CBS Thanksgiving Classic: Arkansas v Duke
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Roughly 25% of the college basketball regular season is complete, and the amount of star power coursing through the sport is staggering. While a handful of well-known returners are thriving in familiar uniforms, much of the top-end talent has come from freshmen and transfers.

The high-powered group of diaper dandies includes Duke's Cameron Boozer, North Carolina's Caleb Wilson, Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. and BYU's AJ Dybantsa, among others. Impact transfers such as Kansas State's PJ Haggerty, Baylor's Cameron Carr, Iowa's Bennett Stirtz and Indiana's Tucker DeVries are also playing like early All-Americans.

And that's before getting to USC's prolific duo of Chad Baker-Mazara and Rodney Rice — both averaging more than 20 points per game entering the week — or Louisville newcomer Ryan Conwell, who's hitting 3-pointers from everywhere. Those names represent just a fraction of the players emerging as early challengers for All-America status and other national awards.

They're part of a deep group pushing established stars such as Purdue's Braden Smith and Texas Tech's JT Toppin a couple laps into the race for postseason hardware.

With a month of data to chew on, our writers are taking stock of the national landscape and issuing updated predictions for who will be named National Player of the Year at season's end.

Cameron Boozer, Duke

As I noted on Wednesday's episode of the Eye On College Basketball Podcast, there's still a ways to go, and anything can change things, most notably unfortunate injuries. But, all of that acknowledged, through the first month of this season, Boozer is clearly the leading candidate to be the CBS Sports National Player of the Year.

Whomever is in second isn't close.

Boozier is now averaging 23.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks for an undefeated Duke team ranked fourth in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. His national-best KenPom.com Payer of the Year rating is 2.352, which would've fallen somewhere between Duke's Cooper Flagg and Auburn's Johni Broome last season, and is 0.723 percentage points ahead of his next closest competitor (Iowa State's Joshua Jefferson, by the way) this season. So, no, let's not go ahead and start engraving any trophies quite yet. But, as long as Boozer and Duke continue to perform at this level, all NPOY trophies should ultimately be his. -- Gary Parrish

Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

Boozer is the indisputable pick through the first five weeks of the season. Can he hold it for the next three months? Absolutely. But it wouldn't be much of a Dribble Handoff if we all had the same answer, so let me offer Lendeborg as a legitimate alternative. The one thing he has over Boozer right now: a claim as the best player on the best team. Duke is very good, but Michigan has been better. The Wolverines rank No. 1 in every predictive metric, and Lendeborg has fully delivered on his offseason reputation as perhaps the best portal addition in the country.

He's averaging 16.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 61.3% from the field and 39.4% from 3. And he's posting those numbers on a loaded roster while playing fewer than 28 minutes per night. It's easy to assume Boozer will hold the lead wire to wire, but there's a real chance this turns into a compelling race by the time we hit January. I like Yax's chances to be heavily in the mix. -- Matt Norlander

Cameron Boozer, Duke

My preseason top-100 player rankings had Braden Smith and Cameron Boozer at No. 1 and 2 after I went back and forth on that order for days. One month into the season, I've flipped it -- and there's a real chance Boozer, not Smith nor anyone else, ends up having the best season in college basketball.

His growth over just the last two games is reason enough for optimism: He scored 35 and 29 in wins over ranked Arkansas and ranked Florida, grabbed a combined 15 rebounds and added five assists. He's also showing real progression as a perimeter shooter with a confidence that keeps rising.

The appeal of Smith's case was always obvious: He was projected to be the best player on the best team in the sport. And that still might be true. But Boozer is Duke's system. He leads the Blue Devils in points, rebounds, assists, minutes and steals. Smith, meanwhile, is currently third on his team in scoring, his per-40 numbers look similar to last year aside from a bump in assist rate, and sharing the spotlight with star Trey Kaufman-Renn may cut into his case.

That's a lot of hedging to say this plainly: I'm officially flipping my Player of the Year pick from Braden Smith to Cameron Boozer. Boozer has a chance to be the first freshman ever to lead the nation in scoring, and his 38.4 Player Efficiency Rating is pushing into the rare air usually reserved for past POYs. The only other players to finish a season with a PER above 38 since the stat's introduction in 2002 -- Zach Edey (three times) and Zion Williamson -- all went on to win the award. Boozer is tracking with the same historical markers.. -- Kyle Boone

Cameron Boozer, Duke

There are plenty of other realistic contenders for National Player of the Year, so betting on someone over Boozer could still make sense. But even with a deep field of stars chasing him, Boozer is clearly the top choice. Through nine games, he's on a Cooper Flagg–level pace after consecutive blockbuster performances against SEC opponents. 

As if 35 points and nine rebounds against Arkansas weren't enough, he followed that up with 29 points and six rebounds in a Tuesday night victory over reigning national champion Florida. He's both tough and skilled, gritty and smart, and his seamless adjustment to college basketball speaks to his physicality and basketball IQ. 

The bet here: Boozer will only continue to improve as his freshman season unfolds, collecting a smorgasbord of individual honors, including National Player of the Year. -- David Cobb

Cameron Boozer, Duke

Boozer hasn't just been the best freshman in college basketball through the first month of the season -- he's been the best player overall. The only player with a legitimate chance to challenge him has appeared in just two games this season: Kansas' Darryn Peterson, who would be my pick to go No. 1 in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Coming into the season, I had Boozer ranked No. 2 on my personal big board, just ahead of BYU's AJ Dybantsa. What sets him apart is his basketball IQ -- every time he touches the ball, he seems to make the right read. Against Arkansas, coach John Calipari refused to send double teams, and Boozer made them pay. He's such a tough cover thanks to his combination of size and strength.

If Duke is going to reach the Final Four, Boozer will need to continue playing at his peak. If he does, he should also be the frontrunner for National Player of the Year. Based on what we've seen, he would be my pick for NPOTY if the season ended today. -- Cameron Salerno

Braden Smith, Purdue

Braden Smith was my preseason pick for National Player of the Year, but the incredible crop of newcomers has generated plenty of buzz. We should be enamored with the shiny new toys this season, but Smith has been outstanding for an undefeated Purdue team. He ranks second nationally in assists (8.9 per game) and is shooting 41% from three on 5.1 attempts per game.

For me, it's a Cameron Boozer or Smith conversation in early December. To settle it, I turned to my trusty points-created stat. Smith has generated 308 points for Purdue in eight games -- that's an astounding 38.5 points per game created directly from his brilliance. Boozer sits at 304 points created in nine games. On that metric, Purdue's maestro gets my vote. -- Isaac Trotter