The Athletic has launched a series of sports debates in which two writers break down a specific topic. In this edition, Chantel Jennings and Sabreena Merchant debate their picks for NCAA Player of the Year through the first two months of the season. (Stats are before Wednesday night’s games.)
Chantel Jennings: Last season, the player of the year “debate” boiled down to: How close is the second-place vote-getter behind Caitlin Clark? So it felt like a more robust debate coming into this year, even if the assumption was that we’d be talking mostly about two players: USC’s JuJu Watkins and UConn’s Paige Bueckers.
But, here we are as the calendar turns and that has fanned out into much more of a — dare I say it? — true debate among multiple contenders. There are plenty of names to throw into the mix, and I’m curious to hear who’s atop your list as conference play has kicked off in full.
Sabreena Merchant: Let’s start with the two names we expected to be in this conversation: Watkins and Bueckers. Watkins is putting together a sophomore season that is even better than her historic freshman campaign. She’s shooting better from the field — even if her raw points per game are down, and she is assisting more, has cut down her turnovers and improved her defensive…
