The talk surrounding the very best participant in school basketball is extra open some years than it’s in others.
Final season noticed a intently contested battle between Duke’s 18-year-old freshman phenom Cooper Flagg and Auburn’s 23-year-old veteran spine Johni Broome for the assorted Nationwide Participant of the 12 months awards, though the title for the very best participant within the sport clearly belonged to Flagg, evidenced by the truth that he went No. 1 in June’s NBA Draft with a large hype prepare behind him.
This yr’s crop of expertise contains gamers like Texas Tech’s J.T. Toppin, who’s contemporary off a Elite 8 run with the Purple Raiders, and his star ex-teammate Darrion Williams, who elected to switch to Will Wade’s operation at N.C. State as an alternative of working it again with Toppin in Lubbock for an additional yr. Then there are gamers like UCLA’s Donovan Dent, who commanded a reported $3 million NIL deal throughout switch portal negotiations.
The incoming freshman class contains two probably generational prospects in Darryn Peterson and A.J. Dybantsa, however neither of these gamers completed as a lot as in some way underrated Duke signee and 2025 Mr. Basketball USA Cameron Boozer did throughout his illustrious prep profession. The returning expertise this season additionally contains 2025 Large Ten Participant of the 12 months Braden Smith, in addition to the highest goal within the switch portal this offseason in Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg.
In Half 1, we highlighted the 4 names above within the hunt for that unofficial title. Now, we wrap up our two-part collection with 4 extra elite gamers who might probably declare the honors.
J.T. Toppin, Texas Tech (6’9, F, Jr.) Age: 20
Toppin, like Braden Smith, is a returning Energy 4 convention Participant of the 12 months award honoree, having taken house the Large 12’s premier participant award in his first season within the convention with Texas Tech. Toppin was additionally named the Mountain West co-Freshman of the 12 months for his efforts throughout his freshman season at New Mexico (on the identical group as Donovan Dent), which additionally supplied him the chance to switch to Texas Tech final offseason after flirting closely with the NBA Draft.
The draft was much less of a temptation for Toppin this time round, principally as a result of truth he was nonetheless projected as a late first-round decide in most mocks. Toppin already seemed like a person amongst boys final season within the Large 12 and with one other yr of expertise and progress beneath his belt, it’s definitely going to be troublesome to forestall him from incomes a second straight convention POY award.
Toppin ranked eighth nationally with 19 double-doubles in 33 appearances final season. His NBA potential lies totally on the defensive finish, as he’s one of many nation’s finest inside defenders regardless of his 6’9 body.
Donovan Dent, UCLA (6’2, PG, Jr.) Age: 21
The costliest participant within the switch portal this offseason, Dent is ready to develop into the primary man in Westwood after departing from New Mexico this spring. The famous person level guard ranked within the prime 15 nationally in each scoring and distributing, averaging 20.4 factors and 6.5 assists per recreation.
Dent was arguably essentially the most constant performer in all of faculty hoops final season, reaching double figures in all 35 of his appearances for the Lobos whereas main the group to their first regular-season convention title in over a decade. He additionally turned the 14th participant in NCAA historical past to tally 600+ factors and 200+ assists in a single marketing campaign, marking the primary time a participant reached these numbers since Ja Morant did it in 2018-19.
Dent is predicted to be the driving drive of UCLA’s offense this season. If that goes something prefer it did in Albuquerque the previous few seasons, the Large 10 Participant of the 12 months Award race will likely be an outright dash between Dent, Braden Smith and Yaxel Lendeborg.
Cameron Boozer, Duke (6’9, F, Fr.) Age: 18
You could possibly make a professional case that Cameron Boozer is essentially the most completed prep basketball participant of all time, though its very debatable among the many all-time greats akin to Lew Alcindor, LeBron James and Kenny Anderson. He received 4 state championships on the highest classification in Florida, he received three Peach Jam titles on the EYBL circuit in numerous classifications and he claimed two gold medals with Crew USA. Nonetheless, he enters his maiden voyage at Duke as solely the third most heralded freshman within the nation.
Whereas Darryn Peterson and A.J. Dybantsa are the gamers projected to go 1-2 within the 2026 NBA Draft, neither of them are able to succeed fairly like Boozer is at Duke this season.
There are not any actual query marks surrounding this Blue Satan roster, which has develop into the norm. No program will get extra publicity within the nationwide information cycle than Duke does, which can solely assist Boozer’s case if he performs the best way he’s anticipated to this season. His 6’9, 250-pound body will make him a viable NBA submit menace, however he’s additionally proficient at attacking the rim and he’s a decent menace from past the arc. Boozer ought to simply be within the working for the assorted Nationwide Participant of the 12 months awards if this season goes to plan.
Darrion Williams, N.C. State (6’6, F, Jr.) Age: 22
Williams parted methods together with his ex-teammate Toppin and his Texas Tech brethren in favor of Will Wade’s renaissance at North Carolina State. I’m positive it performed no half in Williams’ resolution to go all the way down to the Piedmont, however his departure will even permit him to flee the shadows of Toppin, who would virtually definitely be the participant getting Texas Tech and the Large 12’s push within the Nationwide Participant of the 12 months campaigns.
As a substitute, Williams would be the main man for a group that would very nicely compete for the ACC championship this season. We’ve seen how rapidly Wade turned McNeese State from an unknown faculty in Lake Charles, La., to a headline-commanding mid-major powerhouse. With a participant like Williams, who might give the Wolfpack 20+ factors an evening within the ACC in the correct state of affairs, the turnaround ought to occur even faster in Raleigh. If Williams is the catalyst that guides N.C. State and Will Wade to the highest of the mountain, why wouldn’t he be the very best participant in school basketball?
