Last year our crystal ball revealed Courtney Brown, Dirk Nowitzki and Adam Dunn. Two years ago we were on the Aaron Baddeley and Elena Dementieva bandwagons. (You win some, you lose some.) As we turn the calendar to 2003, SI's writers take a crack at who might be making the headlines of the future. Each writer also weighs in with a New Year's resolution for his or her sport. If you're into the past, check out The Year in Sports.

NFL David Carr Houston Texans   He took his lumps in 2002. Bigtime. Carr has been sacked 73 times this season, breaking the NFL record. But as he suffered in and out of the pocket for the Texans, he also did something else: He learned and didn't complain. Opponents love his arm, respect his leadership, and can't believe that on an expansion team with a cast of linemen that changes almost every week, his interceptions total is so low (14 in 404 attempts). The Texans have been a typical expansion team, on their way toward the top of the draft after their first season. But it's clear they won't have to use a draft choice on a new quarterback for a long, long time. They have their strong-armed, bright-eyed man for the future in Carr. (All stats through 15 weeks.) -- Peter King

BASEBALL Mark Prior Chicago Cubs If you could design your ideal No. 1 starter, he'd look a lot like Prior. The 22-year-old right-hander has the size, stuff and poise to win big quickly in the major leagues. -- Tom Verducci

NBA Pau Gasol Memphis Grizzlies By the end of the season, the 22-year-old, 7-foot forward from Barcelona will be one of the NBA's top 10 players. He might be now. -- Jack McCallum

NHL Rick Nash Columbus Blue Jackets Just because you're taken first overall in the draft doesn't guarantee you'll be an overnight success. Just ask Patrik Stefan. Top picks such as Vincent Lecavalier and Joe Thornton have needed a few seasons to round into shape. But at 18, Nash already has the goods: His eye-popping natural talent and sheer scoring ability are as promising as any young player's. Even more telling is how well -- and energetically -- he plays away from the puck, a trait not always seen in up-and-comers. Nash's 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame will fill out over the next year, and he's in a perfect spot in Columbus: The Blue Jackets are an improving team with a smattering of offensive talent around Nash, but they're not so good that they can afford to keep him on the bench to learn. Nash has been nurtured through the early stages of his rookie season -- often playing on the fourth line -- but his minutes are soon to rise and with them, very quickly, so will his place on the scoring charts. -- Kostya Kennedy

COLLEGE FOOTBALL Reggie McNeal Texas A&M In mid-November, the freshman quarterback was relegated to the sidelines with an ankle injury, but not before putting up touchdown passes of 61, 40, 17 and 40 yards against an Oklahoma secondary ranked among the best in the country. McNeal has the timing and he has the moves; the only thing he could use is a few more pounds on those spindly legs. -- Kelley King

COLLEGE BASKETBALL Dwyane Wade Marquette Wade's first name might be spelled a little funny, but on the court he's no joke. The Golden Eagles' 6-foot-5 junior guard is an enticing combination of Vince Carter and Michael Finley, and he has excellent floor vision to boot. He may have started as a complete unknown, but it says here he's headed for Lottery Land. -- Seth Davis

GOLF Jonathan Byrd The former Clemson star is a long hitter and a hot putter, which is a potentially deadly combination, as he showed when he shot a final-round 63 to win the Buick Challenge. -- Gary Van Sickle

TENNIS The Tennis Channel You'd think tennis fans would make for a killer demographic. They're young and old, male and female, straight and gay, and -- not insignificantly -- tend to be fat in the wallet. Yet Netheads are woefully underserved by television. For instance, on DirectTV in October, tennis was scheduled to be televised less often than lumberjack competitions. And when tennis was shown, it was often on tape delay, a pointless exercise in the information. With any luck, the Tennis Channel will fill this void. Set to launch at the Sybase Open in February, the network will air a mix of live matches, instructional programming, player profiles and tennis news. While the channel's Nielsen ratings won't topple The Sopranos', the tennis world hasn't awaited a debut this eagerly since Jennifer Capriati turned pro. -- Jon Wertheim

MOTOR SPORTS Greg Biffle He's the Busch series champ, and next year in Winston Cup he'll be driving one of Jack Roush's Fords. Those cars were mighty racy in 2002. -- Mark Bechtel

SOCCER Home Depot National Training Center Scheduled to open in June near Los Angeles, "The Woodshed" will instantly become the gem of American soccer, a 27,000-seat, $130 million, Euro-roofed Xanadu that will be home to the L.A. Galaxy, the USSF's national training center and (one hopes) many U.S. World Cup qualifiers (except against, say, Mexico). As the brainchild (and largess) of MLS sugar daddy Philip Anschutz, The Woodshed will be the soccer-specific gold standard we hope other MLS teams will follow. -- Grant Wahl

BOXING Vernon Forrest He was this year's come-from-nowhere guy with two wins over previous top performer Sugar Shane Mosley. -- Richard Hoffer

TRACK & FIELD Tom Pappas When Pappas won the decathlon at the Decastar multi-event meet in Talence, France in September, he put himself in position to become the next great American decathlete. The last U.S. athlete to win the meet was Chris Huffins in 1997. Pappas still needs to find 300 more points to challenge the best in the world, but look for him to contend for a medal at the Paris world championships in the summer of 2003. -- Tim Layden

OLYMPIC SPORTS Sasha Cohen   One good three-turn deserves another. Just as Sarah Hughes did in 2002, this young figure skater could vault into the spotlight with a breakthrough performance on home ice. The world championships will be in Washington next March, and it might just be Cohen's time. -- Brian Cazeneuve

WOMEN'S SPORTS Aly Wagner In the World Cup qualifying Gold Cup, the 22-year-old center midfielder led all U.S. players with five assists. In the World Cup in China, the gifted playmaker will provide a lot of the spark and creative passing the U.S. will need in order to repeat as champions. -- Kelli Anderson

HORSE RACING Ken McPeek, trainer He hit the national stage last spring when Harlan's Holiday was a Derby favorite and then, after losing that horse, won the Belmont with long shot Sarava. This Kentuckian will keep getting -- and working -- good horses. -- Tim Layden

Photographs by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images, John Biever, Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty Images, Jamie Sabau, Darren Carroll, Morry Gash/AP, Scott Halleran/Getty Images, Phil Cole/Getty Images, Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images, Rene Macura/AP, John Iacono, Rudi Blaha/AP, Carl Yarbrough, Huy Nguyen, Jamie Squire/Getty Images