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Player of the Year Power Rankings: It’s Frank Mason III’s award to lose

Kansas v Kentucky

LEXINGTON, KY - JANUARY 28: Frank Mason III #0 of the Kansas Jayhawks dribbles the ball against the Kentucky Wildcats during the game against at Rupp Arena on January 28, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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1. Frank Mason III, Kansas: Mason capped off his career in Phog Allen Fieldhouse in fitting fashion on Monday night, scoring 23 points and handing out six assists as he led the Jayhawks back from a 12-point second half deficit in a win over Oklahoma. At this point, Mason is the clear-cut favorite for National Player of the Year, and barring some insanity in the final week of the season, I just don’t see that changing.

He leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.3 points while also averaging 4.9 assists and 4.0 boards. He’s still shooting 50 percent from three. He’s the leader, the heart and soul of a team that is going to win the Big 12 regular season title by at least two and probably three full games. The Big 12, if you didn’t know, is rated as the best conference in the country, according to KenPom.

He’s sparked comebacks this season. He’s make game-winning shots. He’s played his best in the biggest games. I just can’t see how you would lean another direction.

2. Josh Hart, Villanova: Villanova is right back in the mix for a national title this season despite losing Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu to graduation, Phil Booth to injury and Omari Spellman to an academic issue. They start Darryl Reynolds at center and might repeat as national champs. Hart is the reason why, and this quote from a Sports Illustrated story on Hart sums up what he means to this team:

“Now that I’m the guy at the top of the scouting report,” Hart said, “the guy every team wants to stop, I have to make sure that I make the right play. It’s not just about scoring. It’s about making sure my teammates are getting the ball. Trying to minimize the tough shots that I take. It’s about who is dialed into the details.”

3. Lonzo Ball, UCLA: Ball is coming off of an 11-point, eight-assist performance on Saturday as UCLA landed their second elite road win of the season, going into the McKale Center and picking off Arizona to keep themselves in the running for a No. 1 seed come Selection Sunday. We’ve talked plenty about what Ball has done to change the culture and the dynamic of this UCLA roster, and I think it is also worth noting that he doesn’t chase stats. He’s averaging 14.8 points, 7.6 assists and 6.2 boards on the year, and there are games where it feels like he is happy to simply be a distributor when the Bruins are comfortably ahead.

4. Caleb Swanigan, Purdue: As good as Swanigan has been this season, I just cannot pick a player from the Big Ten as the National Player of the Year this season. The league is just not that good, and while Purdue is probably the best team in the league, they’ve been anything-but dominant down the stretch.
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5. Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga: I’m not ready to drop Williams-Goss out of the range of first-team all-american, but it was concerning about, in Gonzaga’s loss to BYU on Saturday night, he was unable to create against a set BYU defense down the stretch.

6. Justin Jackson, North Carolina: His performance against Virginia aside, Jackson has been the star for the Tar Heels this season, the ACC Player of the Year and one of the biggest reasons they’re a win against Duke away from being the outright ACC regular season champs.

7. Luke Kennard, Duke: With Grayson Allen and Amile Jefferson once again battling injuries that might hold them out this week, don’t be surprised Kennard has to start putting up numbers that he did at the start of the season again. Duke closes the regular season with Florida State at home and at North Carolina.

8. Johnathan Motley, Baylor: The Bears have struggled a bit down the stretch of the season, but it’s not Motley’s fault, as he’s been playing some of his best basketball of late. In his last three games, Motley is averaging 23.3 points, 11.7 boards, 3.7 assists and 1.7 blocks.

9. Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State has one of the nation’s top two offenses despite having just one guy with anywhere near the talent to play in the NBA, and that’s Evans. The Pokes lost their first six Big 12 games, but have since reeled off nine wins in their last 10 games and are comfortably in the NCAA tournament in Brad Underwood’s first season.

10. Ethan Happ, Wisconsin: Happ has struggled late in the year as teams start to focus in on him more. As a team, Wisconsin has now lost four of their last five and look like they will not be winning the Big Ten title.

JUST MISSED THE CUT

Josh Jackson, Kansas
Donovan Mitchell, Louisville
Monte’ Morris, Iowa State
Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame
Lauri Markkanen, Arizona
Melo Trimble, Maryland
Malik Monk, Kentucky
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State
Dillon Brooks, Oregon
Joel Berry II, North Carolina
Jock Landale, Saint Mary’s
Alec Peters, Valparaiso