John Wall

 

While the NCAA Tournament is ultimately about team success, you can't win games without star players. But which players will be the heroes of the 2010 NCAA Tournament? Look below:

Based loosely on the quarterly Collegehoops.net Top 100, I rank the 65 best players in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.  This is not a fantasy stats ranking, although many of the players listed put up monster numbers. This is also not an evaluation based on pro talent-level, but a ranking of the best players right now.

Numbers sure are convenient.  As a math teacher, I use them everyday to make comparisons, draw conclusions, and make decisions.   Numbers can be useful to analyze individuals and teams in basketball as well– from comparing points scored and rebounds grabbed, to considering percentages of success.  Numbers, however, remain the default factor in making many important basketball decisions, like choosing All-Conference players, making draft picks, and debating which player is “better.”  While numbers may be symptomatic of a player’s effectiveness, they are rarely the cause.  It is th

Player of the Year Evan Turner and super-freshman John Wall highlight CollegeHoops.net's 2010 All-America teams. Turner averaged 19.5 ppg, 9.4 rpg, and 5.8 apg while helping Ohio St finish tied atop the Big Ten standings. Wall averaged 16.8 ppg and 6.2 apg, helping lead Kentucky to an impressive 29-2 record and an SEC title. They are joined on the First Team by Wall's teammate DeMarcus Cousins, Villanova leader Scottie Reynolds, and Big 12 Player of the Year James Anderson.

It's March and everyone's talking about college basketball. Is your team on the bubble?

While all the talk is about teams and brackets and seeds, let's not forget about some of the top individual players who hope to lead those squads deep into the NCAA Tournament.

So let's get started with my five leading candidates to win the coveted Naismith Award, which honors the best player in men's college basketball:

Last year, the debate for the 2008-09 Naismith National Player of the Year was effectively ended sometime in mid-January 9 (or maybe even sooner), when it became clear that Oklahoma's Blake Griffin was far and away the best player in the country. He was a double-double machine who became a nightly fixture on “Sportscenter's Top 10” for his rim-rattling dunks, and he led the Sooners to a 30-6 record and the Elite Eight. Although they would fall short of a championship, there was no question that he was the most dominant player in the nation.

Every year, CBS concludes their coverage of the NCAA Tournament with “One Shining Moment”, the sappy video montage that shows the highlights, lowlights, emotions and passion that make March Madness so great. Monster dunks. Clutch three-pointers. Buzzer-beaters. Teary-eyed players and coaches. You name it- it's on there.

Cole Aldrich (Kansas)

Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake Forest)

Da'Sean Butler (West Virginia)

Sherron Collins (Kansas)

DeMarcus Cousins (Kentucky)

Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)

Wesley Johnson (Syracuse)

Scottie Reynolds (Villanova)

Jon Scheyer (Duke)

Evan Turner (Ohio St)

John Wall (Kentucky)

Other (Anderson, Hummel, James, Vasquez, etc)