This week's 10 Trends will look just a little bit different. College basketball has somehow reached the midseason mark, so let's go through what my national player of the year ballot would look like right now.
Man, this is a tough exercise because the two front-runners are having historic seasons. Oh, and the talent level in the sport is through the roof. I tried to prioritize winning while also giving a bump to impact defenders because defense is often ignored in these exercises.
Let's dive into each of the 10 names and one mind-blowing trend or stat that's fueling their electric campaigns.
1. Cooper Flagg, Duke
Numbers to know: 19.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.3 blocks
The pitch: Flagg was already having a fabulous freshman season, and now he's making 3-pointers. Flagg is up to 12-for-22 from downtown in his last six games, but it's the type of treys he's shooting that's added another layer to Duke's hard-to-guard offense.
Duke has started to utilize Flagg as an on-the-move shooter. He's not just spacing the floor. Duke can run him off pindowns, and his gravity makes opposing defenses uncomfortable and mistake-prone. Early in the season, Flagg was bricking good looks. Those days are long gone.
You already know about Flagg's defense. He's one of just three freshmen in college basketball with a block percentage north of 4.0 and a steal percentage higher than 3.0. His open-floor dunks have been spectacular. The playmaking and decision-making is improving rapidly, and Flagg is one of the best cutters out there.
And now you have to also worry about his on-the-move shooting.
All-time stuff.
2. Johni Broome, Auburn
Numbers to know: 17.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.7 blocks, 0.8 steals
The pitch: The only thing that can get in Broome's way is a painful ankle injury. While he's on the mend, we can still bask in Broome's brilliance. The Auburn star forward has engineered the fourth-best individual season that the kenpom.com database has tracked dating back to 2011.
Broome has mastered just about everything a big man can do. He makes 3-pointers. He protects the rim. He's a phenomenal playmaker. Broome eats boards for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He can guard pick-and-rolls however way Bruce Pearl pleases.
But Broome's best asset might be his utterly unstoppable lefty drives. He puts defenders on his hip for a ride, and he mixes power with a pirouette spin move to leave anyone in the dust. Broome is shooting 9 for 13 from the field on his lefty drives, per Synergy.
He's a cheat code.
3. Kam Jones, Marquette
Numbers to know: 19.7 points, 6.4 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 35% from 3-point range
The pitch: Jones has not made a dunk yet this season, and yet, he's one of the most dangerous hoopers when he gets into the paint. Jones' layup package is picturesque. He scoops 'em up, over, around or through would-be shot-blockers. The angles he takes to kiss the rock off the glass are mind-blowing. Jones is shooting 67% at the rim, an absurd number for a high-usage lead guard.
Oh, and he's outstanding at everything else. Jones is scoring and diming at an incredible rate for a Marquette club that sits atop the Big East standings. Jones owns a 41.0 assist rate with a turnover rate that's less than 10. No one else in college basketball sniffs those ratios.
4. Eric Dixon, Villanova
Numbers to know: 25.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 47% from 3-point range
The pitch: Ahead of Tuesday's action, 20 players in college basketball have made 12 or more 3-pointers directly off screens.
Dixon is the only big man on that list.
The Villanova veteran is turning in an all-time scoring season. There have only been eight players in Big East history to average over 25 points per game in a single season. Dixon is on pace to join the likes of Georgetown's Allen Iverson, Creighton's Doug McDermott, UConn's Donyell Marshall and Marquette's Markus Howard as one of the Big East's best-ever scorers.
Dixon can get you a bucket in every way. He's an elite sniper who spots up from well beyond the NBA stripe. He's been one of college basketball's elite isolation scorers. You can post him up. Dixon is a terrifying pick-and-pop threat who is always a threat to barrel down the lane. Shoot, he'll even handle the ball and pop the popcorn if you need him to.
5. Braden Smith, Purdue
Numbers to know: 15.0 points, 9.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 41% from 3-point range
The pitch: Smith makes the extraordinary look normal. The Purdue point guard has 10 or more assists in 18 of his last 55 games, per Chris Forman, Purdue's excellent sports information director. Smith has tossed any narrative that he was propped up by Zach Edey in the trash.
