College Basketball Players Who Need to Step It Up to Salvage 2015-16 Season

Parity has an underside.

When the top of the playing field is level, as it is during the 2015-16 college basketball season, all the unevenness has to go somewhere, right? 

Of course it does. Why? I don't know. Because it sounds right, I guess. In any case, there are several teams and players who were expected to do big things this season and have yet to do them. 

It could be a case of underachieving relative to expectations, be they group-based or individual. It could be that injuries forced a role player into the breach, only for fans to never see or hear from said role player again. Perhaps a top player is playing well but not quite reaching true elite status.

But never fear. All is not lost for these brave souls yet. They can still get their seasons back on the right track, but the work has to start now.

These are the players who need to step up immediately for their teams, their seasons or themselves. They are ranked based on the degree to which their circumstances demand this kind of turnaround.

6. Prince Ibeh, Center, Texas

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Just last week, Texas head coach Shaka Smart said he hopes to have starting center and top player Cameron Ridley back from injury by the end of the season, according to Chris Hummer of 247Sports. That's not what you'd call a rosy assessment.

Smart and the Longhorns had to be hoping for better news. The duo that has replaced Ridley in the post—Prince Ibeh and Shaquille Cleare—isn't exactly a two-headed monster.

Ibeh may be the more disappointing of the two relative to expectations. Despite his minutes spiking from 9.5 per game before Ridley's injury to 24.3 after, the 6'10" senior is still managing only 3.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Granted, he has had some solid performance against teams like TCU and Vanderbilt, but that's counterbalanced by a tendency to disappear in big games like Kansas and West Virginia. 

Ibeh is a fine fill-in, but with Ridley on the ropes indefinitely, he'll need to be more than that if Texas wants to be a factor in March.

5. Melo Trimble, Guard, Maryland

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For this one, we're grading on a curve.

Melo Trimble is one of the best point guards in the nation. That's not going to change. However, he has fallen behind in the jostle for the No. 1 spot thanks to inconsistent play, particularly his shooting.

To be more specific, Trimble appears to have fallen in love with the deep ball, though sadly for him that love has gone unrequited.

Over the past six games, during which Maryland has sustained two of its three losses, 62 percent of Trimble's shot attempts have come from beyond the arc. In the previous 16 contests, that percentage was 47.3. 

That's a notable uptick. Making it worse is the fact that he has made only nine of his 39 three-point attempts during those last six contests. That's 23 percent. So to recap, he's shooting more and making less. Those are not good tastes, and they do not taste great together.

In the loss at Michigan State, 11 of Trimble's 17 shot attempts were threes, but only four went in. He also committed four turnovers to three assists in that contest.

A Jan. 28 home win over Iowa was Maryland's biggest W to date. It happened almost in spite of Trimble, who again fixated on the trifecta to his detriment, taking six of his seven shots from long range and converting only two. He did not record a two-point field goal.

This is a problem for Trimble, whose real scoring pop comes around the rim, where he excels at finishing and drawing contact. 

Trimble's assist numbers are down as well, while his turnover numbers are up. Over the aforementioned six-game stretch, Trimble has averaged 4.6 assists and 2.8 turnovers per contest. In the previous 16, he averaged 5.7 helpers and 2.4 giveaways.

Yes, some of that is because of a tough conference schedule. But plenty of players find ways to adjust and excel under similar circumstances. Terps fans would be delighted if Trimble could, too.

4. Marshall Plumlee, Center, Duke

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This could be a few different players at Duke. It could be Derryck Thornton for only shooting 39 percent from the floor. It could be Amile Jefferson, who will need to contribute right away upon his return from injury. Or it could be Luke Kennard for failing to provide enough three-point pop.

However, we'll give the nod to Marshall Plumlee because he is a senior and a supposed leader for the Blue Devils. When Jefferson went down and head coach Mike Krzyzewski condensed his lineup to a six-man rotation, the onus was on Plumlee to take up some of Jefferson's slack. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened.

No one expects Plumlee to be an offensive dynamo. He remains a solid defensive player and an excellent rebounder, which are his primary functions for the team.

Still, if you're the senior leader and your proud team is in a humbled position, as Duke is after falling out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2007-08, you'd want to step up. You'd attempt more than four field goals per game (if you thought that could help) or convert more than 62 percent of your free throws.

