College basketball player of year candidates: Lonzo Ball (UCLA), Lauri Markkanen (Arizona)

Lonzo Ball of the UCLA Bruins definitely has a chance to win a lot of the “best player in college basketball” awards. Currently Ball has the third best odds for AP Player of the ear, trailing only Frank Mason of Kansas and Josh Hart of Villanova. Ball is powering the best offense in college basketball with incredible efficiency and playmaking (67.1 TS%, 21st in the nation, 31.2 assist rate, 65th in the nation).

Don’t discount Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen though if he has a strong finish to the season. Markkanen has the ninth highest offensive rating of all college basketball players while also being an elite shooter (66.9 TS%, 27th in the nation, 48.7 3 pt%, 23rd in the nation).

Full list of the odds are below.

• Frank Mason (Kansas) 5/2
• Josh Hart (Villanova) 4/1
• Lonzo Ball (UCLA) 6/1
• Malik Monk (Kentucky) 7/1
• Justin Jackson (North Carolina) 15/2
• Luke Kennard (Duke) 12/1
• Bonzie Colson (Notre Dame) 16/1
• Ethan Happ (Wisconsin) 16/1
• Caleb Swanigan (Purdue) 16/1
• Nigel Williams-Goss (Gonzaga) 16/1
• Trevon Bluiett (Xavier) 18/1
• Lauri Markkanen (Arizona) 20/1
• Dennis Smith (NC State) 20/1
• Jonathan Motley (Baylor) 22/1
• Kelan Martin (Butler) 33/1