Smith leads the nation with a dazzling 47.8 assist rate and doubles as the best off-the-dribble sniper that you can find at the high-major ranks. No high-major player averages more than Smith's 6.7 points per game via off-the-dribble jumpers, according to Synergy.
Purdue's 123.3 adjusted offensive efficiency is the second-best mark of the Matt Painter era. Smith's feel mixed with an unguardable pull-up jumper is the catalyst for all of it.
6. Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
Numbers to know: 19.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists
The pitch: Even fellow shooters admit that Lanier is just a little different than the rest. The Tennessee guard is shredding the nets from downtown at a 43.7% clip on 8.4 attempts per game. Only Monmouth's Abdi Bashir Jr. and Louisville's Reyne Smith have made more treys than Lanier (59).
But Lanier has more to his game than just owning a strap. He's completely fearless driving to the rim, and Lanier has bad intentions. He caught a body on a lob against Syracuse, but Lanier has been super close to putting a defender on a poster.
It's only a matter of time.
Also, those defensive questions? They haven't been much of a concern at all. Lanier is not a liability on that end.
7. PJ Haggerty, Memphis
Numbers to know: 22.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists
The pitch: Haggerty is fourth nationally among all qualified players in scoring, averaging over 22 points per game. He's using free throws to pad his stats and fuel a 13-3 Memphis club.
Only two players have shot more free throws this year than Memphis' PJ Haggerty (144).
The art of deceleration is a big reason why. Haggerty has earned a trip to the free-throw line on 24% of his 75 transition possessions, per Synergy. He'll initiate contact with unsuspecting defenders at will because a trip to the charity stripe is money in the bank for Memphis. Haggerty is draining 83% of his free throws at a ridiculously high volume.
That math works.
8. Javon Small, West Virginia
Numbers to know: 19.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 35% from 3-point range
The pitch: West Virginia is averaging just a shade under 75 points per game. Small is generating 35 of those 75 for himself or his teammates, according to Synergy. He's easily been one of the most valuable players to his team, and Small has helped put West Virginia on the map and keep the 12-3 Mountaineers afloat with co-star Tucker DeVries sidelined with an upper-body injury.
9. Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois
Numbers to know: 16.4 points, 5.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 41% from 3-point range
The pitch: Jakucionis is the engine behind a new-look, built-from-scratch Illinois team that possesses one of the highest ceilings in the country. Jakucionis has cemented himself as a potential top-5 pick in next summer's 2025 NBA Draft thanks to his combination of skilled size, adept playmaking and silky stepback jumper. Jakucionis is one of the elite pick-and-roll maestros in college basketball, and he sets the table for everything Illinois can do. Kylan Boswell is having a career-best season. Tre White is having a career-best season. Tomislav Ivisic has made the transition to college basketball without too many hiccups. Jakucionis is the rising tide that elevates all the orange and blue boats.
His impact isn't just on offense. He entered college with some defensive concerns, but Jakucionis has transformed into an impressive perimeter defender for a top-10 Illinois unit.
10. Alijah Martin, Florida
Numbers to know: 15.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 35% from 3-point range
The pitch: Martin is one of my dark horse candidates who might be a touch off the beaten path. Florida's deadly 1-2 punch of Martin and Walter Clayton Jr. could cancel each other out a tad in the national player of the year chase but both should be firmly in the discussion. Clayton is Florida's top scorer but Martin gets the nod because of his defense. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior has been a menacing whiz who executes Florida's scheme perfectly. Florida switches a ton of off-ball screens, and Martin seems like he's always in the right place at the right time. He's strong enough to root big men out of the paint, he's fast enough to chase lead guards around and he's way more athletic than almost every wing he goes up against.
Martin also owns a Charles Tillman-like "Peanut Punch" that he uses to generate takeaways and jumpstart Florida's transition offense which is one of the elite units in college basketball. When the Gators run, everyone is in trouble and Martin is usually the guy kickstarting the fastbreak.
Five who just missed the cut: Alabama's Mark Sears, Iowa State's Keshon Gilbert, Florida's Walter Clayton Jr., Rutgers' Dylan Harper and Kansas' Hunter Dickinson