NCAA Basketball: Projecting 8 biggest breakout stars for 2019-20

If it’s possible for a 14-19 team to be a nice surprise, that’s exactly what Pitt was last season. The Panthers showed promise in the first season under new head coach Jeff Capel, which is all anyone was looking for in the post-Kevin Stallings era.

Much of that hope was found in the freshman backcourt duo of Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens, both of whom performed much better than expected and were among the better guards in the ACC. And, while both are on the track to become stars, Johnson has the potential to be a superstar sooner rather than later.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard showed off a solid all-around game last year, averaging 15.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game, leading the Panthers in scoring and assists. He’s tough, athletic, quick, and extremely creative around the rim, all of which make him especially lethal in transition.

Of course, as we talked about a few times on this list with freshmen guards, they can play a little wild and inefficient. Johnson certainly fits that mold (41.5 percent shooting and 4.0 turnovers per game) but improvement with shot selection and decision-making, again, typically improves with experience. It should help that Johnson will have a better team around him, too, so he won’t have to force the issue as much.

Perimeter shooting is Johnson’s biggest weakness (35.2 percent from three) and will be the biggest key to completely unlocking his game. But if he simply becomes more efficient in the areas he’s already good at by taking smarter shots and making smarter decisions with his passing, we’re looking at someone who could post several triple-doubles.