, but it can certainly be a big factor in the direction that Kentucky goes.

Hagans’ defensive dominance will be key in the Wildcats’ run this March, even if he has managed to fly under the radar this far into the season.