Providence Basketball: AJ Reeves a Big East breakout star in 2019-20

Providence Basketball’s AJ Reeves burst onto the scene as a freshman in the 2018-19 before he was derailed by a foot injury. Can he return to form in 2019-20?

The term ‘breakout star’ is a tough to nail down.

If Marquette is a top-10 team next season as many prognosticators believe, Sam Hauser will probably grab much more national attention than he has in the past even if his play plateaus. If Georgetown takes another step forward, much praise will probably be heaped on the shoulders of James Akinjo and Mac McClung, even though the former just won Big East Freshman of the Year and the latter was a YouTube sensation long before he ever donned the blue and gray. None of those players will be true breakout candidates because we already expect them to be major producers on tournament teams.

So for a true breakout player, you have to look at someone who is both underrated and underappreciated, yet still has the potential and skill set to take over games. No Big East player better fits that bill than Providence‘s lanky guard AJ Reeves.

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Reeves, a top-50 recruit from Massachusetts, immediately put his stamp on the 2018-19 season, becoming just the third Friar this decade to total at least 45 points across the first two games of the season, joining 2016-17 Rodney Bullock and 2012-13 Bryce Cotton (Reeves also did it on vastly superior efficiency, knocking down 74 percent of his shots against Siena and Wichita State). The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 14.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.1 steals through his first 10 games, collecting three Big East Freshman of the Week honors in the process.

But then he went down with a foot injury, and missed PC’s next nine games. When he returned after nearly a two-month layoff, it was clear he wasn’t the same guy. Reeves averaged just 6.9 points over the Friars’ final 11 contests. His shooting splits fell off a cliff, dropping from 50/45/71 percent before the injury to just 35/32/69 percent afterwards. His minutes dipped, as did his shot attempts. By the end of the season, the player who seemed like the early-season favorite for Big East Freshman of the Year didn’t even land on the six-person All-Freshman team.

Yes, an increase in the competition did coincide with Reeves struggles, but it’s not like he was lighting up scrubs in non-conference play either. For a guy who entered college with a reputation as a scorer and a shooter, and then played with such rip-roaring confidence to start the season, it’s clear his second-half struggles were more injury-related than anything.

That’s why Friars fans should feel sneaky confident in 2019-20. Steady Eddie Alpha Diallo is back, as is productive junior big man Nate Watson. But PC is essentially adding three high-level guards to its rotation: grad transfer Luwane Pipkins, four-star wing Greg Gantt, and a healthy, refreshed Reeves. Providence couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn this spring, shooting just 29 percent in conference play, the worst such mark in the Big East by a significant margin. A rejuvenated Reeves should significantly boost that figure.

Reeves would have been due for a significant jump anyways with another offseason under his belt, but the fact that he will be no longer be hampered by a foot injury – knock on wood – will make the leap that much more noticeable. The Friars should be thinking about a return to the NCAA tournament next March, partially because Diallo and Reeves could make up one of the best duos in the Big East.

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Providence Basketball: AJ Reeves a potential Big East breakout star in 2019-20

By Brian Foley | Apr 13, 2019

Providence Basketball’s AJ Reeves burst onto the scene as a freshman in the 2018-19 before he was derailed by a foot injury. Can he return to form in 2019-20?

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