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From Making the Madness' "Predicting One Breakout Candidate from Each Conference:
Big East:
Andre Jackson Wing, UConn
The Huskies lose James Bouknight, who will be a top-ten pick in next month’s NBA draft [ok, this was published in 7/9/21, haha]. How do they replace his scoring load? One place to look is with sophomore super-athlete Andre Jackson. The former top-50 recruit didn’t get into the mix often last season due to a knee injury. The question with Jackson is, can he be a polished player on the offensive end? Jackson’s a pure elite athlete with unbelievable hops but isn’t much of a shooter, and he’ll be able to score based on his athletic ability alone. Still, he becomes an All-Conference player if there’s a jumper in the toolbag. The Huskies will be in opposing teams’ nightmares due to the defense and athleticism, which Jackson will contribute.
Other players from in-state colleges:
America East:
Thomas Webley Forward, Hartford
Hartford lost their starting five-man Miroslav Stafl to Central Michigan, opening up the starting role for the sophomore from New Zealand Thomas Webley. During his freshman campaign, Webley posted a career-best 10 points against NJIT, in a loss where Miroslav Stafl suffered an injury in the first half. Webley, once he gets the ball down low, is tough to stop with his incredibly soft touch at the bucket but isn’t a perimeter threat the way Stafl had been. The Hawks look for a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after shocking the world by winning the America East tournament in 2020-21.
Mike Sixsmith Guard, Sacred Heart
The soon-to-be sophomore for Sacred Heart is oozing with star potential after an impressive run as a freshman, where he averaged 8 points but was phenomenal efficiency-wise, sporing an unheard-of slash line of 56-54-90. The efficiency numbers are a bit skewed because of the low number of shots, but drilling 32 of 59 three-pointers is impressive. SHU already has two fantastic returnees, with NEC Player of the year contender Tyler Thomas back and fellow backcourt mate Aaron Clarke, but that could open up more opportunities for Sixsmith to make noise as attention will be divided. The shooting of Sixsmith will make him a high-level player in the Northeast. [My own editorial, I watch a lot of Sacred Heart games and Sixsmith is an ice-in-his veins, confident shooter. Not good at creating his own offense, but an excellent third guard option with his three-point shooting, smart passing and control by limiting mistakes (2.3/1.1 A/TO).
Big East:
Andre Jackson Wing, UConn
The Huskies lose James Bouknight, who will be a top-ten pick in next month’s NBA draft [ok, this was published in 7/9/21, haha]. How do they replace his scoring load? One place to look is with sophomore super-athlete Andre Jackson. The former top-50 recruit didn’t get into the mix often last season due to a knee injury. The question with Jackson is, can he be a polished player on the offensive end? Jackson’s a pure elite athlete with unbelievable hops but isn’t much of a shooter, and he’ll be able to score based on his athletic ability alone. Still, he becomes an All-Conference player if there’s a jumper in the toolbag. The Huskies will be in opposing teams’ nightmares due to the defense and athleticism, which Jackson will contribute.
Other players from in-state colleges:
America East:
Thomas Webley Forward, Hartford
Hartford lost their starting five-man Miroslav Stafl to Central Michigan, opening up the starting role for the sophomore from New Zealand Thomas Webley. During his freshman campaign, Webley posted a career-best 10 points against NJIT, in a loss where Miroslav Stafl suffered an injury in the first half. Webley, once he gets the ball down low, is tough to stop with his incredibly soft touch at the bucket but isn’t a perimeter threat the way Stafl had been. The Hawks look for a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after shocking the world by winning the America East tournament in 2020-21.
Mike Sixsmith Guard, Sacred Heart
The soon-to-be sophomore for Sacred Heart is oozing with star potential after an impressive run as a freshman, where he averaged 8 points but was phenomenal efficiency-wise, sporing an unheard-of slash line of 56-54-90. The efficiency numbers are a bit skewed because of the low number of shots, but drilling 32 of 59 three-pointers is impressive. SHU already has two fantastic returnees, with NEC Player of the year contender Tyler Thomas back and fellow backcourt mate Aaron Clarke, but that could open up more opportunities for Sixsmith to make noise as attention will be divided. The shooting of Sixsmith will make him a high-level player in the Northeast. [My own editorial, I watch a lot of Sacred Heart games and Sixsmith is an ice-in-his veins, confident shooter. Not good at creating his own offense, but an excellent third guard option with his three-point shooting, smart passing and control by limiting mistakes (2.3/1.1 A/TO).
