NCAA Basketball: In-depth look at Middle Tennessee star guard Elias King

Conference USA was one of the best college basketball conferences in the country a season ago. Everyone remembers Florida Atlantic and their magical run to the Final Four. There was also UAB and North Texas who both played for the NIT title. Last but certainly not least is the Charlotte 49ers who won the CBI a season ago. The league placed a team in the final weekend of every single college basketball postseason tournament. The league was extremely deep and looks to be that way again this year.

For the mid-major breakout player from Conference USA, we are not going to focus on any of the teams listed above because they already received their airtime and have many players who have already arrived on the scene. This week takes us to Tennessee, for a team that has a huge NCAA tournament upset of their own on the ledger, and a team that is poised to have a seat at the top of the league this year.

The Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders have a senior guard who is ready to put himself on the map. Elias King is coming off the best season of his college career and he has the skillset to take his game to the next level and potentially become one of the best players in the Conference USA.

Middle Tennessee may not have made a postseason tournament last year, but they still won 19 games and have one of the best home courts in the league. They beat Florida Atlantic, UAB, and Charlotte all in Murfreesboro. This season they are a little older and have a player who is primed for a breakout. Can the Blue Raiders get over the hump and get back to the tournament?  That question will be answered soon enough. I hope to answer the other question and that is can Elias King take the next step to become one of the best players in the Conference USA?