New Mexico State Basketball: Can Trevelin Queen become lead scorer for 2019-20?

New Mexico State Basketball had an incredibly balanced roster last season. But could Trevelin Queen break out of the pack in 2019-20?

In a series of rankings for the top mid-major players for the 2019-20 season, NCAA Basketball expert and founder of the website CBB Central Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) recently compiled a list of the top small forwards. Notable players such as Justin Turner of Bowling Green and Raiquan Clark of LIU Brooklyn cracked the top 10 and are due for big seasons. But there was a surprise on the list at No. 10 – Trevelin Queen of New Mexico State Basketball.

The reason why I was surprised to see him is that the numbers and production doesn’t stand out. The former JUCO product averaged 7.8 ppg on 48% shooting (35% from three-point range) last season off the bench. He scored double figures in just seven games a year ago and had numerous occasions where he did nothing throughout a games.

But simple stats can be deceiving. Queen didn’t even play his first game with the Aggies until Dec 7, which was his first game being eligible after transferring from Western Kentucky. By then, head coach Chris Jans already had his starting lineups and rotations set, so the junior had to slowly ingratiate himself into the fold as conference play started to begin.

Queen eventually became the sixth man for New Mexico State late in the season, averaging around 20 mpg in the final 13 games. That was when he starting producing at a high level, including a game-high 27 points in the team’s blowout WAC title game victory over Grand Canyon. He made a season-high six three-pointers in that game as well. It was a good ending for Queen, who finished with a 20 ppg average per 40 minutes. So when he was on the court, there was production.

There’s a lot of expectations for both Queen and New Mexico State next year. They return the top three scorers from a 30-win team and bring back most of a rotation that played typically 11 different players in a given game. That caused a lot of balance overall, with no one scoring over 11.3 ppg. That works for a mid-major club who can simply overwhelm smaller programs with their depth but the Aggies are looking to take it to the next level and finally advance in the NCAA Tournament. For that, they’ll need someone who can drop 20+ points in a given game.

One player who showed they could accomplish that is returning leading scorer Terrell Brown but legal troubles have his status somewhat in the air at the moment, although he’s likely to remain with the program. But regardless, Queen, with the advantage of being able to play from the get-go now, should enter the starting lineup for New Mexico State.

The wing’s offense will be needed against non-conference foes such as Arizona and other power conference opponents who will be named later. The Aggies are projected to be a quality mid-major team once again but will need a boost somewhere to take that next level. If Queen gets more minutes and produces as a result, that might be enough for the program to finally breakthrough on the biggest stage.