Duke Basketball: Breaking Down Jahlil Okafor's Player of the Year Chances

Anointed by many as the best player in college basketball this season before ever playing a game, Duke's Jahlil Okafor has done little to dispel that hype. But can the freshman really win all of the various Player of the Year awards based on how he's performed to this point?

That has as much to do with how he and the Blue Devils play as it does how other potential candidates fare as the season goes along. As it stands now, it's Okafor's award to lose, with the rest of the field needing the big man to struggle while also putting together great years.

Okafor currently ranks first in Bleacher Report's Player of the Year rankings, a spot he's held for much of the year. Kerry Miller lauded Okafor's early results in nonconference play, writing that "if he can keep it up in ACC play, go ahead and start etching Okafor's name into every Player of the Year trophy in existence."

Whether he can maintain his performance pace, though, remains to be seen.

Date	Opponent	Min.	Pts.	Reb.	Blocks	FG	FT
11/14	Presbyterian	23	19	6	1	9-10	1-2
11/15	Fairfield	27	17	9	2	8-10	1-3
11/18	Michigan State	30	17	5	2	8-10	1-2
11/21	Temple*	27	16	8	2	7-20	2-2
11/22	Stanford*	34	10	12	1	4-10	2-4
11/26	Furman	26	24	7	2	12-14	0-1
11/30	Army	25	21	8	1	8-14	5-9
12/3	at Wisconsin	27	13	6	1	6-8	1-2
12/15	Elon	29	25	20	3	10-14	5-11
12/18	Connecticut*	34	125	8	0	3-5	6-11

Okafor is averaging 17.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, shooting 65.2 percent from the field in 28.2 minutes per contest. Jabari Parker holds the school record for scoring by a freshman, averaging 19.1 points per game last season, followed by the 18.1 average that Johnny Dawkins had in 1982-83.

Parker was named the National Freshman of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and was a first-team choice on many All-American teams, but he didn't even win the ACC's Player of the Year award. That went to North Carolina State's T.J. Warren.

Some of Okafor's stiffest competition for national awards will come from within his own conference, as Louisville junior Montrezl Harrell, Notre Dame senior Jerian Grant and Virginia junior Justin Anderson are all having monster seasons. Grant and Anderson are far exceeding expectations, while Harrell is putting up the beastly numbers that justified him coming back for one more season instead of turning pro.

None of them, though, has been doing as well in the face of so many experts and prognosticators declaring him the second coming as Okafor has. And as his numbers show, he's been able to handle all comers in terms of opponents, locales and time frames.

Mike McGinnis/Getty Images

Okafor made his debut on Nov. 14, and while the opponent (Presbyterian) wasn't very notable, the first glimpse we got of the 6'11" forward certainly was. He scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting in 23 minutes, and then the next day against Fairfield he added 17 points and nine rebounds on 8-of-10 shooting.

Then came his first big-time game against Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis. A large crowd, dozens of scouts and a quality opponent didn't faze Okafor, who made eight of 10 field goals for 17 points.

His trip to Brooklyn for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic did provide some hiccups, as he made only 11 of 30 field goals in wins over Temple and Stanford, but he still contributed 20 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Okafor has only played in one true road game, but even the hostile environment in Madison and the clash with Wisconsin center Frank Kaminsky didn't have an effect on his game. He only took eight shots, a career low at the time, but made six and finished with 13 points and six rebounds, while Kaminsky had 17 points and nine boards but was only 5-of-12 from the field.

Then came a long layoff from playing, as Duke took 12 days off and looked sluggish against Elon. Well, everyone but Okafor, who celebrated his 19th birthday by going for 25 points and 20 rebounds, the first 20-rebound game by a Duke player since Elton Brand in 1998-99.

Brand won every major Player of the Year award that season.

In his last game, Okafor had 12 points and eight rebounds in the win over Connecticut in New Jersey but only took five shots. With the Huskies doubling him early and often, Okafor became more aggressive when he had the ball, and that resulted in 11 free-throw attempts for the second straight game.

But Okafor only made six of them after hitting 5-of-11 vs. Elon. That's the one area where Okafor has struggled, hitting only 51.1 percent from the season. If he can get that over 60 percent while maintaining his other numbers, those awards are all but guaranteed.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.