Conference play is now in full swing across the country which means we’ve played a little more than two months of regular season men’s college basketball with a little more than two months still to go.
With this being just about the exact halfway point of the regular season, it feels like the perfect time to hand out some midseason awards.
Midseason National Player of the Year: Cameron Boozer, Duke
The race for national POY isn’t “already over” like some are suggesting, but Duke’s freshman sensation would be the clear choice for every major individual award of this nature if the season ended today. Boozer has been every bit as good as advertised for Jon Scheyer, currently ranking first in the nation in scoring (23.3 ppg), 11th in rebounding (9.7 rpg), and 7th in double-doubles (7).
Midseason National Coach of the Year: Mark Byington, Vanderbilt
With six undefeated teams still remaining and a number of other squads with surprisingly gaudy midseason records, there are no shortage of candidates to put in this space. I’m going with the guy who has taken a Vanderbilt team picked to finish 11th in the SEC at the start of the season and led them to a perfect 15-0 start following Wednesday night’s win over Alabama.
Byington, who spent seven seasons as the head coach at Georgia Southern and four at James Madison before landing the Vandy gig, wasn’t as splashy as some of the other SEC coaching hires of the last five years, but he’s already proven to be one of the best. Through a season and-a-half in Nashville, Byington has posted a 35-13 overall record. That’s music to the ears of Commodore fans who sat through five seasons where Jerry Stackhouse’s teams went a combined 70-92.
Midseason National Freshman of the Year: Cameron Boozer, Duke
We could get cute here and give this award to A.J. Dybantsa, but any time a freshman wins a best overall player award but not a best freshman award, it just feels silly. Cam Boozer has been the best player in college basketball so far this season, which means he’s also been the best freshman in college basketball so far this season.
Midseason First Team All-Americans
Again, he’s really good.
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
If we were handing out a “midseason team of the year” award, it would almost certainly go to Michigan, and Lendeborg has been the player most responsible for the Wolverines’ historically dominant 14-0 start. The 6’9 transfer from UAB has had no trouble acclimating himself to the power conference level, averaging 14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals per game despite playing through a lingering calf injury in recent weeks.
The highest profile name in the ballyhooed class of 2025, Dybantsa has been every bit as good as advertised so far this season for BYU. He’ll head into the weekend as the nation’s second-leading scorer at 23.1 ppg, and has been the driving force of a Cougar team that has a very real shot to be the first in program history to make a Final Four.
Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
While he might not have the name recognizability of the three players above him, Jefferson is currently posting averages of 17.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game for an undefeated Iowa State team that owns the best win of the season — a 23-point beatdown of preseason No. 1 Purdue in West Lafayette. The 6’9 forward is the only player in the country to average those numbers, and would be just the third player since 1996-97 to average those numbers. Jefferson recently recorded the ninth triple-double in ISU history with a 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebound effort against West Virginia.
You could certainly make a case for Toppin’s teammate, Christian Anderson, to be in this spot, but Toppin has been every bit as good as his preseason All-America accolades predicted he’d be. The 6’9 junior is averaging career bests in points (20.9 ppg), rebounds (10.9 rpg) and assists (1.7 apg).
Midseason Second Team All-Americans
Braden Smith, Purdue
Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina
Thomas Haugh, Florida
Bennett Stirtz, Iowa
Midseason Third Team All-Americans
Labaron Philon, Alabama
Jaden Bradley, Arizona
Darius Acuff, Arkansas
Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt
Kingston Flemings, Houston
