10 potential breakout athletes for 2019-20

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Auburn’s 10 potential breakout athletes for 2019-20

Today 8:42 AM

AP

Guard J'Von McCormick and Auburn take on North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen on Friday. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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By Sam Blum | SBlum@al.com

Let’s take a show of hands. Who honestly thought, a year ago on this date, that Chuma Okeke would have been the No. 16 overall pick in the NBA Draft?

A year ago, Okeke was the face of potential. Now, he’s an actual star. The same could be said of athletes like wide receivers Seth Williams or Anthony Schwartz, who made a name for themselves last year. Or maybe softball pitcher Chardonnay Harris, or soccer midfielder Bri Folds.

As we look to the season ahead, here’s a guess, a prediction, as educated as possible, about the players that might step up big in 2019-20.

Ryan Bliss — Sophomore, Infielder, baseball

Bliss has a chance to become one of the biggest stars in the Auburn Athletics program. Even though baseball is never going to reach the peaks of popularity on the Plains, there’s little doubt that Bliss will. He hit .281 with three homers and 37 RBIs while playing a stellar second base as a freshman — a huge part of why this Tigers team made a College World Series.

It’s natural to assume he’ll move over to shortstop with Will Holland starting his professional career. And it’s also safe to assume that Bliss’ power will increase, and his overall game will get better. He has top-prospect potential written all over him, with the personality to boot.

Robyn Benton — Sophomore, guard, women’s basketball

Benton was a freshman this year, and played all season off the bench. But she came to the Tigers with serious hype — a five-star prospect that was the No. 17 overall recruit. She played in every game this season and was a SEC All-Freshman team member, averaging 5.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals a game.

With a couple of players graduating, including starting guard Janiah McKay, it’s fait to expect that Benton will be a top player for the Tigers in the upcoming season.

J’Von McCormick — Senior, point guard, men’s basketball

Because Auburn is putting all its chips in the 2020 basket for point guard recruits, they’ve decided to basically ride the wave of J’Von McCormick in 2019. He never came to Auburn with the expectation of being the starting PG, but that is what will happen. And toward the end last season, he showed flashes of being a top SEC point guard (i.e. the SEC title game vs. Tennessee).

This is his team now. And he’s a confident player. Don’t let the 4.1 points per game fool you, he’s a good offensive point guard, that gets downhill with a lot of paint touches.

Alyssa Rivera — Senior, right field, softball

In a lot of ways, it might be fair to say that Rivera has already broken out. She hit .333 with 10 home runs last season. But her breakout status might mean something a little different this year. That’s because, in a lot of ways, it’s really going to be her team. Casey McCrackin, Justus Perry, Morgan Podany, Taylon Snow and Kendall Veach, Bree Fornis, Chardonnay Harris and Makalya Martin, are all gone. Pretty much every contributing player, outside of Rivera and Tannon Snow.

It’s gonna be on those two to really lead the team. Rivera won’t just be a name in a stacked lineup anymore. She’s going to be THE name in Auburn’s lineup as it looks at the challenging road ahead to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Owen Pappoe — Freshman, linebacker, football

The most recognizable name in the 2019 Auburn recruiting class was definitely Bo Nix, the five-star QB who might just be Auburn’s starting quarterback. But Pappoe may very well have been the jewel of the recruiting class. With the Tigers having graduated all of its starting linebackers from last season, there’s definitely going to be an opportunity for Pappoe to prove himself at this level, and probably play.

Pappoe was rated as the top outside linebacker in the country, and has been on the Plains since January, giving him an early leg up. There’s no doubt his future is bright and exciting.

Derrian Gobourne — Sophomore, vault, gymnastics

Gobourne had her breakout moment for Auburn, tying to win a national championship in the vault. But she’s just a freshman. And while Auburn fans know about her big moment, it’s possible that she becomes a household name at some point in the next year.

She brought home AU’s first ever national title in gymnastics, and spoke immediately afterward about coming back the next year to compete for a team championship. She appears to have the leadership quality at such a young age.

