Latest Top 20 Ranking for Men's College Basketball National Player of the Year
Purdue is no longer undefeated, but Boilermakers big man Zach Edey remains the clear favorite for men's college basketball National Player of the Year.
Even in Monday night's loss to Rutgers, he recorded his 11th double-double of the season despite being limited by foul trouble.
Don't go etching Edey's name into the Naismith Trophy or the Wooden Award just yet, though, because there is still plenty of time left for the likes of Drew Timme, Jalen Wilson and Marcus Sasser to potentially bypass Edey. And if Kentucky ever figures out how to beat a quality opponent, the possibility of an Oscar Tshiebwe NPOY repeat is still on the table.
As a reminder, team success plays a huge role in NPOY discussions. Not only has all but one Wooden Award winner come from a team that earned a No. 4 seed or better in the NCAA tournament, but the finalists also generally come from AP Top 10 teams.
So, yes, most of these players are from currently ranked teams. Everyone in our top seven plays for a team in the AP Top 10. But we do have six players from unranked teams in our top 20.
If you've been following along with our rankings thus far this season, you'll notice we've trimmed the list from a top 25 to a top 20. The plan is for that trend to continue until the list is whittled down to just a top 10, possibly by early February. (By that point, we pretty well know who the legitimate NPOY candidates are.)
Players are ranked on a combination of overall individual production/efficiency and team success.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics are current through the start of play on Tuesday, Jan. 3.
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): Souley Boum, Xavier; Johni Broome, Auburn; Kendric Davis, Memphis; Kyle Filipowski, Duke; Adam Flagler, Baylor; Bryce Hopkins, Providence; Taevion Kinsey, Marshall; Mike Miles Jr., TCU; Kris Murray, Iowa; Markquis Nowell, Kansas State; Brice Sensabaugh, Ohio State; Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois
Nos. 20-19: Jake Stephens and Isaiah Wong
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No. 20: Jake Stephens, Chattanooga (Previous Rank: 19)
20.6 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.6 BPG, 41.6 3P%
Chattanooga is a 9-6 team out of the SoCon whose best win of the season came against Middle Tennessee.
Translation: There's no chance Jake Stephens is actually going to be named National Player of the Year three months from now.
But this do-it-all seven-footer still deserves some national recognition, as he is averaging a double-double with 3.5 dimes, 2.6 blocks and a silky smooth three-point stroke. He is comfortably on pace to finish the season with at least 600 points, 300 rebounds, 60 blocks and 60 made three-pointers, which has been done just twice in the past three decades: By Iowa's Keegan Murray last year and Texas' Kevin Durant in 2006-07.
Add in the 100-assist pace, and Stephens stands alone.
No. 19: Isaiah Wong, Miami (Previous Rank: 19)
17.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.7 SPG, 35.4 3P%
No real change for Isaiah Wong, who went for 15 points, four rebounds and three assists at Notre Dame in Miami's only game of the past two weeks.
It's a considerable drop-off from the four consecutive 20-5-5 games that vaulted him into the previous batch of NPOY rankings, but it's not like he played poorly against the Fighting Irish.
Wong only has two games left against a KenPom top-50 defense—both against Duke—so he ought to continue racking up strong numbers against a weak ACC.
Nos. 18-17: Jaelen House and Kobe Brown
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No. 18: Jaelen House, New Mexico (Previous Rank: NR)
17.1 PPG, 5.3 APG, 3.6 RPG, 2.9 SPG, 47.5 3P%
Not even mentioning Jaelen House in our previous iteration of the NPOY rankings was a pretty big oversight by yours truly, but we can make up for some lost time here.
House went for 17 points, six steals and five rebounds in New Mexico's big November win over Saint Mary's, he scored 22 with five dimes in a win over Iona and he averaged 21 points, five assists and four steals in UNM's first two MWC games against Colorado State and Wyoming.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. is also putting up a ton of points while the tandem of Morris Udeze and Josiah Allick has been huge in the paint, but House is easily the biggest reason the Lobos were able to carry an undefeated record into the new year.
No. 17: Kobe Brown, Missouri (Previous Rank: NR)
15.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.3 SPG, 45.7 3P%
Kobe Brown's omission from the rankings two weeks ago wasn't an oversight.
He (and Missouri) simply exploded onto the national scene over the past two games.
