Big East Basketball: Breakout players from each team for 2020-21 season

Big East Basketball breakout candidate – James Bouknight (UConn)

UConn leaves the AAC for familiar territory in the Big East, making a strong, deep, competitive conference even more so. Like Butler, head coach Dan Hurley and his Huskies finished their final season in the American strong, winning their final five games after beginning conference play just 5-8. The Huskies are also returning a strong core, only losing leading scorer Christian Vital and guard Alterique Gilbert.

One big player that Hurley does bring back is a guy who could be on the cusp of stardom, sophomore guard James Bouknight. The electric guard from Brooklyn made 16 starts in his freshman year and was second on the team in scoring with his 13 points per game. He really came into his own over the last month or so of the season when he averaged over 17 points over his last 13 games while pulling down five boards.

He was an efficient shooter in his first year, but he jumped up to a 36% three-point shooter over those 13 games, which would have placed him second on the team among those that attempted at least 70. Bouknight is clearly the foundation of the Huskies moving forward and if his first season is any indication, Storrs will have a star on their hands in 2020-21.