Tad MacLean — Junior, men’s tennis

It’s hard to find too many positives for an Auburn men’s tennis program that finished 0-12 in the SEC. One of them would be Tad MacLean, though, the British player who’s actually won more than he’s lost on a team that has done a lot of losing.

By the end of the season, MacLean was playing No. 1 singles, and even picked up a really great win at No. 2 singles against second-ranked Florida. He finished 9-8 overall in singles, and 11-9 overall at No. 1 doubles. He’s also competed professionally, and is one of the Top 50 players in Great Britain.

Joyce Kimeli, Redshirt junior, distance, women’s XC/T&F

Kimeli got an honorable mention All-America for coming in 21st in the 5000m distance run at the NCAA championships in June. She just missed advancing to the finals in the 3000m steeplechase the day before. It’s clear that Auburn’s best distance hope is on the cusp of doing something special, and being one of the best distance runners in America.

The Kenyan has showed steady improvement over her time at Auburn, and will get a chance to hone in those skills during the cross country season.

Bo Nix/Joey Gatewood, Freshmen, quarterbacks, football

No one truly knows which of Nix or Gatewood will be the starting quarterback when Auburn lines up for the first time against Oregon. They’re the two most talked about AU athletes, and only one of them has ever even stepped on the the field for the Tigers.

Gatewood is the unknown five-star commodity. Behind the scenes, teammates compare him to Cam Newton, with his size and ability to run. But Nix has been the Auburn golden boy throughout his entire high school career, being hailed the QB of the future. Whether or not that comes to pass will be decided in the next month or so.

Whoever wins this battle, will have the chance to become the breakout star.

Hailey Whitaker, Sophomore, midfielder, soccer

As a freshman last year, Whitaker played in 1,108 minutes, and scored three goals with three assists. She was a big piece of the NCAA Tournament team, and will return to do more of the same in 2019. She started from the first game of the season. This is a team that does return almost all of its scoring from last year, so Whitaker will have to improve, though, if she wants break out and stand out.

i put this in the football section because football has three named stars and the others just one persport. if i have posted this in the wrong section where in the world would i post it? thanx

 

 

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[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

K J Britt and TD. I know TD had a good freshman season but............

[bigbird 60,939]

57 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

K J Britt and TD. I know TD had a good freshman season but............

Britt is gonna have a really big year. He'll be our best MLB we've had in a while...yes, I know everyone loves DD, but everyone loved Miska too before Spikes started playing.

[McLoofus 35,182]

19 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Britt is gonna have a really big year. He'll be our best MLB we've had in a while...yes, I know everyone loves DD, but everyone loved Miska too before Spikes started playing.

You know I'm a DD fanboy but I have no problem believing that we can get better at the position. Britt seems to have all the intangibles plus elite athleticism.

Maaaaan it would be great if Moultry stepped up.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

18 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

You know I'm a DD fanboy but I have no problem believing that we can get better at the position. Britt seems to have all the intangibles plus elite athleticism.

Maaaaan it would be great if Moultry stepped up.

DD has just so limited in his athletic ability. Don't take that the wrong way as he was a great player. But he was being keyed in on last year with OC's attacking his weakness, speed. Won't have that problem this year. These LBers are fast.

[ellitor 33,751]

14 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

DD has just so limited in his athletic ability. Don't take that the wrong way as he was a great player. But he was being keyed in on last year with OC's attacking his weakness, speed. Won't have that problem this year. These LBers are fast.

Yup! Routes in the middle of the field gave Steele nightmares.

[alexava 6,974]

5 hours ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

DD has just so limited in his athletic ability. Don't take that the wrong way as he was a great player. But he was being keyed in on last year with OC's attacking his weakness, speed. Won't have that problem this year. These LBers are fast.

I agree about DD. He was so good to us Auburn fans because he had extremely good instinct and played better than any LB we’ve had in quite a while. We have not had a Dansby since Dansby.