Rival Views: Which first-year star will face the most pressure?

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Hope is always running high when big-time freshmen are on their way to programs in need of a talent infusion. So, which heralded first-year players will be facing the most pressure to perform and help turn a program's fortunes around? As usual, national basketball analysts Eric Bossi and Corey Evans have Rival Views.

To say that Romeo Langford was an important recruit for Archie Miller during his first season in Bloomington is a major understatement. In fact, in nearly 20 years of covering recruiting, I would have a hard time coming up with a player more wanted and celebrated by his home state fans than Langford was when he committed to Indiana in the spring.

Though the 6-foot-5 scoring machine maintained throughout his high school career that he felt no pressure to stay home, it was always there. He played to gigantic crowds chanting for him to go to Indiana and after each game he spent hours signing autographs for mostly Hoosiers fans. Now, he's actually on campus and the hopes of the IU fanbase are high for Langford in what will likely be his only season in Bloomington.

Langford is going to be expected to be a leading scorer, to contend for Big Ten Player of the Year honors, help lead the Hoosiers back to the NCAA Tournament and to also inspire future in-state prospects to stay home and play for Miller. Make no mistake, Langford is a cool customer and is built to handle pressure. But, I can't see another highly touted freshman who will be under more pressure than him.

Expectations are high in Champaign entering the new season. With an influx of talent coming in and coming off of a season that was easily the worst of Brad Underwood’s head coaching career, Illini fans are hungry for a return to NCAA Tournament. How might the team return to the postseason? Riding the back back of five-star guard Ayo Dosunmu.

The first player to arrive at Illinois as a five-star prospect since 2002, Dosunmu comes to Champaign as one of the most talked-about and coveted recruits this century.

Fans have clamored for the best from the Windy City to remain in the state and take Interstate 57 southward for their college careers. Dosunmu did just that as he bought into becoming the face of the program for a squad that is just attempting to reclaim its place as one of the Big Ten's best.

Dosunmu is used to the big stage and he has won at every level. The pressure is on for him to do just the same and catapult Illinois back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.