Two young NCAA hoops stars have pulled ahead in the race for Player of the Year

The GIST: As the women’s conference tournaments tip off and the men’s regular-season finale approaches, two youngsters are pulling ahead in the race for the sport’s highest individual honor: Player of the Year (POY).

• There are several POY honors, including the Wooden Award and those bestowed by the AP and other media outlets. But if we had to pick one as the most prestigious, it’d be the Naismith.

• That said, if a superstar truly rises above the competition, they’ll likely sweep ’em all.

Cooper Flagg, No. 2 Duke men: The aforementioned freshman phenom is 18 years old and already playing at a pro level. Coming in at 6-foot-9, he’s as agile as a point guard, strong in the paint as a power forward, and tough as nails. You only need to check his stats (28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) from Monday’s 93–60 spanking of Wake Forest to see why he’s the POY frontrunner.

• However, Flagg has some stiff competition from a few league veterans, namely No. 1 Auburn forward Johni Broome. Voters also like Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, who was one rebound away from his third straight double-double last night.

JuJu Watkins, No. 2 USC women: She’s only a sophomore, but the guard, who could hunt down Iowa alum Caitlin Clark’s Division I scoring record, has already singlehandedly revived the Trojans. She pulled ahead in the POY race last Saturday, when USC secured the Big Ten regular-season championship with their win over No. 4 UCLA and their own POY candidate, Lauren Betts.

• Although Watkins is the heavy favorite, other contenders include No. 3 UConn guard Paige Bueckers, who’s been the face of the game for years, and fellow 2023–24 semifinalists Madison Booker of No. 1 Texas and Hannah Hidalgo of No. 6 Notre Dame. Stars, rising.