ACC Basketball: Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett lead Player of the Year race

1. Zion Williamson – Duke

Williamson entered college with the backing of his high school dunk videos and is one of the only players to ever create a brand for themselves before they ever played a minute of College Basketball. It did not take fans very long to learn that the powerful freshman was so much more than a YouTube star. The guard has been described as the next LeBron James, and so far in his short college career he has been nothing short of transcendent for the game of basketball.

Williamson can do things that normal humans his size would not dream of doing. He is a gifted athlete and his style of play poses a matchup nightmare for everyone he goes up against. He is a stat sheet stuffer on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor every night. As mentioned above he helps form the other part of the duo with another Duke freshman RJ Barrett. Williamson brings the power and Barrett brings the steadiness and the calm.

The freshman does not appear to have to try very hard to fill a stat sheet. Much like his counterpart Barrett he has a natural feel for the game and can score in a variety of ways. He can play every position and defend every position on the floor. He has the potential even after one year to be one of the best players in Duke Blue Devil basketball history. At this point the race for the Player of the Year is a two-horse race. Those two horses both play for Duke. Williamson has the leg up on this race as of now.

Since he arrived in Durham, he has had the attention of virtually every basketball fan. We have all been sitting at the ends of our couches or chairs waiting to see what he will do next. The freshman is an experience and he is only going to get better as the season rolls on. The guard has positioned himself to be the number 1 pick in the NBA draft. That would be just another thing to add to his already impressive resume.