Duke basketball freshman phenom Cooper Flagg has been one of the best players in college basketball despite still being just 17 years of age.
Flagg is averaging 15.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.5 steals on 42.9% shooting from the field. He's leading the Blue Devils in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks per game.
The freshman was a preseason First Team All-American and has been in the Naismith National Player of the Year race since the preseason.
But almost entirely through the non-conference schedule, where does Flagg stand in the rankings?
Most metrics have it as a three-man race for the award right now between Flagg, Marquette's Kam Jones, and Auburn's Johni Broome.
These three are in a tier of their own in terms of production on elite teams. And as it looks right now, one of these three studs will take home the NPOY honor at the season's end.
KenPom's algorithm for the nation's best player currently puts Broome first, Flagg second, and Jones third. But other sources have different orders.
The Field of 68 Network currently puts Jones at #1, Broome at #2, and Flagg at #3 and most betting markets differ quite a bit in terms of odds.
Here's the order I put the three in at this point in time:
1. Kam Jones
2. Cooper Flagg
3. Johni Broome
I put Jones ahead of Flagg by a slim margin just based on his sheer production. He sits 19th in the nation averaging 20.3 points per game and 11th in assists per game at 6.6. Jones is also shooting a ridiculous 58.6% from the field and 39% from three point range.
Jones' scoring has been off the charts in his senior season with the keys to the Marquette offense. He's been in double figures every game and has five games already of 20+ points and recently dropped 32 in a 14-point victory against #11 Wisconsin.
The senior also tallied a triple double in a big home victory over #11 Purdue with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Jones leads the race because he's putting up ridiculous numbers and doing it for one of the best teams in the nation as the Golden Eagles are currently ranked #6 in the AP Poll.
An argument could easily be made for Flagg or Broome to be in the #2 spot. I put Flagg there because of his ridiculous production and leadership in Duke's big games this season.
In Duke's four games against ranked opponents this season, Flagg is averaging 21.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3 blocks on 45% shooting from the field.
Despite Duke being 2-2 over those games, it's been Flagg who's led the team on the offensive side of the ball at all times in these big contests. And he's doing it as a freshman.
It's hard to imagine a lot of freshmen could come into college basketball, playing for one of the most storied programs in the sport, with all of the hype Flagg garnered in the preseason, and still perform the way he's been.
Broome has also been unbelievable and has probably been the most consistent player in the country. If you want to make the argument simple, the Blue Devils beat the Tigers and Flagg outplayed Broome.
Going forward, Broome will likely have the toughest time continuing his elite play with SEC play rolling up and this year's SEC having a legitimate argument to being one of the greatest single-season conferences of all time so far.
Flagg and Jones play in the ACC and Big East respectively, which both look like conferences who will be pretty weak.
If Broome plays the rest of the season like he's been so far in the best conference in the country, it will be really difficult to not give him the honor. But Flagg and Jones are still in the mix.
Flagg doesn't even turn 18 years old until late December and has been producing against top tier competition with little experience in the collegiate game. The success he's had on both ends of the floor puts him in a close second for NPOY honors at the moment, but he has as good of odds as any to take the award home at the season's end.