Big 12 Basketball: Breakout candidates from each team for 2020-21 season

Texas Tech – Kyler Edwards

Kyler Edwards was supposed to have his breakout year last season. He was a freshman and key reserve on the Texas Tech team that made it to the national championship game (he hit a few big shots in that game, too), and he was one of the main guys that was expected to step up to help replace Jarrett Culver’s production.

Instead, star freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey ended up filling most of that on the offensive end as Edwards maintained his spot as a role player. That role was certainly bigger – he started every game and saw his scoring average jump by nearly six points per game – but he was never the focal point of what Texas Tech wanted to do.

That could change in 2020-21.

There’s a good chance Ramsey opts to stay in the NBA Draft pool and, even though five-star prospect Nimari Burnett is set to enter the fold, he excels as a playmaker and facilitator (though he can certainly score, too). That will cause the Red Raiders to lean on Edwards’ scoring abilities a little bit more. They’ll also need him to shake off last season’s shooting slump, too. If he returns to his freshman form from three-point range (44.9 percent), Chris Beard will regain a weapon that let him down a bit last year (32.2 percent).

Of course, if Ramsey does return, he and Burnett will be the primary offensive options. That’s fine for Edwards, too, as he’ll likely settle into a shooter and playmaker role. The 6-4 guard was second on the team in assist rate behind the departed Chris Clarke, so he could step in and be the primary facilitator.

All this is to say that Edwards is a versatile player who can do a lot of things well and will be asked to fill a bigger role next season. What that role is remains to be seen, but Edwards does have the ability to excel no matter what it is.