Men’s Player of the Year Ladder: Keaton Wagler Climbs, Joshua Jefferson Drops

Let’s get one thing straight: the top spot in my men’s college basketball Player of the Year Ladder isn’t up for debate. Duke freshman forward Cameron Boozer stands alone. But behind him? Absolute mayhem. Illinois freshman guard Keaton Wagler delivered back-to-back impressive outings this past week, going for 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists against UCLA, and then following that up with a team-high 23-points against Michigan. Those performances bumped him up in my rankings. Meanwhile, St John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor put up a triple-double against Villanova, which validated his spot over others who just missed the cut. Here’s my Player of the Year Ladder heading into the final week of the regular season. Honorable mention: Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr., Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz, Gonzaga forward Graham Ike, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson. 10. Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s senior forward After getting dominated by UConn early last week, I was going to remove Ejiofor from this list. He then messed around and got a triple-double in St. John’s win over Villanova, earning his spot back. Zuby Dooby Doo! 9. Braden Smith, Purdue senior guard Purdue’s struggles are not all on Smith. He’s still the captain of the No. 2-ranked offense in the country, and the best pick-and-roll player in the sport. I am rooting for Smith to become college basketball’s all-time assist leader, but Purdue is going to have to win some postseason games for that to happen. 8. Kingston Flemings, Houston freshman guard Flemings had a team-high eight assists in Houston’s blowout win over Colorado, ending the Cougars’ three-game losing streak. He does a masterful job of scoring when he has to, while also being able to take a backseat to others when needed. 7. Keaton Wagler, Illinois freshman guard Wagler is moving up my player ladder, even though Illinois has struggled to pick up wins. I don’t blame Wagler for the lack of recent victories for the Illini, as he averaged 20 points, six rebounds and five assists this past week against UCLA and Michigan. 6. Jeremy Fears Jr., Michigan State sophomore guard Fears put on a masterclass at the point guard position Sunday at Indiana, putting up 21 points and nine assists. At times, it looks like he’s operating in cruise control. He leads the nation in assists and the Spartans are better than they should be. 5. Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State senior forward Iowa State fell to Arizona on Monday night, and Jefferson had his worst game of the season. The senior forward finished with just 12 points on 2-of-17 shooting from the field. Jefferson and the Cyclones have now lost three of their last four games. 4. Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan senior forward You can’t judge Lendeborg’s impact on the floor based on just his scoring numbers: 14.3 PPG. That would be ignoring everything else he does so well for the Wolverines. Just watch Michigan play, and you’ll see Lendeborg guard all five positions, in addition to scoring, rebounding and leading the most explosive team in the land. 3. Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas freshman guard Acuff had his lowest scoring game of the SEC regular season on Saturday with 17 points in Arkansas’ 111-77 loss at Florida. The freshman standout hasn’t had two bad offensive games in a row, which does not bode well for the Texas Longhorns. 2. AJ Dybantsa, BYU freshman forward Dybantsa is leading the nation in scoring after averaging 29 points per game in the month of February. BYU lacks toughness on the defensive side of the ball, but Dybantsa’s offensive production is special. 1. Cameron Boozer, Duke freshman forward For the first time this year, Boozer did not have a good shooting game, going 3-of-9 in Duke’s 77-51 win over Virginia this past weekend. The freshman forward still finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the blowout win. That might be the worst game he plays for the rest of the season, and that’s a scary thought.