Atlantic 10 Basketball: 6 potential breakout stars for 2022-23 season

Khalil Brantley: Guard, La Salle Explorers

I liked Brantley coming out of high school when he first committed to La Salle, and a strong Freshman season reassured me that he can be a go-to player in this league moving forward. He averaged 8.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game as a rookie for the Explorers and, as is always a promising sign, got better as time went on, averaging 10.5 points per game as well as 1.8 steals on the other end over his last six contests.

The Explorers do have solid talent outside of Brantley at the Guard positions (eg. Jhamir Brickus, Josh Nickelberry), so he won’t need to be a superhero for his team to exceed expectations, but I do believe that he will separate himself as the clear top option among that group and easily eclipse double-digit scoring.

He has areas to clean up if he wants to become a more efficient playmaker and distributor, but hopefully improved leadership from the new coaching staff (headed by Big 5 legend Fran Dunphy) will help him to play with better poise and tempo.

The bottom line with Brantley, and why I have always liked him as a player, is that he’s electric with the ball in his hands and lighting quick off the dribble. He has physical talents that the other Guards on the La Salle roster just don’t share, and I believe he has the highest ceiling as far as which among them could really make this team their own in crunch time.