Unheralded CBB Freshmen Set to Break Out as Sophomores in 2016-17

The college basketball junkies are all-in on Indiana's OG Anunoby as a breakout sophomore in 2016-17, but hardly anyone outside of Bloomington even knew the 3-star recruit's name until the middle of last season.

And Anunoby is No. 1 on our list of players who are most likely to transition from unheralded freshmen to stud sophomores, so don't be ashamed if you've never heard of most of these guys. Rather, use this as your opportunity to get to know these under-the-radar players before everyone else is praising their names in the middle of next season.

To qualify for the list, a player must meet the following criteria:

• Was a freshman in 2015-16. (Players who were freshmen in 2014-15 and missed last season due to transfer or medical redshirt were not considered.)

• Was neither a 4-star nor 5-star recruit, according to 247Sports. (It's kind of hard for a player to fit the "unheralded" description if everyone wanted him.)

• Scored at least 3.0 points per game in 2015-16 but no more than 6.0. (The minimum is to keep us from guessing whether the guy is capable of scoring and the maximum is to keep us from including guys who would need to score 20 per game to break out.)

• Plays for a nationally relevant program that might make the 2017 NCAA tournament. (Sorry, but breakout stars don't play for Boston College, Fordham or Rutgers.)

Even with that many criteria included, there were still more than enough candidates to pick and choose the ones in the best position to succeed. Our top 10 projected breakout sophomores are ranked in ascending order of their likelihood to score at least 10 points per game for a NCAA tournament team.

Honorable Mentions

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Ryan Cline shooting over Rasheed Sulaimon

Ryan Cline, Purdue

Cline has a beautiful three-point stroke, but as long as Vince Edwards returns from testing the NBA draft waters, Cline will likely be sharing time with incoming freshman Carsen Edwards as the primary guards off the bench. Expect a handful of breakout performances, but Cline's time to shine will likely be in 2017-18.

Ryan Fazekas, Providence

Fazekas was a starter for the first month of last season before missing the next month with mono. He was never quite the same and barely even touched the court toward the end of the year, but he could be back in a big way as the best shooter on the roster. Whether he's actually a double-digit scorer for a tournament team, though, likely hinges on Ben Bentil's indecision about the NBA draft. It's improbable that the Friars dance if they lose both him and Kris Dunn.

Trey Lowe, Temple

Lowe had a breakout 21-point performance against Villanova in mid-February, but he missed the final five games of the season after being involved in a one-car accident. OwlScoop.com tweeted on April 12 that Lowe is still rehabbing and recovering. With Quenton DeCosey out of the picture, Lowe could be a go-to guy for Temple if he's healthy enough to assume that role.

Joe Toye and Camron Justice, Vanderbilt

Even with Wade Baldwin IV and Damian Jones both out of the picture, neither of these Commodores is remotely assured a spot in the starting lineup. The 6'7" Toye is the more likely of the two to make an impact, based on the lack of frontcourt depth on this roster, but they should both get serious run as the first two guys off the bench.

10. Kaiser Gates, Xavier

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Kaiser Gates elevates to reject a Marquette shot attempt.

2015-16 Stats: 3.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 108.0 O-rating

We're starting things out with a tough call, because even though the Musketeers lose three frontcourt players this offseason (Jalen Reynolds, James Farr and Makinde London), there's still a backlog of big men on the roster.

Norfolk State transfer RaShid Gaston ought to start at power forward, and Sean O'Mara should get the first crack at starting center, which leaves Kaiser Gates to battle incoming freshmen Tyrique Jones and Eddie Ekiyor for playing time off the bench.

But Gates showed a lot of potential as a stretch 4 in limited minutes last season. He shot 57.1 percent from inside the arc and 33.3 percent from beyond it while posting strong rebounding and block percentages. His biggest issues were foul trouble and a lack of opportunity with Reynolds and Farr platooning at center and Trevon Bluiett typically serving as the de facto power forward.

Bluiett is still on the fence about the NBA draft, but if he does decide to join the pros, that should bust down the door for Gates to get a lot of playing time. He has yet to play more than 18 minutes in a game in college, but that didn't stop him from scoring in double figures three times last season, including a March game against Creighton in which he shot 3-of-3 from three-point range with eight rebounds.

