February has arrived, with most college basketball teams having about nine games left on their regular season schedule. Purdue center Zach Edey leads the way in the race for the Wooden Award, and the battle for a spot on the All-American First Team is heating up. My honorable mentions not listed below include the Kansas duo of center Hunter Dickinson and guard Kevin McCullar Jr., Marquette guard Tyler Kolek, Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves, Duke center Kyle Filipowski and UConn guard Tristen Newton.
Centers have ruled college basketball the past few seasons, but the guards have stepped up in a crucial way this year. My midseason All-American team will have two guards, two forwards and a center. What all five players have in common is that they are likely to win the Player of the Year award in their respective conferences. Let’s take a look at the best players in college basketball.
G – RJ Davis, North Carolina (21.3 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.3 SPG, 44.5 FG%, 41.1 3P%, 91.6 FT%)
Before the 2022-2023 season, the backcourt duo of Davis and Caleb Love was arguably the best in the country, providing a good reason for the Tar Heels to be ranked No. 1 in last season’s preseason AP Poll. With Love transferring to Arizona, the White Plains, New York native has become the best player on the AP Poll’s No. 3 team. Davis leads the ACC in points, averages three 3-pointers per game (second-best in the ACC) and is top-10 in the KenPom Player of the Year standings. Davis has only failed to score double figures in one game this season (Nov. 17 vs. UC Riverside) and scored a career-high 36 points in a dominant win over Wake Forest in January.
G – Dalton Knecht, Tennessee (19.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 48.2 FG%, 39.1 3P%, 79.1 FT%)
In his first year in Knoxville, the Northern Colorado transfer has become one of the best players in the country, leading the Volunteers as one of the top teams in the SEC. Knecht is second in the SEC in scoring (behind Alabama’s Mark Sears) and has been on a rampage since conference play began. Since Tennessee’s win over then-ranked Ole Miss on Jan. 6, the Thornton, Colorado native has averaged nearly 27 points per game, including a career-high 39 points in a rout over Florida.
F – Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State (20.3 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.5 APG, 55.4 FG%, 38.7 3P%, 72.8 FT%)
LeDee became one of the nation’s best players from the very beginning. His first five games of the season included performances of 20 points or more in each game. In the championship game at the Continental Tire Main Event, the former Ohio State and TCU transfer put up a career-high 34 points and 17 rebounds in an overtime victory over Washington. The Houston native has not scored fewer than 13 points this season. He leads the Mountain West in points and is second in the league in rebounds. Even though last season’s national championship runners-up don’t have the same team as last March, LeDee makes them one of the best mid-major teams in the country.
F – DaRon Holmes II, Dayton (20 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.6 APG, 2.3 BPG, 55.2 FG%, 40 3P%, 71.1 FT%)
I have been a fan of Holmes since watching Dayton in the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic. Holmes leads the Atlantic-10 in points, is third in the league in rebounds and fourth in blocks per game. Unlike Davis and Knecht, the Goodyear, Arizona native has not faced the same level of competition. The only major-conference opponents Dayton has faced are Northwestern, LSU, St. John’s, Houston and Cincinnati. The junior has five double-doubles this season, including a 23-point, 17-rebound performance in a 12-point win over Troy. Without Holmes, Dayton would be nowhere near the AP Poll.
C – Zach Edey, Purdue (23.1 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 1.7 APG, 2.3 BPG, 63.1 FG%, 71.1 FT%)
The reigning Wooden Award recipient is the best in the nation once again, becoming one of the leading scorers and rebounders in college basketball. The 7-foot-4 senior has scored at least 10 points in every game this season and has come up massively in Purdue’s most important battles. Edey has 16 double-doubles, with a streak of seven consecutive games. The Toronto native’s best performance this season came against Penn State, during which he collected 30 points and 20 rebounds. Edey has left no doubt that he will sweep the national player of the year awards again. The best part about his season so far is that Purdue is much better than last year, with the guards improved. If Edey continues to dominate college basketball, there will be no doubt that the Boilermakers will not lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament again.