Stew Milne/Getty Images
Season Stats: 17.8 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 3.2 APG, 2.8 BPG, 29% 3PT
Cooper Flagg is at No. 1, as the betting markets pretty well mandate that be the case.
And for an award that is ultimately a popularity contest more than it is a ranking of statistical greatness, the fact that Flagg is approaching Zion Williamson levels of “we can’t help but talk about him even on nights when he isn’t playing” hype, it’s hard to argue with the betting markets.
But Johni Broome is still in this race, and I’ll give you one number why: 62.2.
Many moons ago when I started doing these NPOY rankings, I came up with a stat dubbed PRABS/40 as a means of identifying the best stat-sheet stuffers. It’s the sum of a player’s points, rebounds times 1.25, assists times 1.5, steals times two and blocks times two, divided by minutes played and multiplied by 40.
Don’t sweat over the math. Just know that most players with any real hope of making an All-American team end up with a PRABS/40 somewhere in the 40-45 range, while the elite impact players land north of 50.
Flagg is at 52.0. 2022-23 Zach Edey tallied a 57.3, before 2023-24 Edey registered a 60.4.
However, heading into Wednesday night’s game at LSU, Broome was sitting at a preposterous 62.2.
Broome also entered the day leading the nation in box plus/minus with a mark of 17.4. Flagg was No. 2 at 15.6.
Simply put, on a per-minute basis, Broome is practically off the charts.
The problem, of course, is that he missed two games, had two other games in which he left early with an injury and typically doesn’t play quite as many minutes per game as Flagg anyway, resulting in the freshman playing about 30 percent more minutes to this point in the season.
If Broome and Auburn continue to dominate, though, this race could get mighty interesting down the stretch.