Three days before Christmas, Brown lit up Illinois for a career-high 31 points and a career-high eight assists. He also had five rebounds and four steals in the 22-point shellacking of the Illini.
Three days after Christmas, Brown was in his bag again, dropping 30 points on Kentucky with six rebounds, two assists and two steals in Mizzou's 14-point victory.
Hard to believe this was the same guy who was held to four points in the Tigers' blowout loss to Kansas. Equally hard to deny him a spot in the top 20 at roughly the midpoint of the regular season.
Nos. 16-15: Hunter Dickinson and Oumar Ballo
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No. 16: Hunter Dickinson, Michigan (Previous Rank: 16)
18.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.8 BPG, 1.2 APG
After going for just nine points and eight rebounds in the loss to North Carolina, followed by a mediocre 13 points and six rebounds in the baffling home loss to Central Michigan, Hunter Dickinson was well on his way out of the NPOY conversation.
But on Sunday, he annihilated Maryland for a season-high 32 points and a dozen rebounds in an 81-46 victory. With 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Dickinson had 28 points to Maryland's 27.
Thus, he gets to hang around a little while longer, even though the Wolverines are nowhere close to the at-large picture at the moment.
Dickinson should have another huge game Wednesday night against an undersized Penn State squad, but we shall see.
No. 15: Oumar Ballo, Arizona (Previous Rank: 8)
17.4 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 1.6 BPG, 1.4 APG
Oumar Ballo didn't slip seven spots because he has played poorly as of late. To the contrary, he had 12 points and 12 rebounds in Arizona's New Year's Eve victory over Arizona State, and he made all eight of his field-goal attempts en route to 21 points in a blowout of Morgan State two weeks ago.
However, it has become clear at this point that Ballo's frontcourt partner, Ažuolas Tubelis, is the stronger candidate for National Player of the Year.
We did see two players from Gonzaga (Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme) and two players from Auburn (Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler) land among the 15 finalists for last year's Wooden Award, though, so it's not like Ballo becomes irrelevant behind Tubelis. And it might just take one or two big games for the big man from Mali to rejoin the big man from Lithuania in the top 10.
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Nos. 14-13: Jordan Walker and Armando Bacot
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No. 14: Jordan "Jelly" Walker, UAB (Previous Rank: 13)
25.2 PPG, 4.7 APG, 2.6 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 40.3 3P%
It's a close battle between Jordan Walker and Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis, but "Jelly" is still leading the nation in scoring average, doing so for a team that is 12-2 and might actually have an at-large pulse.
Walker has scored at least 25 points in each of his past four games and shot 7-of-12 from distance against UTSA in his most recent outing.
He's a volume shooter, yes, but he also has been impressively efficient for most of the season. You simply don't see many guys average 11 three-point attempts per game and make better than 40 percent of them. Not saying Walker is Steph Curry 2.0, but his numbers this season are pretty close to what Curry did at Davidson.
No. 13: Armando Bacot, North Carolina (Previous Rank: 14)
18.5 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.3 BPG
Though the Tar Heels lost the game, Armando Bacot improved all of his per-game marks this past Friday against Pittsburgh, finishing with 22 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
He also put up 26 points in the previous win over Michigan, getting a big leg up on Hunter Dickinson in these rankings in the process.
Bacot now has eight double-doubles through 13 games played and has at least held up his end of the deal for what was supposed to be the No. 1 team in the country. If Caleb Love was playing as well as he did over the final month of last season and if the Tar Heels didn't already have five losses, Bacot would easily rank in the top 10.
Huge opportunity for both him and the Heels next Tuesday at Virginia.
Nos. 12-11: Marcus Carr and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
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No. 12: Marcus Carr, Texas (Previous Rank: 21)
17.5 PPG, 4.1 APG, 2.3 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 45.5 3P%
Early in the season, it was a toss-up between Marcus Carr and Tyrese Hunter for MVP of the Texas Longhorns. But over the final five games of December, Carr out-scored Hunter 116 to 27, including the 41-point outburst against Texas A&M-Commerce in which Carr had 33 by halftime. He finished 10-of-15 from three-point range in that one.
Carr isn't just some scoring machine, either. He entered Tuesday's game against Kansas State with twice as many steals as his closest teammate and with just one fewer assist than Hunter.
