NCAA Basketball: 10 best bets to win 2021-22 Naismith Player of the Year
By Tommy Farmer
Johnny Juzang +1200
April Headline: March Hero Juzang Picks Up Where He Left Off; Leads UCLA Back to Prominence
One of the best stories to come from last March was UCLA’s run from the First Four to the Final Four. After struggling with injuries and inconsistent play all season, Mick Cronin’s team finally turned it on when it mattered and knocked off top teams like Alabama and Michigan before losing an all-time classic to Gonzaga.
Arguably the best and most exciting player for UCLA during that run came in the form of transfer guard Johnny Juzang. Juzang electrified the country for a month, hitting clutch shot after clutch shot. Against Michigan in the Elite 8, Juzang scored 28 of his team’s 51 points on 11-19 shooting, and then he replicated that performance by scoring 29 against Gonzaga on 12-18 shooting on the biggest stage.
For Juzang and UCLA, it’s going to be about replicating their efforts from last March and finding more consistency throughout the regular season. Even after adding transfer Myles Johnson and five-star Peyton Watson, many think this UCLA team is fool’s gold and got lucky last year.
Critics were verbose after UCLA was ranked second in the preseason AP Poll, saying that UCLA doesn’t deserve such recognition after underachieving for much of last season. While those concerns are fair, I think Juzang and the rest of UCLA became much more comfortable with their system during that March stretch.
Comfortable now as the alpha on this team, Juzang should establish himself as one of the best guards in the country. He is a capable three-point shooter with a deadly mid-range game who can also get to the rim.
With non-conference games against Gonzaga and North Carolina, Juzang will have early opportunities to showcase why everyone is so excited about his future. Against a relatively weak Pac-12, Juzang will need to capitalize and put last season’s mid-season streakiness behind him. If Juzang translates his March into a full season and UCLA lives up to its lofty expectations, Juzang will surely get plenty of Naismith consideration.