Maryland Basketball: Jalen Smith set to be Big Ten breakout star of 2019-20

Cassius Winston won Big Ten player of the year this past year and if he returns will be the favorite to win it again. But look out for Jalen Smith of Maryland Basketball for 2019-20.

Cassius Winston was always a very good player, but this past year he broke out and won the Big Ten POY. When the season started most people would have pegged Carsen Edwards from Purdue or Ethan Happ of Wisconsin to win the award. Both did have great years and had their arguments for winning the award, but Winston stepped up and led Michigan State to a share of the regular season title and tournament championship. He did all of this without the help of star Joshua Langford who was lost for the season early in the year. The Spartans also lost Nick Ward for a chunk of the end of the season and he never quite made it all the way back.

So who could be the breakout star to win the award next year? First, let’s start this by saying that the player of the year is normally from a team in the upper half of the Big Ten. So that takes out players from Northwestern, Rutgers, Illinois and probably Penn State (although Lamar Stevens could do it even on a bad Nittany Lions team).

Top players from teams usually are not break out possibilities, so that would take out Winston, Zavier Simpson from Michigan, and Bruno Fernando from Maryland among others. So we need to dive a little deeper to see who has been good but could really jump off the page and win the award next year.

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Joshua Langford could do it from Michigan State, but he was already a possibility this past year had he not got hurt. Isaiah Livers from Michigan is another name that pops up, but I think he will be a great role player next year but not quite a POY candidate. Joe Weiskamp from Iowa is another strong possibility, but will Iowa play enough defense to keep people watching the Hawkeyes?

While those three guys would be great picks for a breakout possibility, there is one guy that sticks out even more than them. He had a great freshman year and has just decided to return to Maryland for his sophomore year.

Jalen Smith – Maryland

Smith is a 6’10” 215-pound big man that burst on to the scene this year and was a nice compliment to Fernando. He averaged 11.7 points per game and 6.8 rebounds. He was a matchup nightmare for most teams as he could stretch the defenses and hit threes. He wasn’t the best outside shooter at just over 26% but he hit enough to keep defenses honest.

Smith scored in double figures in 22 games this year including a season-high 21 points against Minnesota. He had a good two games in the NCAA tournament scoring 19 points against Belmont and 15 against LSU. If Fernando returns also they will make up a great one-two combo down low and Smith looks like he could be the better of the two options.

Smith had a tendency to get in foul trouble at times this year so he will need to work on staying on the court, but he is a force when he plays big minutes. He got a lot of people talking about him this year and could have even more talking about him next year. Smith was good this year, but if he makes a jump in production he has to be one of the favorites to win POY next year.

Winston will have something to say about it, but with Maryland Basketball trending up, it will be hard to ignore Smith next year. If the Terrapins can get near the top of the Big Ten next year, it will be because of how Smith develops for his sophomore campaign. If he makes the strides it looks like he can make, don’t be surprised if he is taking some hardware home at the end of next season.