Today, I continue my list of players who missed all or most of last season and who will be returning this season. Listing all injured players would take a very long time. But I had a statistical rule for inclusion in this list. I took the percentage of season minutes played in 2011-12 and subtracted off the percentage of season minutes played in 2012-2013. If a player’s playing time dropped by at least 48 percent, (from 55 percent to seven percent for example), and that player projects to have an ORtg above 100 this season, I list him here.

Click here for Part 1.

Drew Crawford, Northwestern

Northwestern is in for a long season. None of Northwestern’s returning players had an ORtg above 100 last year. And Bill Carmody was not a strong defensive coach. New head coach Chris Collins may eventually get things turned around, but things may get worse before they get better.

Thad said, in any scenario where Northwestern is relevant this year, Drew Crawford is going to play a big role. Two years ago when he was healthy Crawford made 61 threes (at a 41% clip), while also providing the size and athleticism to guard the opposing team’s best two-guard or wing. Crawford’s ORtg slumped last year when he was injured, but it was 112 when he last played a full season. Crawford and PG Dave Sobolewski will be the leaders on this year’s team.

Matt Kavanaugh, Dayton

Dayton had the 67th best margin-of-victory numbers in the country last year. And that makes their 17-14 record all the more puzzling. According to kenpom.com, they were the 11th unluckiest team in the nation. They simply could not win close games. One contributing factor was that Vee Sanford and Kevin Dillard were poor at keeping opposing guards out of the lane in crunch time.

Matt Kavanaugh was suspended for the year for violating the university’s code of conduct. And perhaps his presence in that lane would have made a difference. But Dayton’s defense was poor in 2011-2012 with Kavanaugh too. Kavanaugh shouldn’t be expected to be a savior on that side of the ball.

Rather, the bigger impact of Kavanaugh’s return should be on offense where he grabbed 16% and 15% of the offensive rebounds as a sophomore and junior.

Brian Williams, Oklahoma St.

Oklahoma St. already brings a lot of players back and adds a key JUCO recruit in Gary Gaskins. But PG Marcus Smart will enjoy having another scoring option in the lineup as well. Brian Williams is a 6’5” athlete who thrives at cutting down the lane and finishing in traffic. Williams had an incredibly low turnover rate for a player who was so aggressive at taking the ball to the basket.

Brandan Walton, North Texas

It is tempting to pick North Texas for the cellar of the Sun Belt next year. After all, the team was just 7-13 last year and that was with future NBA player Tony Mitchell on the roster. But three factors suggest the team will be competitive next season. First the team’s leading scorer Jordan Williams is back. Second, George Mason transfer Vertrail Vaughns should provide some needed perimeter shooting. And third, Brandan Walton is back after missing a year due to injury.

Erin Straughn, East Carolina

East Carolina won the College Insider Tournament last year, and you have to wonder if they could have done even better with their 6’6” wing healthy. Straughn started 72 games in his career prior to an injury last season.

Chris Evans, Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart two-guard made huge strides as a sophomore, improving his efficiency by cutting down his turnovers and completing more assists. But injuries kept him out of the lineup last season. On a team that loses its best player, two-guard Shane Gibson, Evans return is vital.

Anthony Brown, Stanford

While Stanford’s Andy Brown was busy tearing his ACL for possibly the millionth time in his career, Stanford’s Anthony Brown’s career isn’t over. He should be fully recovered from his hip injury this season. He may not be a great outside shooter, but he is solid for his size, and as a Top 100 recruit out of high school, he still has upside. Stanford’s returning minutes may be an understatement when you consider that Brown was out for most of last year.

Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins may not have the perfect team, but he certainly has enough pieces to make the NCAA tournament this year. His job may depend on it.

Patrick Auda, Seton Hall

Auda finished 57 percent of his baskets, but he was a relatively passive offensive player. And even though his offensive stats are better, I actually think his absence was more costly to Seton Hall’s defense. The team simply ran out of big bodies as the year progressed and at 6’9”, Auda’s return should provide another option in the paint. Kevin Willard’s defense won’t be as poor as last season.

Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia

In constructing this list, I’ve tried to focus on players that had good tempo free stats two years ago before missing last season. Brogdon doesn’t really fall in that category. He shot poorly, turned the ball over, and was an offensive liability as a freshman for Virginia. But one thing Brogdon has going for him is that he is a former Top 100 recruit. His potential remains high. Even coming off an injury, his athleticism could put him over the top.

Julian Boyd, Long Island

Julian Boyd was an extremely efficient high volume scorer for Long Island. But he went down eight games into last season and his career seemed over. Luckily he was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and his return was great news for the Blackbirds. But proving that some players are cursed with injuries, Boyd tore his ACL again last week. While Boyd’s head coach expects him back in January, I fear that timetable may be extremely optimistic. I do expect Boyd to play this year, but perhaps not in time to have the impact some had hoped.

And Long Island desperately needs Boyd back. Despite three straight NCAA trips, this year looks like a rebuilding year. Jamal Olasewere, CJ Garner, and Brandon Thompson are gone, and if Boyd doesn’t return in time for conference play, Long Island’s streak of dominating the NEC may come to an end. Other teams like Wagner have fortified their roster with key transfers this off-season and Long Island needs a healthy Boyd to reach its goals.

Amric Fields, TCU

TCU was clearly going to be under-manned in their first year in the Big 12. But losing Amric Fields three games into the season made things even tougher.

Yet Fields return is a bit of a mixed bag. While Fields ability to finish around the rim and high ORtg will be prized, he was actually a very poor rebounder for his size. And he posted those poor rebounding numbers in the MWC in 2012. Getting rebounds in the Big 12 could be even tougher.

Chris Fouch, Drexel

Drexel seemed like they might be the CAA favorite last year. But then Fouch’s injury threw the team into a tailspin. It seems crazy to say that a team that finished 9-9 in the CAA last year and returns just 66% of its minutes might be the CAA favorite, but I think they might be. Drexel was extremely unlucky in close games last year. They were much better than their 9-9 record would indicate. And with Fouch back in the fold, their top three players are extremely formidable. PG Frantz Massenat, SG Chris Fouch, and F Damion Lee all project as efficient high volume scorers for the Dragons. Meanwhile, the presence of six players 6’7” or taller on the roster means that Drexel has plenty of options upfront to compliment these scorers. Drexel’s window to win a CAA title may have shrunk a little with last year’s disappointing performance, but it isn’t over.

Andre Dawkins, Duke

Dawkins left Duke last year for personal reasons, but his redshirt seemed very strategic to me. The truth was that Duke couldn’t afford to play both Dawkins and Seth Curry together. Both lacked the quickness to match-up against opposing guards defensively. Almost every team has one slow-footed shooter on the court. And you could hide Curry or Dawkins defensively by putting him on that player. But hiding two players at once was difficult. (And as we saw during the 2011-2012 season when Duke had its worst defensive season in the last ten years, hiding three slow-footed guards was almost impossible.) Had Dawkins stayed with the team last year, I believe his minutes would have been severely limited.

But now with Seth Curry graduating, Dawkins fills in a vital role. He is the experienced sharp-shooting two-guard this year. And even if he isn’t an elite defender, with players like Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon, and Tyler Thornton in the lineup, he doesn’t have to be.