If and when he has a couple of strong showings against quality opponents, this star of the No. 6 team in the AP poll will emerge as a top candidate for first-team All-America honors.
No. 11: Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA (Previous Rank: 17)
17.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.7 SPG
Jaime Jaquez Jr. is a modern-day Perry Ellis. It feels like he has been at UCLA for the better part of a decade, and it feels like he goes for 15 points and seven rebounds on a nightly basis.
Jaquez has scored in double figures in 26 consecutive games dating back to last February, but he also has taken a big step forward on the defensive end this season for a UCLA team allowing just 61.0 points per game.
Through four Pac-12 games, Jaquez is averaging 19.0 points and is a perfect 17-for-17 from the charity stripe.
Nos. 10-9: Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Pickett
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No. 10: Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana (Previous Rank: 6)
16.4 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.8 APG, 2.7 BPG
Trayce Jackson-Davis has been banged up this season. He played with a heavy bandage on a sprained thumb early in the year, missed a Thanksgiving week game against Little Rock and has missed Indiana's past two games against Elon and Kennesaw State for precautionary reasons with back pain.
When he plays, though, TJD makes a major impact.
Jackson-Davis had 30 points at Xavier, 16 rebounds against Miami-Ohio, 10 assists against Nebraska and nine blocks against Kansas.
We're simply dropping him a few spots because he hasn't played in a few weeks—as we did with Iowa's Kris Murray earlier this season.
No. 9: Jalen Pickett, Penn State (Previous Rank: 11)
16.8 PPG, 7.5 APG, 7.4 RPG, 1.4 SPG
Jalen Pickett just refuses to slow down.
Penn State's super senior already had one triple-double against Butler in mid-November, came one assist shy of another two weeks ago against Quinnipiac (21 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists) and is averaging 19.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists through three Big Ten games, most recently going for 26, seven and six in a key win over Iowa.
Because Penn State is a borderline tournament team that has yet to spend any time in the AP Top 25, Pickett's play hasn't gotten the national attention it deserves. But he is more or less doing for the Nittany Lions what Denzel Valentine did for Michigan State seven years ago.
Nos. 8-7: Oscar Tshiebwe and Marcus Sasser
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No. 8: Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (Previous Rank: 5)
16.6 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 1.5 APG, 1.3 BPG
It doesn't feel right to drop Oscar Tshiebwe while he is excelling as an individual. Big O put up 23 points and 19 rebounds in the loss to Missouri and went for 24 points and 14 rebounds three days later against Louisville. He also has recorded multiple steals in eight of his past nine games.
But with Kentucky sliding toward the NCAA tournament bubble and a whole bunch of players from AP Top 10 teams putting up strong numbers, No. 8 is as high as we're willing to go on the reigning NPOY at the moment.
That could change over the course of the next four Saturdays, with Kentucky playing at Alabama on Jan. 7, at Tennessee on Jan. 14 and vs. Kansas on Jan. 28. If Tshiebwe plays well in those games and Kentucky fares well enough to get back into the mix for maybe a No. 6 seed, Tshiebwe may well be the Wooden Award favorite heading into February.
Until those "ifs" come to fruition, though, there are better NPOY candidates.
No. 7: Marcus Sasser, Houston (Previous Rank: 9)
15.9 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.7 SPG, 32.0 3P%
Statistically, no, Marcus Sasser's numbers don't stack up well against those of Jalen Pickett or Oscar Tshiebwe. And because of that, there has been a lot of complaining about his consistent presence in the top 10 of our rankings.
But we're talking about the clear MVP of what might be the best team in the country. The primary perimeter threat for Houston, who is also a willing distributor. A key perimeter defender on a team allowing 50.9 points per game.
Those are all important factors in an NPOY conversation.
Just think of Sasser as more of a defense-first version of Jalen Brunson or Frank Mason.
Nos. 6-5: Brandon Miller and Adama Sanogo
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No. 6: Brandon Miller, Alabama (Previous Rank: 10)
19.2 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, 44.8 3P%
Brandon Miller is currently the only freshman in our top 20, and he is comfortably in the top 10. Though it would be premature to declare the Freshman of the Year race as finished, Alabama's star sure does have a commanding lead over the likes of Cason Wallace, Kyle Filipowski, Keyonte George and Cam Whitmore.
