NCAA Basketball: Top 10 rankings for 2022-23 National Player of the Year

3. Markquis Nowell – Kansas State Wildcats

2022-23 stats: 17.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 8.9 apg

Nowell was a good mid-major player at Little Rock in the Sun Belt and averaged 12.4 ppg and 5.0 apg last season at Kansas State. He produced around five assists a game in his first four seasons so the 5’7 point guard was already known as a capable passer. But what he’s done this season to this point has been absurd.

Nowell is second in NCAA Basketball in assists, with Yuri Collins (10.8 apg) only ahead of him. But with the Wildcats having a much better season than Saint Louis, that’s why the 5th-year senior is on this list. It also helps that his scoring is one of the best in the Big 12 as well, including scoring at least nine points each game, as well as four games of at least 20 points. One was early on, with 29 points and 11 assists in an overtime win over Nevada.

The other three have all come recently, since the start of Big 12 play. Nowell is averaging 30.3 ppg in the last three games, including 36 points and nine assists against Texas and 32 points and a career-high 14 assists in an overtime win over Baylor. He has six double-digit assists games as well, which is highly impressive considering the perceived lack of talent on the roster.

At this point, Nowell has made a case for being the best player in the Big 12, which automatically puts him into position for the best overall player. We’ll see if he can keep it up for the rest of league play but his historically good couple of weeks and overall stats now has him in the running.