NCAA Basketball: Top 25 breakout sophomore players for 2020-21 season

Which NCAA Basketball rising sophomores are most likely to break out into stars for the upcoming season?

With the exception of a few special players, most NCAA Basketball freshmen have their fair share of struggles. A lot of it has to do with getting used to a new environment, along with dealing with upgraded competition not only in practice but also against much tougher overall opponents. Then there are those who don’t play much in their first year in college due to upperclassmen being ahead of them on the depth.

But after (most) NBA Draft decisions, transfer departures/arrivals, and class of 2020 freshman moves, the rising sophomores of the 2020-21 NCAA Basketball campaign now have an idea of where they stand on their respective teams. Now, expect there to be a number of players who “break out” and become stars that will be much more now to the college hoops observer.

As far as what “breaking out” means, it involves those who are in their second year of playing, whether as true or redshirted players. They’re expected to get either a major boost of minutes and a bigger role on their respective team, or already put up numbers and flew under the radar as freshmen, but will now become All-Conference stars who lead their team to prominence.

For this piece, I’ll be taking a look at 25 (and a few honorable mentions) future stars in NCAA Basketball. A number of them could even go pro after next year as well. The rankings from 25-1 go with my belief on how big an individual campaign they’ll have.