Top 10 contenders for National Player of the Year
This is the time of the year when legacies are on the line. The chase for conference championships and NCAA Tournament berths is in full swing. First impressions are everything, but a strong finish can vault some superstars into the National Player of the Year discussions.
It’s also the time of the year when coaches will take to the media to try and boost the status of their star player. Ohio State’s Chris Holtmann sounded off on E.J. Liddell’s candidacy for Big Ten Player of the Year after Liddell eviscerated Michigan for 28 points, five rebounds and three blocks on Saturday.
“Will somebody please, outside of the people who cover our program, start talking about E.J. as Player of the Year in this league,” Holtmann said. “He is deserving. He is deserving to be in that conversation. I’m on him as much as anybody. But I don’t hear his name mentioned. I don’t know why I don’t hear his name mentioned. Granted, we have to keep winning or whatever. But he’s got to be mentioned in this conversation. The year he’s had has been phenomenal. To your point, he’s getting better at leading on that end. It’s asking a lot of him. He should just want to talk about defense because he was phenomenal on offense. He’s deserving of being in that conversation. The year is not over. He has to keep working. But E.J. Liddell is deserving to be in the conversation of Player of the Year in this league.”
Here are the top 10 contenders for National Player of the Year, according to college basketball analyst Andy Katz.
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