College Basketball: 12 Candidates for Player of the Year Honors

What makes a Player of the Year candidate? Someone with big numbers who plays on a winning team.

We are currently in August and there a couple of months between now and the first game of what looks like a very promising season.

The James Naismith Award is the most prestigious player of the year award.  I have compiled a list of the top candidates win this award next season.

Of the last five winners of the Naismith Award only Kevin Durant, in 2007, was a freshman.

There are a few worthy freshmen coming in to college next season, including Austin Rivers, Marquis Teague and Anthony Davis, but in order not to jinx them we will leave them off this list.

The last two candidates to win this award were upperclassmen: Jimmer Fredette, recently, and Evan Turner in 2010.

This list is being made so early that a preseason watch list of eligible players has not even been compiled, but it will be fun to do this.

Please keep in mind that like any award this one is normally about popularity and the most entertaining winning team.

We should make clear that the player should come from the best winning team. This is also why some people will always argue that Kemba Walker or Nolan Smith should have supplanted Jimmer Fredette.

This list is to be presented in nor particular order.

North Carolina Tar Heels' Kendall Marshall

In 1992, at the summer Olympics, Australian Steven Bradbury won the men's speed skating medal because he was the last man standing. Bradbury won that race because he was at the back when the three other skaters in front fell.

Last year, North Carolina was the first ACC regular season winners not to have a player named to the ACC first team. That's a testament to how good the UNC players are as a team.

This coming season, Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller and John Henson will probably cancel each other out of the race for postseason honours and the man left standing will be Kendall Marshall.

He was inserted into the starting lineup late last season and held that team together as UNC went on a long game winning streak.

Of all three players, Marshall, a rising sophomore, has the most room to grow.

With UNC being picked as the unanimous No. 1 preseason-ranked team, they are the favourites to win the national championship. Someone will need to be mentioned at some point as a Player of the Year. Why not one of the best passers the ACC has seen in years?

Any one of at least five UNC players can go off for 20 points in any game. Hence, statistically speaking only two players dominate the box score in areas other than scoring—Henson in rebounding and Marshall in assists.

If Marshall can work on his offense, shooting or finishing in the lane, he will be one of the most well-rounded players in all of the NCAA.

Ohio State Buckeyes' Jared Sullinger

If this award was simplified and given to the best player on the best team, Jared Sullinger would have won this last season hands down. Let's face it though, Sullinger was not as exciting as the other finalists for this award.

Duke's Nolan Smith, UConn's Kemba Walker and BYU's Jimmer Fredette, the eventual winner, were all tough to beat. Players like these are hard to come by, especially Fredette.

Sullinger, listed at 6'9" and 280 lbs. is an effective scorer but he is no Blake Griffin highlight specialist.

Sullinger is only a rising sophomore. His game is predictable but he makes up for it by attacking relentlessly. That is, unless you place a taller defender on him. This seems to be the scouting report on him.

He still managed to average 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds, though.

Teammate William Bufford also has a chance to be one of the top players in the NCAA next season.

Kentucky Wildcats' Terrence Jones

I think that Jones could easily average a double-double in rebounds and scoring next season for a loaded UK team.

He has to work on driving right though but it's not a big issue, especially when his left-handed runner is falling, as he seems to be able to get it any time he wants it.

Also he needs to work on his three-point shooting. Jones has a strong inside game but if he is going to take threes he should to do better than the 33 percent he made last season. However, even this number is obscured because he was a better shooter at the start of the season than at the end.

Defenders might find it prudent to give him that shot all the time instead of allowing him to drive to the basket where there is has a higher chance he'll score.

As one of the older players expected to play big minutes, the young players should be able to look to Jones for leadership, much like Patrick Patterson did for John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton in 2010.

Wisconsin Badgers' Jordan Taylor

Jordan Taylor scored 18.1 points per game while dishing out 4.7 assists for Bo Ryan. If he can replicate that or better he will no doubt make it to the final list for the Nairsmith Player of the Year.

One thing, though: Wisconsin has to do better than a top-three finish in the Big Ten and go a little deeper than the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament, as they did last year.

This will be tough to do without graduating leading scorer and rebounder John Leuer (18.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game).

Players like Mike Bruesewitz, Ryan Evans and Josh Gasser are due for breakout seasons. Bruesewitz laid one of the most vicious dunks on Ohio State last season but I can't find it on YouTube or anywhere.

Badgers fans wonder why their team never gets any love. If it was any other school, their PR department would make sure that dunk was up on some website before the bus got back to Madison.

Kansas Jayhawks' Thomas Robinson

Without twins, Marcus and Markieff Morris, Thomas Robinson is expected to take his place among a line of stellar big men to star at Kansas.

If the 6'9" forward can score 7.2 points and grab 6.3 rebounds in 15 minutes as a sophomore, he should be able to average a double-double in twice that amount of time.

