Every season, there are breakout candidates that basketball fans, analysts, coaches and executives are on the lookout for, and the 2023-24 campaign for NCAA men's basketball should be more of the same.
In fact, with San Diego State recently reaching the NCAA Championship for the first time in history last season, Miami (FL) recently reaching the Final Four for the first time in history last season, and the transfer portal as busy as ever, we may be in store for truly surprising year.
5 breakout candidates for 2023-24 season
Matthew Cleveland
The Miami (FL) men's basketball program has more attention on them than usual after making it to the Final Four last season, where they would fall to eventual champion UConn. As a program that's also had multiple players get drafted into the NBA, there may be no greater time than ever for a Hurricanes player to take the nation by storm.
Matthew Cleveland could be that guy.
A transfer from Florida State, the 6-foot-7 wing averaged 13.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks per game last season, leading the team with his scoring average while ranking second with his rebounding and block averages. Cleveland also shot 44.5 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from 3.
A tough shot-maker that can get his own and play-finisher that thrives off-ball, Cleveland has already impressed his new teammates and coaching staff, and projects to be a go-to scorer for Miami. His ability to maximize his length by with his awareness, quickness and effort on the defensive end is important as well.
With former Hurricanes wing Jordan Miller now in the NBA, Cleveland has a ready-made role to both fit in and transcend. With luck, a strong enough 2023-24 campaign could see Cleveland go at least as high as Miller did in the 2023 NBA Draft, when he was selected 48th overall.
A.J. Storr
There are few better ways for a collegiate basketball program that only diehard fans are familiar with to generate attention than to hire a coach of Rick Pitino's caliber. However, those types of momentum-shifting decisions can often have a butterfly effect, and that's exactly what happened as former St. John's shooting guard A.J. Storr entered the transfer portal soon after Pitino was hired to coach the Red Storm, landing with Wisconsin.
A three-star high school recruit when he committed to St. John's and a four-star transfer recruit when he entered the transfer portal in the spring, Storr averaged 8.8 points per game while shooting 40.4 percent from 3 as a true freshman. A 3-point specialist with a quick, consistent release and NBA range, what Storr offers for teams that have interest in him may be the most important skill in the NBA today.
6-foot-6, 200 pounds, and athletic, the 19-year-old's game is simple but effective. He may not offer too much more than that but neither did former Kansas Jayhawks sharpshooter Gradey Dick, who the Toronto Raptors selected with the No. 13 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Though it would be foolhardy to project Storr as a lottery pick, he could definitely shoot up the draft boards between this time and the 2024 NBA Draft, which projects to be one of the weaker drafts in recent years.
Bruce Thornton
Ohio State may always be, first and foremost, a football school.
However, over the years, the Buckeyes have proven themselves to have one of the better basketball programs in the country for both men and women. All-time, the Buckeyes basketball program has had notable players like John Havlicek, Mike Conley Jr., Clark Kellogg, D'Angelo Russell, and Jim Jackson having played for Ohio State prior to being top-10 NBA picks.
With all of that said, what makes Ohio State point guard Bruce Thornton is the absence of Brice Sensabaugh and Justice Sueing, who averaged 28.6 points per game for the Buckeyes combined last season. Though the Buckeyes landed commitments from a few four-star commits from the Class of 2023 that could provide an offensive spark, Thornton should be in line for a much larger role as he had the fourth-highest scoring average last season.
Built a bit similarly to former NBA star Raymond Felton at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, Thornton averaged 10.6 points, 2.6 assists, and 0.8 steals per game last season while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from 3. A strong two-way player with great passing, shooting touch, play recognition and pick-and-roll play, Thornton could easily be viewed as one of the top point guards in the 2024 NBA Draft class by next summer.
Sion James
Tulane men's basketball may not run across the mind of the everyday NBA fan, but rest assured that they have quite a bit of talent. So much so that they were chosen to represent the United States at the World University Games, where they would fall to Brazil in the semifinals after defeating Poland, Germany, and Canada.
Which brings us to Sion James. Averaging 9.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.0 steals in 37.1 minutes per game for the Green Wave as a junior in 2022-23, the 6-foot-5- and 205-point guard ranked in the top-15 of players in the 2023 World University Games with 1.8 steals per game.
James consistently fills up the stat sheet because of his intelligence, aggressiveness, footwork, and anticipation. He can even have those head-turning games, such as when he recorded 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds, three steals, and two blocks in 40 minutes.
One of the more impressive players off the court as well, James was named the Chair of the American Athletic Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2022. For teams that want a (big) backup point guard to control the flow of the game, make necessary defensive plays, and be a locker room leader, look no further than Sion.
Austin Nunez
6-foot-2 and 170 pounds, Ole Miss transfer guard Austin Nunez was a four-star high school recruit in the Class of 2022, highly valued due to his long-distance shooting and quickness on the defensive end.
Showing flashes of his two-way upside while playing meaningful but relatively limited minutes for Arizona State (16.3 minutes per game) last season, his best performance may have actually come early in the season. In what was just his fifth career game, Nunez tallied 15 points, two assists and one steal in 22 minutes while shooting 6-10 from the field and 3-5 from 3-point range.
With the Sun Devils, Nunez also showed himself to be a shifty three-level scorer and quality facilitator that can thrive on-ball or off of it. Now at Ole Miss with head coach Chris Beard — who watched Nunez in-depth even prior to his freshman season due to their ties to The Longhorn State — he should have an even more prominent role moving forward.
When considering his skillset, boosting his scoring to around those of a player like Kobe Bufkin (14.0 points per game) or Keyonte George (15.3 points per game) could be all he needs to get first-round consideration ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft.
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