NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 5 Naismith Trophy finalists for 2019-20
By Brian Rauf
462. . . . Udoka Azubuike. 5. player
Stats: 13.7 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 2.6 bpg
Over the last month of the season, Udoka Azubuike was the most dominant player in the country and is why Kansas was such a heavy favorite going into the now-canceled postseason.
But this is a player of the year award, not player of the last month or two.
His 23-point, 19-rebound performance at Baylor was phenomenal, as was his 31-point, 14-rebound, five-block performance against TCU. Yet as good as those games were, Azubuike put up a few duds as well.
In KU’s games against Texas Tech, West Virginia, and Kansas State in February – the latter two of which came on the road – he averaged just 5.7 points and 8.0 rebounds. He was also limited to two points against Stanford and had eight games in which he made three or fewer shots from the field.
Don’t let Azubuike’s modest scoring average fool you because his impact goes far beyond the box score and the offensive end, and being perhaps the best player on the nation’s best team certainly means something. That said, he just wasn’t as dominant throughout the entire season as the other players on this list.
His play over the last month provided the surge to get him to this point, yet the other four finalists have better season-long resumes.