ESPN Men's Basketball

As a coach, I often told my players that "great teams are made from October to April, but great players are made from April to October." As much as coaches want to improve individual skills during the season, much of practice time is spent, logically, on building on team concepts and in preparation for opponents.

But now that the season is over, this is the optimum time for motivated players to start to attack some of their own weaknesses and turn them into strengths. In fact, every returning player in college basketball should have a game plan for his own improvement.

Here are a number of outstanding players who can be even more effective next season with some extra sweat equity this summer.

Jahii Carson, G, Arizona State Sun Devils
What he should work on: Outside shooting and driving to his left

There are few players in college basketball who are quicker than Carson from baseline to baseline. He averaged almost 19 points a game as a freshman, and that's with everyone in the arena knowing he was going to dribble with his right hand. After considering entering the NBA draft, the 5-foot-11 freshman has decided to return for another season with a couple of goals in mind: improving his shooting and ability to attack with his left hand.

To read Fran Fraschilla's full take on how several returning college stars can improve, you must be an ESPN Insider.