What Plumlee's doing now is good enough for Plumlee, but it's not good enough for Duke. Can he make up the difference?

3. Montay Brandon, Guard, Florida State

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Florida State is having a nice season. The backcourt of Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Malik Beasley, Dwayne Bacon and Devon Bookert gives opposing teams problems.

And yet the team is far from perfect. Its 15-7 record, losses to teams like Hofstra and 5-5 mark in ACC play all are making the 'Noles look very bubblicious as February begins. 

It's easy to blame a bland frontcourt for the Seminoles' woes, and there's some merit to that. At the same time, they aren't operating under sky-high expectations, and as such, the group is meeting them.

The Seminoles could stand to get better in their area of strength—specifically, senior guard Montay Brandon. 

Along with fellow senior Bookert, Brandon is supposed to add experience and leadership to FSU's young guard contingent. And hey, maybe he is. But he's not providing much else.

That's evident in his 21.9 minutes played per game. That's not bad, but it's also his lowest average since his freshman year. It's even more evident in his career-low 3.7 points-per-game average and 1-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. 

Maybe it's a matter of there not being enough shots to go around. But even when taking a look at his shooting stats, they don't reveal a much brighter picture. His field-goal percentage is a respectable 45 percent on 2.9 attempts per game; less respectable are his 20 percent shooting clip from deep (his lowest as a Seminole) and putrid 52.4 percent average from the stripe.

For the piece de resistance, let's look at his win shares, per Sports-Reference.com. This season, he has amassed 0.8 win shares. Last season he complied 3.4. As a sophomore, he contributed 2.5. 

Something isn't jelling in Tallahassee. 

2. PJ Dozier, Guard, South Carolina

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The McDonald's All-American freshman rode a mountain of hype into Columbia. 

He's shown some flashes of talent, but the flashes are fleeting.

The culprit, according to head coach Frank Martin, is passivity. 

“I’ve got to figure him out as a player," Martin told David Caraviello of the Post and Courier. "That’s the biggest adjustment anyone has to make. I’ve got to figure out what he’s real good at, and he’s got to figure out that he’s got to be a little more aggressive. He’s too passive.”

Although Martin also praised Dozier's improvement and coachability, the young man is in a George Clinton-level funk right now. As the Gamecocks ran their record to 15-0, Dozier averaged 7.8 points per game. In the seven games (and 4-3 record) since, he has averaged 5.7. Talk about passivity—he hasn't taken more than nine shots or made more than four in a single game during this stretch.

South Carolina needs Dozier's playmaking. Backup Marcus Stroman is steady but not spectacular. He can't step in and approach Dozier's ceiling, even if their stats are similar.

Dozier is still young and full of potential. That said, this season may be more of a learning experience than anything else.

1. Wade Baldwin IV, Guard, Vanderbilt

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Perhaps it's not fair, but it's still the case. Wade Baldwin IV is the best, most visible player for the Vanderbilt Commodores, otherwise known as arguably this season's most disappointing team.

Even though there's blame to go around in Nashville, that doesn't mean Baldwin isn't shouldering some of the load.

One can only speculate, but with all the attention Baldwin has received from NBA scouts (DraftExpress projects him to be drafted just outside the lottery), it's entirely plausible he's been dreaming of the next level. 

Whatever the case, Baldwin's groove is gone and it hasn't shown any interest in coming back. For every good Baldwin game—such as his 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting and four assists in a home win against Florida—there's an equally big letdown—like the seven points on 1-of-9 shooting and two assists to five turnovers in a defeat at Kentucky.

It reached its nadir Saturday, when Baldwin took zero shots, scored zero points, handed out zero assists and committed three turnovers in a 14-point loss at Texas.

NBA draft analyst Kevin O'Connor of SB Nation wrote about Baldwin's shortcomings:

"

For as good as Baldwin was against the Gators, the inconsistencies he's shown against quality defenses have been apparent all season. The issue for Baldwin at his current stage is he's unable to create against quality defenders. This minimizes his ability to score in the half court, especially around the rim, and it hinders his playmaking abilities as a passer.

"

Despite the media's preseason prediction that Vandy would finish second in the SEC, the team is 12-9 and sixth in its conference. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi's current tourney iteration has the Commodores on the outside looking in. 

If Vanderbilt wants to fix this, it has to start now—and it has to start with Baldwin. 

All statistics are accurate as of Tuesday and provided by ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.