9. Jalen Poyser, UNLV

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Is there anyone else to score for UNLV than Jalen Poyser?

2015-16 Stats: 5.4 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1.1 APG, 89.5 O-rating

Ike Nwamu and Jerome Seagears are out of eligibility. Patrick McCaw declared for the NBA draft. Jordan Cornish transferred to California.

All that leaves Jalen Poyser as the only returning Rebel shorter than 6'8" to score at least 17 points last season. They do have a 4-star point guard (Jaylen Fisher) and 4-star small forward (Justin Jackson) joining the fray next season, but Poyser is just about their only option at shooting guard as things stand.

Based purely on opportunity, Poyser should have little trouble averaging close to 12 points per game as a sophomore.

However, we're looking for players who might score in double figures on a tournament team, and even with Dwayne Morgan deciding Wednesday to return to UNLV, we're still talking about a team that is losing all seven of its leading scorers from last season. Poyser could score 20 per game on this roster, and it still might not be enough to finish with a .500 record.

8. Lamarr Kimble, Saint Joseph's

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Lamarr Kimble is going to score a ton this season.

2015-16 Stats: 6.0 PPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 RPG, 103.3 O-rating

As is the case with Jalen Poyser at UNLV, there's no doubt that Lamarr Kimble will be a featured starter at Saint Joseph's. He was one of eight players to log at least 100 minutes for the Hawks last season, but four of those players—including all three of the leading scorers—are now gone.

Kimble was also fifth on the roster in three-point attempts last season, but all four of the departing players were the ones who ranked ahead of him. At 37.2 percent, he's also the most accurate returning three-point shooter. In other words, look for him to hoist a ton of triples in 2016-17.

Kimble and Shavar Newkirk should make for a formidable backcourt duo as 6'0" guards who can both shoot, pass and defend at a high level. And James Demery is a solid, efficient small forward who should thrive in the absence of DeAndre' Bembry and Isaiah Miles.

But the rest of this roster is a great big question mark, and with Dayton, Davidson, Rhode Island and VCU all looking good in the A-10 for next season, it's going to be beyond difficult for Saint Joseph's to reach the NCAA tournament.

7. Jarrey Foster, SMU

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Jarrey Foster wants to make the tournament as a sophomore.

2015-16 Stats: 4.9 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.3 APG, 105.9 O-rating

The 2015-16 Mustangs had one relatively well-known freshman (Malik "Shake" Milton), but Jarrey Foster should make a name for himself as a sophomore.

With Jordan Tolbert and Markus Kennedy graduating, Larry Brown and Co. worked hard to shore up the frontcourt via recruiting, adding former Arkansas commit Ted Kapita, Bruno Fernando and Harry Froling. They'll also be adding former Duke forward Semi Ojeleye.

But the Mustangs didn't do much to replace Nic Moore or Keith Frazier in the backcourt, leaving Milton, Sterling Brown and Foster as likely starters who will log a ton of minutes.

Foster struggled in conference play, though. After he averaged 7.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists through his first nine games, those numbers steadily dropped for the next two-and-a-half months. The proverbial "jack of all trades, master of none," Foster did a little bit in seemingly every statistical category but never developed into a go-to anything.

Despite the struggles, he continued to log a ton of minutes, averaging 17.7 per game in the 2016 portion of the season, which gives him more experience than most of the players on this list. Whether he actually uses that to his advantage and gets back to playing even better than he did for the first month of the season remains to be seen, but there's good reason to buy stock in Foster.

6. Derek Ogbeide, Georgia

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Derek Ogbeide and Yante Maten should make for a strong frontcourt.

2015-16 Stats: 4.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 0.8 BPG, 90.5 O-rating

After missing the first five games of the season with a shoulder injury, Derek Ogbeide was a full-time starter for the Bulldogs over the final six weeks of 2015-16.

In SEC play, the 6'8", 250-pound freshman had an offensive rebounding percentage of 13.0 percent, a 22.6 percent mark on the defensive glass and a block percentage of 6.1. According to KenPom, those numbers ranked second, fourth and seventh, respectively, in the conference.

