Bossi's Best: Who's making that junior season jump?

The junior jump is a real thing. As each class clears out the one- and two-and-done players, we usually see a big group of players take on a much more pronounced role in their third year on campus. In this week's Bossi's Best, national analyst Eric Bossi looks at former Rivals150 prospects who have taken the biggest leaps forward as juniors.

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Recruitment: A native of Illinois, Bates-Diop was a major Big Ten target and took several unofficial visits early in the process. Though he considered Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue among others, Ohio State locked him up in November of his junior year.

His junior jump: A redshirt junior coming off of a stress fracture in his leg, Bates-Diop has thrived under new Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann. He's become much more comfortable as a shooter and his willingness to crash the glass has resulted in easy buckets while averaging just under 20 points and nine rebounds per game during an All-Big Ten type season.

Recruitment: Always a package deal with his four-star brother Cody Martin, Martin committed to NC State during October of his junior year. After two seasons in Raleigh, he and his brother left for Nevada.

His junior jump: Martin used his transfer year to get stronger and to improve significantly as a jump shooter. He's emerged as one of the top three-point shooting wings in the country and is averaging nearly 20 per game for a team loaded with transfers. His brother Cody has thrived in Reno, as well, scoring just under 13 a night himself.

Recruitment: Cunningham's initial recruitment was pretty wild. He took official visits as a senior to Oklahoma, Iowa State, Northwestern and Creighton. In the spring of his senior year he delayed a decision date and also considered Indiana and South Carolina before heading to Bradley. After a good first year in Peoria, Cunningham transferred to Dayton.

His junior jump: As a redshirt junior playing for Anthony Grant, Cunningham has blossomed while playing the role of undersized big man on a guard-oriented team. The Flyers haven't been great, but he's been efficient while averaging more than 16 points and nine rebounds per game and shooting just under 68 percent from the field.

Recruitment: A relative late-bloomer, Bridges had a very nice local reputation with offers from Penn State, Temple and LaSalle while South Carolina and Virginia Tech were jumping in. However, Villanova was a dream school close to home and he committed in June between his junior and senior year.

His junior jump: Very skinny and in need of strength coming out of high school, Bridges is now reaping the benefits of redshirting his first year at Villanova. The most important thing, though, has been his development into a high-level jump shooter (44 percent from three on just under six attempts per game this season) who has a bit of a Khris Middleton vibe to his game. Bridges helps on the glass to go along with his 17 points per night.

Recruitment: Palmer picked Miami over Cincinnati, Temple and Xavier coming out of high school. After two seasons in Coral Gables, he transferred to Nebraska.

His junior jump: For whatever reason, Palmer never quite found his stride at Miami. He's grown to nearly 6-foot-6 since high school, and added strength and focus have been huge for him after sitting out for a year after his transfer. Palmer is scoring 13 points more per game (16.6) than he did as as sophomore (3.5) and has improved across the board. His emergence has played a big role in the Huskers' development into a potential NCAA Tournament team.

Recruitment: Intrigued by Georgetown's system and the place for a more traditional big man, Govan committed to John Thompson III over several other high-major offers during the spring of his junior year.

His junior jump: While the Hoyas remain a work in progress under first-year coach Patrick Ewing, Govan has transformed himself. He's in top condition, hasn't settled for too many jump shots and has become a force on the glass, more than doubling his production from just five boards per game in his second year to nearly 11 a night as a junior. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's getting daily tutelage from one of the best bigs to ever lace them up.

Recruitment: Gonzaga, UConn and USC were involved to some extent, but there wasn't ever much drama about where Holiday would end up. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother Jrue Holiday by committing to UCLA during March of his junior year.

His junior jump: With no Lonzo Ball or Bryce Alford around, this Bruins team is Holiday's - and he's stepped it up. He's scoring just under 19 points per game and handing out nearly five assists while playing an additional 10 minutes per night over the previous year. This edition of UCLA is really dependent upon him to score and that's meant a little bit of a drop in percentages as defenses focus on him. However, he's ultimately got a chance to join Jrue and oldest brother Justin Holiday (who played at Washington) in the NBA.

Recruitment: Howard missed his entire junior season due to a knee injury, but that never slowed down his recruitment. He chose Syracuse from a group of finalists that also included Georgetown, Maryland, NC State, Ohio State and Virginia in April of his junior season.

His junior jump: Howard's first two seasons at Syracuse were a bit of a struggle, as he fought with poor shooting and inconsistent play. As a junior on a team with limited backcourt options, he's made the best of logging nearly 38 minutes per game. His turnovers are a little high, but he's advancing as a playmaker for others, is shooting nearly 38 percent from three and is one of the more versatile - even out of Syracuse's zone - defenders in the ACC.

Recruitment: Hailing from St. John, Kan., where the population is just over 1,200 people, Wade made a big splash the summer before his senior year picking up offers from Creighton, Iowa, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Wichita State and many others. However, it only took him one official visit to Kansas State to end things.

His junior jump: Wade's play as a junior - especially during a surge by K-State over the past few weeks - has been impressive. He's shooting nearly 60 percent from the field overall, and is a tough cover because of his ability to stretch defenses with his jump shot. He's improved as a rebounder and distributor and is in the midst of a streak where he's scored 20 or more in four straight games. Teammate Barry Brown - who just missed the 2015 Rivals150 - has been impressive as well for the Wildcats and the duo is arguably the top one-two punch in the Big 12.

Recruitment: Morgan scheduled visits to Indiana, Vanderbilt, Washington, Stanford and Creighton. However, he only ever saw Vandy and IU, and picked the Hoosiers shortly after his official visit.

His junior jump: Under new coach Archie Miller, Morgan has doubled his scoring as a junior to 15.4 points per night while becoming a more assertive rebounder and an additional playmaker out of the post. The Hoosiers lack size and his ability to play as a small-ball five has helped them surge and win four of their last five contests.

Recruitment: Murphy initially selected VCU over UNLV during the fall of his senior year. When Shaka Smart left VCU for Texas, Murphy opened things up and chose Minnesota over Boston College in May of his senior year.

His junior jump: Make no mistake, Murphy has been productive from the moment he arrived in Minneapolis. But he's taken things to a new level as a junior, averaging just under 18 points and 12 rebounds per game. He registered double-doubles in the first 17 games of the season and has a total of 19 of them in the Gophers' first 22 games.