College Basketball Stars Facing the Most Pressure for 2014-15 Season

(NOTE: The following story is best read while Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" plays in the background.)

Less than two weeks from the start of the 2014-15 season, teams all over the country are making the final preparations for the long road ahead. Expectations are high for many, optimistic for all.

Yet for a handful of the country's top players, there's additional pressure on their shoulders this season. Beyond just being expected to have a great individual year, these players will be looked at to stand above all others when on the court and possibly carry their teams.

Can they handle the added stress? We'll find out soon enough, as the first games are set for Nov. 14.

Check our list of the players facing the most pressure in 2014-15.

Ryan Boatright, Connecticut

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Year: Senior

Position: Point guard

Height, weight: 6'0", 175 lbs

Ryan Boatright only has to take over the starting spot—and quite a bit of the production—of the catalyst to Connecticut's national title run from a year ago. No biggie, right?

Thankfully for Boatright, he spent a good amount of time playing alongside the graduated Shabazz Napier in 2013-14, and he had good numbers as Napier's sidekick. He averaged 12.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists, which, combined with his experience, was enough to get him named as the American Athletic Conference's preseason player of the year.

"The main thing for me is to work," Boatright told David Borges of the New Haven Register. "I've always had to work hard and grind for everything I have."

Boatright will get help from North Carolina State transfer Rodney Purvis, who sat out last season but was involved in practices, center Amida Brimah and highly touted freshman wing Daniel Hamilton. But like it was last season with Napier, this is Boatright's team, and he'll have more of the weight of a national title defense on him than any other player will.

Montrezl Harrell, Louisville

Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press

Year: Junior

Position: Power forward

Height, weight: 6'8", 240 lbs

Considered by many as a sure-fire early NBA entry after his monster sophomore year, Montrezl Harrell decided he needed another year of collegiate seasoning and chose to return to Louisville for one more season. That was great news for the Cardinals, who, with the graduation of floor leader Russ Smith and clutch shooter Luke Hancock, were going to be quite young this year heading into the ACC.

With Harrell, though, Louisville is once again a trendy pick to have a big year. It was picked to finish third in the 15-team league, just ahead of defending champ Virginia, and Harrell made the ACC's preseason first team.

Harrell averaged 14 points and 8.4 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per game last season, making 60.9 percent of his field goals but only 46.4 percent of his free throws. His minutes will likely go up, as will his shots (he took less than 10 per game last season), which will also mean he'll be spending more time at the line as teams adopt a Hack-a-Montrezl approach.

Andrew Harrison, Kentucky

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Year: Sophomore

Position: Point guard

Height, weight: 6'6", 210 lbs

With Kentucky planning on using as many as 12 players on a regular basis, thanks to a platoon system, to say that one Wildcats player has more pressure on him than any other might seem foolish.

But of their many key contributors, Andrew Harrison is the one most likely to be chewing Tums during practice because of the player he's in direct competition with for playing time: freshman Tyler Ulis.

Harrison fared well as Kentucky's point guard last season, averaging 10.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and a team-high 4.0 assists per game in 31.7 minutes. His time will be far less this season with the platoon, and if he isn't able to dish it out well—he had 109 turnovers last season, and his assist-to-turnover ratio was just 1.46—then the speedy 5'9" Ulis might steal some of his minutes by switching spots in the platoons.

Caris LeVert, Michigan

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Year: Junior

Position: Shooting guard

Height, weight: 6'7", 200 lbs

After winning the Big Ten regular season by a solid three games last year, the Wolverines are projected to finish fifth this year as they deal with another year of early departures and leadership turnover. That's a sign that not as much is expected from the Caris LeVert-led Wolverines, but those expectations aren't the same inside the program.

LeVert is poised to be Michigan's next breakout guard, following in the line of guys like Trey Burke and Nik Stauskas, and last year he showed what he could do in a supporting role with 12.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists along with a 40.9 three-point shooting percentage.

"Playing behind Burke and Stauskas allowed him to study them closely and emulate some of their moves and gave him a blueprint to achieve success," wrote Rod Beard of The Detroit News.

LeVert's scoring and rebounding numbers are the most of any returning Michigan player, and he had three more total assists than fellow returner Derrick Walton Jr. did as a sophomore.

Jahlil Okafor, Duke

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Year: Freshman

Position: Center

Height, weight: 6'11", 270 lbs

As the top-rated player in the 2014 recruiting class and someone who has been garnering plenty of praise and attention for a while, Jahlil Okafor is used to expectations and pressure. And he's picked up quite a bit more over the past few weeks, getting named to various preseason all-conference and All-American teams and even named the ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year.

Having big expectations on Duke newcomers seems like an annual exercise, and they usually live up to the hype. But Okafor is following arguably one of the best freshmen ever for the Blue Devils, Jabari Parker, and will be looked at to replace not only a good deal of Parker's scoring but also provide a level of defensive intensity that Duke has lacked the last few seasons.

Duke was picked to win the tough ACC this season, and in order for that to happen, Okafor will need to have a freshman season that ranks among the best in recent history.

Norman Powell, UCLA

Alex Gallardo/Associated Press

Year: Senior

Position: Shooting guard

Height, weight: 6'4", 215 lbs

Norman Powell was, at best, UCLA's third option on offense last season. With Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams handling most of the scoring from the outside, Powell was there as a complementary player who could still produce when needed.

Now that Anderson and Adams have both gone pro, along with freshman Zach LaVine, and the Wear twins graduated, there's Powell and...not much else back for the Bruins. The turnover puts a lot of pressure on second-year coach Steve Alford, who now has to show how he can coach with more of his own players, but it will also be a stressful season for Powell as UCLA's only scholarship senior.

Powell averaged 11.4 points per game last season, shooting an impressive 53.3 percent. To hope he can shoot that well again is ambitious, but it's certainly not to expect a higher scoring average as he has a larger piece of UCLA's shot attempts.

Dez Wells, Maryland

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Year: Senior

Position: Guard/forward

Height, weight: 6'5", 215 lbs

Maryland is starting a new era this season, moving from the ACC after 61 years to join the Big Ten Conference along with Rutgers. The Terrapins are almost making a completely fresh start with this move, because other than coach Mark Turgeon, very few impact players remain from the final ACC team that struggled to a 17-15 record.

The key holdover is Dez Wells, who has been the team's leading scorer in each of the past two seasons and one of a handful of players who stuck with the program during a stressful offseason. Turgeon saw six players transfer, replaced by five freshmen and a graduate transfer (Richaud Pack) from a MEAC school.

Wells averaged 14.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists last season, shooting 48.1 percent from the field. As one of a decent-sized group of seniors, it won't be all on Wells, but he will take the lion's share of the responsibility among the veterans.

Joseph Young, Oregon

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Year: Senior

Position: Shooting guard

Height, weight: 6'2", 185 lbs

Joseph Young was an easy choice for Dana Altman's companion at Pac-12 media day last week, for two reasons. As Oregon's leading scorer last year, at 18.9 points per game, he's the Ducks' best returning player.

He's also almost the only notable Ducks contributor back from the team that reached the third round of the NCAA tournament but since then has seen its roster go through massive upheaval because of graduation, transfers and dismissals by the school. Center Elgin Cook is the only other returning player who logged more than seven minutes a game.

With so much turnover, Young's responsibilities will be even greater than last season. During media day, he cited experience he gained from summer camps, including ones run by LeBron James and Deron Williams, as he takes on a bigger role.

"I just want to take what I learned and bring it to the team," Young said.

Young could lead the Pac-12 in scoring this season, but Oregon may not be very good no matter how well he plays. It was picked to finish eighth after tying for third a year ago.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.