Busting Brackets
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AAC Basketball: 2020-21 breakout candidates from each team

By Holden Walter-Warner

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 20: Boogie Ellis #23 passes during the Jordan Brand Classic boys high school all-star basketball game at T-Mobile Arena on April 20, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 20: Boogie Ellis #23 passes during the Jordan Brand Classic boys high school all-star basketball game at T-Mobile Arena on April 20, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images /

F Jake Forrester, Temple

Jake Forrester is Temple’s top breakout candidate for the 2020-21 season. He also might be the team’s best returning player, depending on whether or not Nate Pierre-Louis decides to stay in the NBA Draft.

Forrester is not an original Temple recruit, as he began his career with the Indiana Hoosiers before transferring to the Philadelphia school ahead of the 2019-20 season. He was granted immediate eligibility, unlike fellow Big Ten transfer Tai Strickland, a promising guard who will become eligible this season and be a key contributor immediately.

Forrester played just 17.2 minutes per game last season but managed to average 7.5 points per game, good for fourth on the team. He also averaged 3.8 rebounds per game and shot 53.3 percent from the field.

He’s far from a perfect player – for instance, he has literally no three-point shot to speak of, attempting none in his college career so far. That hasn’t prevented him from dominating at times, such as when he shot 8-of-8 and scored a season-high 17 points in a 47-point drubbing of St. Joe’s in December.

Temple was not good in Aaron McKie’s first season and there’s a half-decent chance they’ll be worse next year. A silver lining could be a step forward in Forrester’s development.