Kansas senior Frank Mason has been awesome and is fantastic. So I will not protest if he wins most, or even all, National Player of the Year awards because I’ll never protest the best player on a top-ranked team being recognized and honored.
But I still consider Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan the frontrunner.
The sophomore forward finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday’s 86-75 win over Indiana that clinched a Big Ten title for the Boilermakers. It was Swanigan’s 12th 20-10 game and 24th double-double. His 24 double-doubles are the most any Big Ten player has recorded in the past 31 years. Swanigan is now on pace to become the first college basketball player since Tim Duncan in the 1996-97 season to average at least 18.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
How is that not POY stuff?
My buddy Rob Dauster from NBC Sports argued this week that he can’t tab Swanigan National POY because Swanigan plays in the Big Ten
“I cannot pick a player from the Big Ten as the National Player of the Year this season,” Dauster wrote. “The league is just not that good.”
I won’t try to argue the Big Ten is the Big 12 or the ACC. It’s not. But it is the fourth best league in the country, according to KenPom. That’s not terrible. And it should be noted that the Big Ten was only the fifth best league in the country last season, also according to KenPom. But that didn’t stop Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine from winning many National Player of the Year awards -- among them the NBC Sports National Player of the Year Award.
Bottom line, Swanigan is having a historically great season for a Power-5 champ.
He should be the Player of the Year favorite.
(Remember, National Players of the Year do not historically come from non-NCAA Tournament teams. So I do not consider players from such teams as candidates. That’s why, for instance, Washington’s Markelle Fultz is not listed. He’s terrific, a statistical monster and the likely No. 1 pick of the 2017 NBA Draft. But his team isn’t good enough for him to be considered for National Player of the Year. I’m not saying it’s fair. I’m just saying it’s true.)
1. Caleb Swanigan (Purdue)
In case everything written above didn’t place into proper context the season Swanigan is having, here’s more: Swanigan is on pace to become the first major-college player since the early 1990s to have 600 points, 400 rebounds and 100 assists in a season. And he has four 20-20 games this season. That’s twice as many as all Big Ten players combined over the past two decades. It’s also at least two more than any other college basketball player has recorded this season.
2. Frank Mason (Kansas)
Mason finished with 23 points and six assists in Monday’s win over Oklahoma that has the Jayhawks in a position to win the Big 12 by as many as four games. The senior guard is now averaging 20.3 points, 4.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds for the nation’s top-ranked team. He’s shooting 50.0 from 3-point range.
Hart is averaging 18.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists for a Villanova team that has already secured a fourth straight outright Big East title. The senior guard is shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from 3-point range. He’s reached double-figures in every game this season.
4. Lonzo Ball (UCLA)
Ball finished with 11 points, eight assists and five rebounds in Saturday’s win at Arizona that has the Bruins in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The freshman point guard is averaging 14.8 points, 7.6 assists and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 41.4 percent from behind the 3-point line. He’s leading the nation in assists per game.
5. Nigel Williams-Goss (Gonzaga)
Williams-Goss leads Gonzaga in points (16.3 per game) and assists (4.8 per game) -- and he ranks fourth on the team in rebounds (5.6 per game). The Washington transfer is shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 90.9 percent from the free throw line. He’s the main reason the Zags finished the regular season 29-1.
6. Johnathan Motley (Baylor)
Motley has averaged 25.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two games since these rankings last updated -- one of which was a win over West Virginia. The junior forward is now averaging 17.5 points and 9.7 rebounds. He has 12 double-doubles in 29 games.
7. Malik Monk (Kentucky)
Monk finished with 33 points in Saturday’s comeback win over Florida, then got 27 more in Tuesday’s comeback win over Vanderbilt that secured a third consecutive SEC title for Kentucky. It’s not an overstatement to suggest he turned two losses into wins. The freshman guard is averaging 21.7 points and shooting 41.6 percent from 3-point range.
8. Justin Jackson (North Carolina)
Jackson has led North Carolina to a second straight ACC title by averaging 18.4 points and 4.7 rebounds. The junior forward is shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range. He had 23 points and six rebounds in Saturday’s win over Pitt.
9. Luke Kennard (Duke)
Kennard is averaging 19.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists for a Duke team that has 10 top-50 RPI wins, which is tied with Villanova and Butler for most in the nation. The sophomore guard is shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 45.4 percent from behind the 3-point line. He’s scored at least 16 points in seven straight games.
10. Josh Jackson (Kansas)
Jackson has reached double-figures in 12 straight games -- 10 of which have been Kansas victories that helped secure a 13th straight Big 12 title. The freshman forward is averaging 16.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists. He’s shooting 50.4 percent from the field.
The next 10 (in alphabetical order): Dillon Brooks (Oregon), Bonzie Colson (Notre Dame), Jawun Evans (Oklahoma State), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), Jock Landale (Saint Mary’s), Lauri Markkanen (Arizona), Donovan Mitchell (Louisville), Monte Morris (Iowa State), Sindarius Thornwell (South Carolina), Melo Trimble (Maryland).
