NCAA Basketball: Ethan Happ, Duke freshmen lead Kenpom’s current POY candidates

4. Zion Williamson, Duke

Barrett’s roommate Zion Williamson currently sits in the fourth spot. Williamson is a highlight-reel, who throws down breath-taking alley-oops and dunks every night. He is perhaps the most gifted athlete seen in college basketball in the last decade.

Williamson has shown he is more than a high-flying dunker as he is averaging 20.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. He is a great scorer off the bounce, mainly due to his superhuman athleticism and incredible motor. Even if Williamson misses the shot, he is more than likely going to grab the offensive board and lay it back in.  His superhuman athleticism makes him a great defender as well. He has had multiple chase-down blocks and runaway steal this year.

5. Grant Williams, Tennessee

The junior forward Grant Williams finishes out the top five in the kPOY rankings. Williams was selected as the SEC preseason player of the year heading into the 2018-19 season. The Tennessee Volunteers were picked to finish second overall in the SEC, but Williams and company have elevated this team to an elite level.

Williams has averaged 19.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in his junior season. He is a high IQ player who has great strength to finish around the rim and grab rebounds. Williams is not a great athlete, but makes up for it by playing with a very high motor.

The Volunteers have had a spectacular start to the season as they have gone (7-1), and knocked off elite opponent Gonzaga. Their only loss was suffered to Kansas in overtime. The Volunteers are currently ranked 10th overall in the nation. Their AdjO is ranked 14th and AdjD is ranked 13th in the 2018-19 season. It will be interesting to see how far Williams and Admiral Schofield can take this team.

An interesting takeaway from this list is that most of these players either are considered to be smart players or have a high motor. This is most likely not a coincidence that these players are able to succeed with these attributes. The list is also made up of three juniors and the two freshman from Duke.

Happ has retained the top spot in kPOY for a majority of the season. This list is changed every night after the games played in that given day. Other notable players on the kPOY are Carsen Edwards, Ja Morant, Bol Bol, Jarrett Culver, and Ignas Brazdeikis to round-up the top ten.

Be sure to checkout Kenpom for team rankings, player rankings, and other advanced metrics for college basketball.