HoriZone Roundtable

Wright State looked to bounce back after a loss earlier this week, taking on their local rival, Miami (OH) on Saturday. This was the 37th...

As a freshman at Milwaukee, 6-foot-7 forward C.J. Wilbourn made the Horizon League All-Freshman Team. Despite this, he's a fairly under-the-radar player because the All-Freshman team lagged dramatically behind recent seasons where he and Blake Lampman would've struggled to earn selections. Nonetheless, Wilbourn's freshman season is one that makes him intriguing candidate for a much better season as a sophomore. While he didn't hit the metrics that make Grant Basile a more promising contender to go from mundane stats to stardom, he had a strong finish to last season that has to leave Panther fans encouraged with what he could do this year. On the year, Wilbourn averaged 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game with an effective field goal percentage of 50.5. But considering he was averaging just 3.3 points per game with a 39.2 effective field goal percentage through 21 games, it seems he clearly acclimated to Division I basketball toward the end of the season. In those final ten games, Wilbourn averaged 6.5 points per game and his effective field goal percentage skyrocketed to 67.4.

The 2018-2019 Oakland Golden Grizzlies were a few seconds away from the Horizon League Championship. A dagger three from Drew McDonald just past the...

Wright State opened up their season on Thursday as they hosted the Marshall Thundering Herd. The Raiders had previously been forced to cancel a trip to the University of Illinois due to a combination of COVID-19 protocols and injuries left the team too shorthanded. Wright State last faced off with Marshall in 2007 when the Raiders won at the Nutter Center, 77-70. It began all Raiders as they came out to a 21-8 lead at the under 12 media timeout. Wright State's Trey Calvin picked up nine of his 16 points, and Loudon Love eight of his 11. They were primarily quiet the rest of the night.

If it had happened in any other season, Grant Basile's freshman year likely wouldn't have warranted consideration for anything more than the fifth and final spot on the Horizon League All-Freshman team. While his stats compare favorably to Malachi Smith's in 2019 and Jalen Tate's in 2018, there are several seasons where his 6.2 points and 4.3 rebounds wouldn't have even earned him an All-Freshman Team spot. Which makes him a perfect candidate for the next type of breakout performer. When looking for potential breakout players, former Sports Illustrated writer (and current Toronto Raptors Director of Prospect Strategy) Luke Winn put together a formula to pick out players who posted pedestrian statistics as freshmen but could erupt onto the scene as sophomores. While the formula isn't public, Winn describes the basic parameters as follows:

Last season was an odd one for the Horizon League All-Freshman Team. On one hand, you had Amari Davis acting as Green Bay's second option but producing at a level that has undoubtedly already caused the HoriZone Roundtable to receive pushback for trying to call him a breakout candidate. On the other hand you had three players that likely would've been vying for the last All-Freshman spot in previous seasons in Grant Basile, CJ Wilbourn and Blake Lampman. In the middle, you have Wright State's Tanner Holden. Holden's 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game look comparable to several previous All-Freshman team picks who went onto stardom as sophomores. But the raw stats are just a part of the intrigue in Holden as a breakout candidate in 2021. Holden hit 61.1 percent of his shots from the field and 42.4 percent from 3-point range as a freshman. Oddly, the only shots he struggled with were the ones where he wasn't defended; he hit just 60.9 percent of his free throws. Nonetheless, an effective field goal percentage of 64.2 is incredible for a player still getting used to the college game.

Can the league's ninth-leading scorer really be considered a candidate to break out? Yes, but everyone has trouble calling it a breakout because it's obviously going to happen. If Amari Davis' production wound up similar to what it was last year where he was a Third Team All-Horizon League selection after averaging 15.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game it would be considered a massive disappointment. We're expecting the standout freshman to improve going into his sophomore year, particularly now that he's stepping out of 2020 First Team All-League guard JayQuan McCloud's shadow.

The Horizon League got off to a strong start to its 2020-21 season last last week. The league has already notched several wins over traditionally stronger leagues in the MAC and Missouri Valley Conference. While many came from teams that were expected to be strong, some came completely out of left field. While the sample size is obviously minuscule, early indications are that this season could be an incredibly competitive one for much of the Horizon League. A quick note: Wright State and Youngstown State have shut down women's basketball activities due to positive COVID-19 cases. As such, both will be excluded from the rankings. As with the men's basketball power rankings, teams that are forced to cancel games pose zero threat to win those games.

You know what's more ridiculous than doing a Week 1 power ranking for a mid-major league that suffered massive roster turnover while only two teams have played multiple games? Doing it during a pandemic that has resulted in most of the league still waiting to start the season. But if I'm enough of a glutton for punishment that I can do this column for a full season of 2020 Horizon League nonsense, I'm sure I can handle this week.