In his only outing since our last ranking, Miller went for 19 points, 11 rebounds and three dimes in a road win over Mississippi State—which, notably, has an excellent defense. The Bulldogs had held their first 12 opponents to 52.6 points per game, but Miller helped pace the Crimson Tide to 78.
Though Kentucky is down on its luck, Saturday's game against the Wildcats is a big opportunity for Miller to shine under bright lights.
No. 5: Adama Sanogo, Connecticut (Previous Rank: 3)
17.8 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 39.1 3P%
Bit of a rough two-game stretch for Adama Sanogo, who had just seven points and one rebound in UConn's home win over Villanova before needing 17 shots to score 18 points in a loss at Xavier.
Those were two of his three least efficient performances of the season, and he slips a couple of spots as a result.
Still, this 6'9" stretch 5 is putting up big numbers for one of the best teams in the country. He's averaging 27.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per 40 minutes and is just dangerous enough from distance (9-of-23 on the season) to make opponents constantly worry about his range.
Nos. 4-3: Ažuolas Tubelis and Jalen Wilson
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No. 4: Ažuolas Tubelis, Arizona (Previous Rank: 7)
20.1 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.1 SPG
As previously mentioned, Ažuolas Tubelis has asserted himself as the better half of Arizona's outstanding frontcourt duo.
Oumar Ballo was the star of the Maui Invitational, but Tubelis has been the KenPom Game MVP for six of Arizona's past seven contests, averaging 20.9 points and 9.7 rebounds during a stretch in which he dominated Indiana, Tennessee and Arizona State.
And though he doesn't spend a ton of time along the perimeter, Tubelis has made 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from deep with three makes in his past two games. If he continues to connect at a high clip, a player who is already next-to-impossible to defend becomes even more so.
No. 3: Jalen Wilson, Kansas (Previous Rank: 2)
21.0 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 33.7 3P%
To be sure, it's not because of anything Jalen Wilson did wrong in the past two weeks that he slid one spot to No. 3.
Kansas' do-it-all center had 21 points against Harvard before scoring 20 in a come-from-behind victory over Oklahoma State to open Big 12 play. After recent losses by Connecticut and Purdue, the reigning-champion Jayhawks have the inside track to the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 dance, and that simply wouldn't be possible without Wilson.
He just hasn't been quite as dominant as the big men we have in the top two spots. But if he continues to average north of 20 points per game through the Big 12 gauntlet, it's likely Wilson could eventually ascend to No. 1 on the list.
Nos. 2-1: Drew Timme and Zach Edey
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No. 2: Drew Timme, Gonzaga (Previous Rank: 4)
22.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.0 BPG, 1.0 SPG
Drew Timme has been on one heck of a tear lately.
During Gonzaga's seven-game winning streak, Timme has averaged 27.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists. From an efficiency standpoint, his "worst" performance of the bunch was going for 29 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a 10-point road win over Alabama. And that one only registers as a mediocre performance because he committed six turnovers while dominating the Crimson Tide.
Timme has scored at least 16 points in every game this season, save for the game in South Dakota against Baylor, which just seems to have Timme's number considering the Bears also shut him down in the 2021 national championship.
Of note, we don't expect Timme's numbers to spike in WCC play, as there has been no substantial difference between his conference and nonconference production over the past three seasons. But we certainly don't expect Timme's production to decrease, either. And if he maintains the status quo, he just might be named NPOY.
No. 1: Zach Edey, Purdue (Previous Rank: 1)
21.7 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 2.2 BPG, 1.1 APG
Though it was the first time all season that he failed to secure KenPom Game MVP honors, it wasn't Zach Edey's fault that Purdue's quest for perfection came to an end at the hands of Rutgers. Edey had 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks while getting what felt like the entire Scarlet Knights roster into foul trouble.
So, no, he's nowhere close to slipping from the top spot just because his team finally lost a game.
As of Tuesday morning, Edey is ninth in the nation in points per game and second in rebounds per game.
South Dakota State's Mike Daum (25.3 PPG and 11.7 RPG) finished fourth in both categories in his senior year in 2018-19 and came nowhere close to winning the Wooden Award. But therein lies the "team success factor," as Daum stuffed the stat sheet for a nine-loss team from the Summit League which just barely finished top-100 on KenPom.
So long as he stays healthy and so long as Purdue doesn't completely crash and burn in Big Ten play, it should be Edey's NPOY title to lose.
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