Breakout College Basketball Players to Watch in the 2016-17 Season

After an extremely long wait, the 2016-17 college basketball season has begun. All the predicting and projecting about what will happen over the next five months has made way for actual competition, which began with nearly every Division I team in action on Friday.

Those opening games were also the first chance for some players stepping into bigger roles to show their stuff. For various reasons, to this point in their career the numbers haven't been there, but now there's an opportunity to break out and become a star.

Here are some names you should be keeping an eye out for this season.

Jalen Adams, Connecticut

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UConn's best teams typically are guided by a heady, veteran guard who is capable of scoring in bunches but also making everyone else look better. The Huskies had that in 2011 with Kemba Walker and 2014 with Shabazz Napier, and both years they won the national title.

Jalen Adams is only a sophomore, but he's built from the same mold as Walker and Napier and is primed to be UConn's latest star ball-handler.

Last season the 6'3” Adams averaged 7.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists on a team that had four players score between 12.3 and 12.8 points per game. Only Rodney Purvis is back from that group, and while he's set to be the Huskies' top scorer again he needs someone else in the backcourt to balance things out.

Adams had nine points and five assists but was 4-of-15 in the Huskies' upset loss at home to Wagner on Friday.

Carlton Bragg, Kansas

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Kansas has brought in plenty of big-name frontcourt players the last few seasons, though most have left too soon to make a real impact. For every Joel Embiid there have been a few like Cliff Alexander or Cheick Diallo who never got to show what they were capable of with the Jayhawks.

Carlton Bragg has stuck around for a second year, bucking the trend of most other Jayhawk freshmen this decade. And if he can stay out of coach Bill Self's dog house, the 6'10” forward should be heavily involved this season.

There's plenty of room to grow for Bragg, who only played 8.9 minutes per game last season but his per-40 numbers translated to 17 points and 11.1 rebounds.

Bragg had 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in Kansas' 103-99 overtime loss to Indiana on Friday.

Jalen Brunson, Villanova

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Guard play was essential to Villanova's run to a national championship, and the backcourt will be critical to the Wildcats' chances of repeating. Jalen Brunson was a big part of the former and is in line to be even more involved this time around.

As a freshman the 6'3” guard started all but one game and averaged 9.6 points and 2.5 assists, the least-involved of Villanova's starters on the scoring end. Ryan Arcidiacono and Josh Hart were the primary perimeter scorers, with Arcidiacono the primary ball-handler, while Brunson was a complementary piece.

Not anymore. Arcidiacono has graduated, sliding Brunson into the point guard role where he'll be tasked with feeding Hart and wing Kris Jenkins but also creating for himself when applicable. His 38.3 percent three-point efficiency last season is a strong sign he can handle the job, though being more careful with the ball (he had a team-high 72 turnovers) is an area where improvement must occur.

Brunson had 17 points and seven rebounds in Villanova's blowout win Friday over Lafayette, making 4-of-7 three-pointers.

P.J. Dozier, South Carolina

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One of the highest-rated players to ever sign with the Gamecocks, P.J. Dozier's freshman year didn't pan out as well as his hype would have indicated. He started South Carolina's first 26 games but eventually was pulled from the lineup, finishing with averages of 6.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists in only 19 minutes per game.

The 6'7” guard never found a consistent outside shot, making just 10 of 47 three-pointers, and his ball-handling skills came and went while producing 90 turnovers to 70 assists. His final game last season provided a glimpse of what he's capable of, though, scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting with five threes.

Dozier had 17 points with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in South Carolina's win Friday over Louisiana Tech, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and making 2-of-3 threes.

Eron Harris, Michigan State

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With so many key players from last year's Michigan State team having left the program, not to mention others lost to injury during the preseason, the few left with experience are going to be counted on heavily. That list starts with Eron Harris, who in 2015-16 showed flashes of what the Spartans liked when taking him on as a transfer from West Virginia.

The 6'3” guard averaged 9.3 points in 20.9 minutes per game last season, down significantly from in 2013-14 with West Virginia (17.2 points per game in 31.4 minutes). However, when Denzel Valentine went down with a knee injury midway through the season, it was Harris who stepped into the lineup and averaged 16.8 points over five games.

Harris stayed in the lineup after that but struggled to be consistent offensively, though MSU didn't need him as much as it does this year. In the Spartans' 2016-17 opener, a 65-63 loss to Arizona in Hawaii on Friday, he had seven points.

Shake Milton, SMU

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SMU is now in the hands of Tim Jankovich after Larry Brown did his usual thing this summer and quit. He left the Mustangs in good shape in terms of talent, though, with Shake Milton ready to be a star after a solid freshman year.

The 6'5” guard averaged 10.5 points and 2.7 assists and shot 42.6 percent from three-point range as the understudy to Nic Moore, one of three players who averaged in double figures last season that have moved on. Milton had four 20-point games but was hot-and-cold overall, managing only two points in SMU's season finale.

The Mustangs were banned from the NCAA tournament last season but figure to be in the mix for the program's second bid in the past three years. They could also contend for the American Athletic Conference title—league coaches picked them third—if Milton improves as expected.

Milton had 13 points in SMU's opener, a win over Gardner-Webb, making three three-pointers and adding three assists and three steals.

Donovan Mitchell, Louisville

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Tabbed by Bleacher Report as its pick for most improved player in college basketball, Donovan Mitchell has a major opportunity to shine for a Louisville team that lost its top three scorers. The 6'3” guard was the Cardinals' No. 5 scorer as a freshman at 7.4 points per game but at times showed the ability to do much more.

Mitchell scored 14 points in 17 minutes in his college debut last November and had 17 points in 24 minutes off the bench in a February loss at Duke. But he also went scoreless in two of Louisville's final five games, and the school's decision to bat itself from the postseason amid an NCAA investigation kept Mitchell from being able to perform on a bigger stage.

His time is now, assuming he can combine his speed and driving ability with an improved shot. Mitchell made only 18 of 72 three-pointers with a 1-of-13 clip in his final six appearances.

Mitchell scored 15 points with five rebounds, three assists and four steals in Louisville's season-opening win over Evansville on Friday.

Matisse Thybulle, Washington

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Washington is putting most of its hopes of returning to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011 on star freshman Markelle Fultz, and rightfully so. He's projected by many as the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft, including DraftExpress.

But the Huskies aren't going to succeed as a one-man show, which is why Matisse Thybulle figures to play such a critical role this season. The 6'5” forward averaged 6.4 points and 3.2 rebounds as a freshman but struggled to find his shot, just 39.7 percent from the field though he was 36.6 percent from three-point range.

Thybulle fell victim to the same issue most Washington players struggled with in 2015-16: the inability to stay on the court because of foul trouble. He averaged 5.4 fouls per 40 minutes and fouled out nine times, including his collegiate debut.

The Huskies' season opener is Sunday against Yale, but Thybulle's performance in an exhibition win over Western Washington (17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 on threes) indicates he's ready to break through.

All statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information courtesy of Scout.com, unless otherwise noted.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.