Top 10 Candidates For Player of the Year

By this time last college basketball season, the locks for Player of the Year race were already crystal-clear. On one side you had J.J. Redick, the smooth-shooting leader for highly ranked Duke. On the other you had Adam Morrison, the scoring machine with the funky moves for upstart Gonzaga. No one else came close.

This year, so many worthy candidates have emerged that the pick often changes depending on what any one candidate did in his most recent game. With that in mind, let's count down our candidates for Player of the Year:

HONORABLE MENTION

JOAKIM NOAH, AL HORFORD, TAUREAN GREEN, COREY BREWER (FLORIDA): Their collective excellence outweighs the case to be made for each individual player. Noah was the poster boy for last year's national championship and a top NBA prospect whose length, hustle, and tenacity around the boards are pivotal for the Gators. Horford is the quintessential power forward who's got 10 double-doubles this season. Green is the team-leading scorer and the lead guard who makes the offense go. Brewer is the team's all-around stat stuffer and a defensive stopper who may be Florida's most indispensable player — the Gators lost a game they should have won at Florida State on December 3, largely due to Brewer's absence.

TOP TEN

10. AL THORNTON (FLORIDA STATE): Thornton became one of the country's best all-around players in his senior year, extending his jump shot to three-point range while displaying his usual array of blowby drives and leaps over defenders. He's saved some of his best performances for the biggest games, going for 28 points in a win over Florida, and 27 points and 13 rebounds in a victory over Virginia Tech. UNC crushed the Seminoles on January 7, but Thornton's line of 29 and 12 showed it wasn't his fault.

9. TYLER HANSBROUGH (UNC): Tar Heel running mate Brendan Wright looks like the superior pro prospect, but Hansbrough is, in a word, effective. He's an aggressive offensive rebounder who rarely makes bad decisions and constantly gets to the free-throw line (11.5 attempts per game). Like the Gators' stars, Hansbrough is the victim of a talented roster dimming his star power.

8. MARIO BOGGAN (OKLAHOMA STATE): Mario Boggan's epic 35–and–14 effort in the Cowboys' thrilling double-overtime win against Texas Tech looked very similar to the big man's 37–and–20 masterpiece against Texas in triple OT last month. The only difference was the way Boggan shot down the opposition: a putback with four seconds left against the Red Raiders, after an impossible three to beat the Longhorns. Once a lumbering 300-pounder languishing in Florida, Boggan has become the nation's most improved player. If he'd led the Cowboys to more road wins this year, he'd rank higher.

7. ARRON AFFLALO (UCLA): Ask the cross-town rival Trojans where Afflalo should rank in the POY race, and the team would surely place him near the top — while cursing his name under its breath. Afflalo eliminated USC with a lastseason shot January 13 to win that key Pac-10 battle. It was one of several clutch performances in big games this year for the Bruins swingman. Afflalo also usually draws the assignment of guarding the best perimeter player on opposing teams — no mean feat in a conference loaded with talented guards.

6. JARED DUDLEY (BOSTON COLLEGE): The ACC's iron man is also our pick for conference Player of the Year, and one of the top contenders for national honors. Dudley played all but a few seconds during a six-game stretch between January 9 and January 28, and has routinely gone wire-to-wire, or close to it, this year. He's also the heart and soul of the Eagles, with Craig Smith lost to graduation and Sean Williams booted off the team for disciplinary reasons. Dudley's 23 points and 10 rebounds Sunday against Florida State helped BC secure its latest win — and the Eagles' perch atop the nation's deepest conference.

5. AARON BROOKS (OREGON): Brooks drifts at times, and his failure to assert himself has lately cost Oregon, to the tune of four losses in the team's past six games (Brooks was a terrible 2–for–14 from the field in Saturday's 77–74 loss to Arizona). If Brooks warrants occasional criticism, it's only because when he's on, he's nearly unbeatable. The diminutive Duck routinely extends his three-point range well beyond NBA land, and he can take any defender in the country off the dribble. His game-winners against UCLA and Arizona earlier this season demonstrate why Brooks could be the most dangerous player in the country when playing at his best.

4. NICK FAZEKAS (NEVADA): Ken Pomeroy's Offensive Efficiency Rating at kenpom.com lets observers gauge how top players fare with the ball in their hands. By this measure, Fazekas has every player in America beat. Fans of more familiar stats can marvel at his double-double average of 20.8 points and 11.7 rebounds a game, all while averaging less than 30 minutes per contest. Though he's gotten stronger and quicker over the course of his career, Fazekas can still be beaten by elite pivotmen. That's the only chink in the armor for the best college basketball player on the West Coast.

3. ACIE LAW (TEXAS A&M): Law's three-pointer to beat Kansas last Monday night was merely the latest late-game jaw-dropper for the Aggies' assassin. A do-it-all lead guard, between his prolific scoring and deft passing, Law often accounts for well over half of his team's offense. He can knock down long-range bombs with his trademark left-handed knuckleball jumper or score in the lane on righty floaters over bigger defenders. He's also the lynchpin of a smothering defense that has A &M amazingly on top of the loaded Big 12.

2. ALANDO TUCKER (WISCONSIN): The early leader in the POY race has fallen to no. 2, but that's not Tucker's fault. The senior wing has the Badgers on the cusp of a potential no. 1 seed in the big dance. Like many others on this list, Tucker often comes through in the biggest games, including the 60 combined points he dropped on Pitt and Marquette in two December games. Where a team like Kansas has more overall talent, Wisconsin has to feel secure in knowing that when the game's on the line, they have a clear go-to guy. That should come in handy come March.

1. KEVIN DURANT (TEXAS): Durant's game defies description. Attempts to compare him to everyone from Kevin Garnett to Tracy McGrady don't do him justice. Durant averages 25.1 points and 11.4 rebounds a game, but it's the single-game performances that have people talking in hushed tones: 28 and 15 at Texas Tech, 37 and 12 at Oklahoma State, and 37 and 23 against Texas Tech. Unfortunately, two of those three games were losses, as Texas' supporting cast is talented but green. Still, imagine this scenario: It's a second-round tournament game against a highly ranked foe, Texas is down one, there are 10 seconds left, and Durant has the ball at the top of the key and is getting ready to make his move. Break out the defibrillator.

Mr. Keri (jonahkeri@gmail.com) is a writer for ESPN.com's Page 2 and a contributor to YESNetwork.com.