Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa Headline 2026 Naismith Men's College Player of the Year Semifinalists

The race for the 2026 Naismith Men's College Player of the Year is hitting the home stretch with the Atlanta Tipoff Club revealing the semifinalists for the award.

Freshman standouts Cameron Boozer of Duke and AJ Dybantsa of BYU headline the group of 10 players still vying for the award.

2026 Naismith Men's Player of the Year Semifinalists

• Darius Acuff Jr., G, Arkansas
• Cameron Boozer, F, Duke
• Jaden Bradley, G, Arizona
• AJ Dybantsa, F, BYU
• Zuby Ejiofor, F, St. John's
• Kingston Flemings, G, Houston
• Joshua Jefferson, F, Iowa State
• Yaxel Lendeborg, F, Michigan
• Braden Smith, G, Purdue
• Keaton Wagler, G, Illinois

Boozer would seem to have the inside track on the award. He has been the best player all season for a Blue Devils team that ended the regular season atop the AP Top 25 poll and was ranked as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, though they had to survive a first-round matchup against Siena on Thursday.

When the AP announced its All-American team on Tuesday, Boozer was the only unanimous pick from the 61-person voting panel.

Boozer and Texas Tech's JT Toppin, who missed the semifinal list, are the only two players in the country averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. Boozer's 19 double-doubles were tied for fourth-most among all Division I players.

The primary challenger to Boozer could be Dybantsa, who put up huge numbers for a BYU team that didn't have nearly as much talent around him as Boozer does at Duke.

BYU's season ended in the first round of the tournament on Thursday with a loss to Texas, though Dybantsa did everything in his power to avoid defeat with 35 points and 10 rebounds.

Dybantsa leads the nation in scoring average with 25.5 points per game, nearly two full points better than East Carolina's Jordan Riley in second place (23.6). It's the highest single-season scoring average for a player since 2022-23 when Antoine Davis put up 28.2 points per contest.

In addition to his high point totals, Dybantsa has been an incredibly efficient scorer. He is one of two players, along with Toppin, shooting over 50 percent from the field (51.3) with at least 17.0 shots attempted per game.

If Boozer wins the award, it will mark the second consecutive year a Duke player received the honor. Cooper Flagg won last year to become the ninth Blue Devils player to win the Naismith College Player of the Year award.

Dybantsa would join Jimmer Fredette in 2010-11 as the only BYU players to win the award if he receives the honor.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club will announce the four finalists for the award next week, with the winner being revealed during Final Four weekend in Indianapolis.