Thomas Robinson
Last season he was a sixth man for the Kansas Jayhawks. This season he is the best player in college basketball.
Thomas Robinson leads the Jayhawks with 17 points per game and 12 rebounds a night. His 12 rebounds average is the second-highest in the nation. Add that to being the star of a top-5 team in the country, and you have the Player of the Year.
People also need to remember that this is supposed to be Kansas’ down year. Before the season, Kansas was ranked 13th in the AP polls. The Jayhawks returned only one player that played more than Robinson’s 15 minutes a game last year. Yet Robinson didn’t allow his team to falter and now they are ranked fourth in the AP poll.
Sure, Anthony Davis at Kentucky has been fantastic, but he’s not carrying the Wildcats by himself. Thanks to four other probable first-round picks, he gets the benefit to grab rebounds and finish alley-oops.
Without Davis, Kentucky would still be a top team in the country. Without Robinson, Kansas would be in the middle of the pack in the Big 12.
In the Jayhawks’ five losses, Robinson put up a double-double in four of them. For leading an average team to a top ranking in the country, Robinson is the best player in college basketball.
-Bobby Nightengale
Anthony Davis
The best player in college basketball is not only on the best team in the land but boasts the best uni-brow in sports.
Kentucky freshman center Anthony Davis is a future No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft and should also be the Player of the Year in college basketball.
Davis is a proverbial game changer. For what he lacks on offense, he makes up for on the defensive end of the court.
Davis averages ten rebounds and five blocks a contest. He is long, athletic and probably the best shot blocker in the college game since Patrick Ewing.
No one can go into the paint against Davis without the ball ending up in the front row seats.
Did I mention he has an amazing uni-brow?
Davis isn’t all defense. He is leading Kentucky in scoring at 14 points per game and shooting 65 percent from the field.
His post moves are unpolished, but Davis overwhelms opponents with superior athleticism.
While Kansas forward Thomas Robinson has an argument for Player of the Year, he is nowhere near the dominant force that Davis is on both ends of the floor.
It just makes sense that the award goes to the best player on the best team in the country.
Anthony Davis is the Player of the Year in college basketball.
-Alex Ross
