Duke's Jahlil Okafor Is Clearly the NCAA Tournament's Most Impressive Player

Entering this month’s NCAA tournament, the general consensus was that three players—Duke’s Jahlil Okafor, Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky and Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns—were the nation’s best. 

Kaminsky, a senior forward, is 7'0" but strokes three-pointers like a guard. He does everything for Wisconsin. Okafor and Towns, on the other hand, are both uber-talented freshmen who are likely to be lottery picks in the upcoming NBA draft. Okafor, in particular, has NBA scouts salivating.

Fittingly, Okafor, Kaminsky and Towns play for three of the tournament’s top four seeds, all of which remain firmly in title contention. 

So, who’s been the best so far? Let’s look at some traditional stats.

	PPG	RPG	FG%	Minutes
Okafor	23.5	4.5	78.4%	27
Towns	14.5	9	58.4%	24
Kaminsky	21.5	9.5	58.8%	36.5

First off, all three of these guys are shooting over 58 percent from the floor. That is preposterous.

Okafor is making more than three out of every four shots he takes. Kaminsky is shooting an otherworldly 58.8 percent from the field...and he’s shooting even better from three-point range (60 percent on the tournament). Towns, meanwhile, is averaging 14.5 points and nine rebounds while playing only 24 minutes per game in the tournament.

You could make a convincing case for any of these guys as the tournament’s best player, but Okafor takes the cake for three reasons. 

First, all three of these players had impressive first-round games, which was hardly surprising since Wisconsin, Kentucky and Duke were No. 1 seeds beating up on No. 16 seeds. But Okafor is the only one of the three to have played two stellar games.

Kentucky is so deep they don't need to rely on Towns, and while Wisconsin certainly depends on Kaminsky, he was strangely ineffective in the Badgers' victory over Oregon.

Okafor carried his team to a blowout second-round victory, and teams are keying in on him in a way they can't on Towns. In short, Okafor has been the most consistent of the three.

Second, Okafor's field-goal percentage has been staggering. He has only missed six shots in the tournament. His field-goal percentage is better than most players' free-throw percentages, and he makes it look effortless. 

Finally, Okafor's team has been arguably the tournament's best. Surprisingly, both Wisconsin and Kentucky appeared vulnerable in their second-round matchups, a fact undoubtedly tied to relatively subpar performances from Kaminsky and Towns.

Kentucky led Cincinnati by just five points midway through the second half, and though the Wildcats pulled away, Towns finished with just eight points and seven rebounds. 

Similarly, Wisconsin led Oregon by only six points with just over one minute remaining in the game. Kaminsky finished with 16 points and seven boards, but didn't even attempt a three-pointer. In other words, both Wisconsin and Kentucky faced surprising challenges, and their top players didn't come through for them. 

The opposite is true for Okafor. Duke demolished Robert Morris by 29 and crushed San Diego State by 19. Okafor played like a stud in both games—particularly in the second round—and his team has not been challenged.

In sum, Okafor has done more for his team than Kaminsky or Towns, and he has made the game look easy.