He just has to do his best to avoid foul trouble. He averaged two fouls per game last season.

Xavier Musketeers' Tu Holloway.

Last season Tu Holloway averaged 19.7 points, five rebounds and 5.4 assists as Xavier finished with a loss to Marquette in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Xavier has a very solid team but I just wish they could implement Kenny Frease some more into that offense. His style contradicts that of Holloway.

Holloway is a speedy six-foot guard while seven-footer Frease is more of a slow-it-down half court-style player. They are both very effective scorers.

If Xavier makes a deep run into the NCAA tournament, Holloway will get some love for Player of the Year, no doubt.

Florida Gator's Patrick Young

Like Thomas Robinson for Kansas, Patric Young is due a breakout season. He was buried behind Alex Tyus, Vernon Macklin and Chandler Parsons last season but they have all graduated.

Young was a member of the U19 Team USA squad that finished fifth in competing in Riga, Latvia recently.

This is what he told RealGM about last season:

"

We started our season pretty rocky. I didn’t have my mind on the right [way]. I was not doing the right things for the team. I was not helping my team out there. We were struggling a little bit. We lost to Jacksonville and UCF. I am not saying that those programs are bad but we should not lose to those teams. We turned it around, we came together as a team during December and from there together we played really well. Unfortunately, our season ended against Butler the way it did. We didn’t come out. We had 11-point lead against them but we couldn’t hold on to them.

"

At least he owns up to his mistakes and hopefully he has learned from them. He was far too talented to be sidelined on that team.

Florida is very solid at guard and on the wings. They add five-star recruit, Bradley Beal, to an already strong backcourt of Irving Walker, Scottie Wilbekin and Kenny Boynton. Add to that Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario.

Florida has a thin front court so they will need Young to be good.

Texas A&M Aggies' Kris Middleton

Without Nathan Walkup and B J Holmes, there will be a lot more shots for Kris Middleton next season.

Middleton, a 6'7" small forward out of North Charleston, SC, led the Aggies in scoring and was second in rebounding last season. They lost to Florida State in the NCAA tournament and was third in the Big 12 standings.

Going into his junior season Middleton will have a new coach at the reigns. Billy Kennedy, formerly of Murray State, is now the man in charge after Mark Turgeon replaced legendary Gary Williams at Maryland.

Middleton is a long shot for Player of the Year, but he does have a shot.

North Carolina Tar Heels' Harrison Barnes

To those who read the Kendall Marshall slide and thought that was it for UNC, I assure you it's not.

Harrison Barnes came back to college for a reason. In leading North Carolina deeper in the NCAA tournament, he wants to prove his worth as a player and take his place amongst North Carolina's legends.

There is no way I am leaving a focused Harrison Barnes off a list like this. He turned down USA U19 to work on his game.

He went to the Deron Williams basketball camp as well as the Chris Paul camp for point guards.

This guy is on a mission. This will be his second year in college, and that's veteran standards these days.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish's Tim Abromaitis

Tim Abromaitis will be a fifth-year senior next season. Without Big East Player of the Year Ben Hasborough, Tyrone Nash and Carleton Scott, Abromaitis will be the main man for the Fighting Irish.

He will have another high scoring wing, Scott Martin, to make the process easier, though.

Abromaitis averaged 15.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season.

He is currently with Team USA getting ready for the world university games in China.

Pittsburgh Panthers' Ahston Gibbs

Ashton Gibbs has shown that by placing his name in the last NBA draft, he wants to play in the NBA.

Sadly, his height of 6'2" is a knock against him. Shooting guards tend to be a few inches taller. Hence, he is back for his senior year at Pitt.

If Gibbs is worried about his draft status, he may want to play more point guard for the Panthers next season rather than concentrate on doing what he does best: scoring.

Last year, Brad Wanamaker played more at point, and next season Travon Woodall should be more than capable of filling this role playing next to Gibbs.

With Khem Birch, the No. 1 center in the recruiting class of 2011 enrolling in the fall, Pitt will be a very good team defensively. They could easily play Gibbs in a role similar to how champions UConn played Kemba Walker last season.

Gibbs made the final cut for for the 2011 USA Men's World University Games roster. They will play in China starting August 13.

Vanderbilt Commodores' John Jenkins

With players Jeffery Taylor, Festus Ezeli and John Jenkins back for another season, Vanderbilt is in good hands for the coming season.

Taylor and Ezeli are both going to be seniors and Jenkins a rising junior.

Jenkins was the Commodores' leading scorer last season and is viewed as one of the best shooters in college basketball. 

The 6'4" guard became the all-time leading sophomore scorer at Vanderbilt when he averaged 19.5 points per game last season.

Jenkins made the final 12 players for the 2011 USA Men’s World University Games Team. Originally, 22 were invited to try out.

The games are scheduled to start on August 13 and the team is coached by Matt Painter.