The poor O-rating is a product of shooting 47.2 percent from both the field and the free-throw line while committing a few too many turnovers. According to Sports-Reference, though, he led the Bulldogs in defensive box plus/minus, so he made his impact felt on the opposite end of the court.

As a result, averaging better than 10 points per game might be asking too much, but look for Ogbeide to put up numbers similar to those posted by Miami's Tonye Jekiri this past season: 7.6 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.0 BPG.

Few SEC teams are lining up behind Kentucky for a tournament bid this season, so if Ogbeide can do that while J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten do the heavy lifting on offense, the Bulldogs have as good a shot as any.

5. Dupree McBrayer, Minnesota

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Dupre McBrayer is pumped about Minnesota's bounce-back season.

2015-16 Stats: 5.9 PPG, 2.5 APG, 2.3 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 90.5 O-rating

Minnesota was a train wreck in 2015-16. In addition to losing 23 games, the team suspended three players for the final four games of the season due to a sexually explicit video posted on social media. One of those players was Dupree McBrayer, but he has been reinstated and should be a key piece of what could be one of the biggest single-season, major-conference turnarounds in recent memory.

By adding Texas A&M transfer Davonte Fitzgerald and Illinois State transfer Reggie Lynch, the Golden Gophers suddenly have a legitimate, well-rounded rotation. That duo along with Jordan Murphy and Bakary Konate should hold down the fort in the frontcourt, while McBrayer, Nate Mason and Milwaukee transfer Akeem Springs go to work in the backcourt.

McBrayer's season-long numbers weren't great, but his shooting figures were downright woeful for the first month. Through eight games, he went 3-of-27 from the field and 1-of-12 from three-point range. Over his final 11 games, though, he averaged 8.7 points per game while shooting 40.9 percent from beyond the arc and 42.9 percent from the field. He also averaged 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals during those 11 games, so he has a lot to offer.

If that version of McBrayer shows up from the beginning in 2016-17, Minnesota could shock a lot of people by winning 20 or more games.

4. Chris Silva, South Carolina

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There's plenty of room in South Carolina's frontcourt for Chris Silva to shine.

2015-16 Stats: 5.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 0.9 BPG, 99.2 O-rating

After a surprisingly successful 2015-16 season, South Carolina says goodbye to three of its four international players: Michael Carrera (Venezuela), Mindaugas Kacinas (Lithuania) and Laimonas Chatkevicius (Lithuania). In addition to having hometowns overseas, one other thing that trio had in common is that all three were starters in the Gamecocks' frontcourt, leaving quite the opening for another international big man.

Chris Silva (Gabon) had a hit-or-miss freshman year. In the season opener, he had 12 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocks in 24 minutes against Norfolk State. Two nights later, he committed four fouls in just six minutes of action. As the primary frontcourt reserve, he put forth a lot of that. He played at least 20 minutes seven times, but he also logged fewer than 10 minutes on 10 occasions.

Next year, though, he'll get all the minutes he can handle before fouling out.

Silva had outstanding rebounding and block rates. Had he played enough minutes, he would have ranked 29th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (14.3), 65th in block percentage (7.3) and just outside the top 100 in defensive rebound percentage (22.3). He also would have ranked second in the nation in free-throw rate, as he actually attempted more free throws (107) than field goals (103).

But all those numbers came with a price, as Silva also committed 9.4 personal fouls per 40 minutes. To put that number in proper perspective, Washington nearly led the nation in fouls committed per game, yet not a single member of its primary nine-man rotation had a foul rate higher than 6.5 per 40 minutes.

If Silva can drastically cut down on that problem, he could be a double-double machine for a Gamecocks team that once again flirts with making the NCAA tournament.

3. Derrick Bruce, Oregon State

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Derrick Bruce is ready for a bigger role.

2015-16 Stats: 4.4 PPG, 1.4 APG, 1.0 RPG, 100.9 O-rating

With Gary Payton II out of the picture, the Beavers need someone to step up in a big way.

