NCAA Basketball: 2019 Player of the Year rankings entering conference play

LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 20: Rui Hachimura #21 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs tries to get around Ryan Luther #10 of the Arizona Wildcats during the second half of the game at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)

2) Rui Hachimura, PF, Gonzaga

Stats: 21.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg
LW: 1

Hachimura’s stock is trending in the wrong direction but there is no doubting him as one of college basketball’s best players through the first half of the season.

He was a player many were expecting to have a breakout junior year and he became a national star thanks to his play in Gonzaga’s win over Duke in the Maui Invitational title game. The Japanese native followed that up with three great performances, including a buzzer beater against Washington, to put himself in the top spot in these rankings.

Rui Hachimura with the GAME-WINNER to keep No. 1 Gonzaga unbeaten 👀 pic.twitter.com/qCEUdQwcb0
— ESPN (@espn) December 6, 2018

Then the Zags lost back-to-back games to Tennessee and North Carolina. Hachimura put up solid numbers in both contests but failed to have the same kind of impact we were used to him having, and that has caused a lot of the buzz around him to die down.

He has a resume few can match to this point, yet with Gonzaga playing in the West Coast Conference, it will be hard for Hachimura to have more of those award-winning moments. His best chance to keep his spot (and potentially move up) is to continue to put up excellent numbers and for the Zags to go undefeated in WCC play.