Cooper Flagg vs. Johni Broome is pacing, both statistically and cosmetically, to potentially be the best two-man national player of the year race in the history of modern college basketball.
For about six weeks, I’d been hoping that we’d get to this point but was skeptical the race would be this close and that these two could outrun the field. One week into February, it is and they are.
Let’s dive into the angles and details, because this NPOY chase has a chance to become the No. 1 story in college hoops in the lead-up to the NCAA Tournament.
In most seasons, the player picked as college basketball’s best usually winds up in mid-March with a tangible gap between them and the two or three first team All-Americans who couldn’t quite level up. Every so often, when we’re lucky, there is a true down-to-the-wire battle that ends with split ballots. If college basketball’s voting collective had to log its choice today for Broome or Flagg (right now, there is no close third choice), it’s probable the two would wind up splitting NPOY honors.
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That’s a boost for hoops.
In addition to their wowing stats (I’ll get there in a minute) pitting Broome and Flagg against each other provides some captivating narrative juxtapositions. At 22, Broome is 53 months older than Flagg and is a former three-star recruit who ranked 471st in his class and started in the Ohio Valley Conference at Morehead State. He is using all five years of college eligibility afforded to him to leverage himself into an NBA player.
Players with those type of backgrounds…
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