Well, when Tres Tinkle was out for the final five games of the season, Derrick Bruce did just that. He didn't do much in the first game against USC, but he averaged 26.0 minutes, 14.8 points and 3.5 assists over the final four games of the 2015-16 season.

That's not too shabby for a guy who had several "did not play" box scores in Pac-12 play and logged more than 18 minutes in a game just once before March.

The assists are what really make him stand out as the next man up after Payton. Bruce had an assist rate of 21.8 for the season. Aside from Payton (32.7), he was the only one on the team at 15.0 percent or higher. And as a guy who also shot 51.2 percent from three-point range on the season, Bruce is exactly the combo guard Oregon State needs.

The problem is the Beavers are young and shallow now. In addition to Payton, they're losing Olaf Schaftenaar, Langston Morris-Walker and Jarmal Reid. Their starting five will likely be one senior (Malcolm Duvivier) and four sophomores—unless JUCO forward Keondre Dew or freshman guard JaQuori McLaughlin is able to break into the lineup.

Either way, that lack of experience has us concerned about Oregon State's chances of making it two straight years in the NCAA tournament. But if Bruce hits the ground running as the starting point guard while Tinkle and Stephen Thompson Jr. improve as three-point weapons, the Beavers could do some damage.

2. Cameron Johnson, Pittsburgh

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Cameron Johnson for three.

2015-16 Stats: 4.8 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 110.4 O-rating

In addition to its head coach, Pittsburgh lost two key guards this offseason with James Robinson and Sterling Smith graduating. They ranked second and third on the team in three-point attempts last season, so it stands to reason that a gunner should most benefit from their departure—particularly once we consider that new head coach Kevin Stallings is a much bigger fan of the long ball than Jamie Dixon ever was.

Cameron Johnson ranked fourth on the Panthers in three-point attempts while playing just 11.7 minutes per game. He shot 37.5 percent and averaged 8.6 attempts per 40 minutes—nearly identical to the numbers that Malik Newman posted as a freshman for Mississippi State (37.9 percent and 8.0 attempts per 40 minutes.)

Now imagine what Johnson might be able to do as the 6'7" starting shooting guard in a system that emphasizes the long ball.

With one more year of Jamel Artis, Michael Young and Sheldon Jeter, Johnson could be the X-factor that propels Pittsburgh back into the top half of the ACC standings for the first time in three years.

1. OG Anunoby, Indiana

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OG Anunoby could be one special Hoosier.

2015-16 Stats: 4.9 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 0.8 BPG, 0.8 SPG, 114.2 O-rating

If any of these players is going to have a Grayson Allen type of sophomore-season explosion, it has to be OG Anunoby.

His numbers are deceiving because he barely touched the court for the first six weeks. Prior to James Blackmon Jr.'s season-ending injury, Anunoby averaged just 7.7 minutes per game—getting most of his action in blowout wins over Eastern Illinois, Alcorn State and McNeese State.

After Blackmon's injury, though, Anunoby averaged 16.6 minutes per game, including 26 in the monumental tournament win over Kentucky. He also averaged 6.4 points and had a combined total of 1.9 steals and blocks per game.

That defensive effort is what really made Anunoby stand out. He was one of just six players in the country to play at least 400 minutes with a block percentage greater than 5.0 and a steal percentage greater than 3.0. We marveled at Indiana's night-and-day improvement on the defensive end after getting blown out by Duke in early December, but having no choice but to double Anunoby's playing time is a large part of what elevated head coach Tom Crean from the hot seat to the throne of Bloomington.

With Yogi Ferrell, Nick Zeisloft and Max Bielfeldt all graduating and Troy Williams still contemplating his NBA draft potential, Anunoby should be headed for a much larger slice of the offensive pie. He shot 60.9 percent from inside the arc and 44.8 percent beyond it, but he didn't do much to seek out his own shot despite ranking second on the team in field-goal percentage.

If Williams does leave, Anunoby becomes either Indiana's third- or fourth-best scorer—depending on where you choose to rank him against Robert Johnson. But even being the fourth-best scorer should make Anunoby good for about 12 points per game in an offense that has ranked in the top 10 in the nation in adjusted efficiency in four of the past five seasons.

Stats per KenPom.com. 

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.