Kansas basketball: Udoka Azubuike should win Big 12 Player of the Year
After his incredible performance today, Kansas basketball’s Udoka Azubuike has secured his place as the front runner to win the 2020 Big 12 Player of the Year.
Udoka Azubuike has been a game-changer this season for Kansas basketball. The big man is averaging 12.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game, but his impact goes beyond the stat sheet. There’s not a player in the league that matches up with Azubuike physically. He demands a double team in the post, which opens up everything for everyone else.
Some folks may say Devon Dotson deserves the award, and you aren’t necessarily wrong. Dotson leads the conference in scoring; however, Azubuike is more valuable to his team. If you need evidence of that, do you remember what happened last season? Azubuike went down with an injury early in the year, and the Jayhawks’ hopes of a national title that season went down too.
In addition to leading the conference in rebounds and field goal percentage, he’s also second in the Big 12 in blocks. He’s a force in the low post, making a whopping 73.3 percent of his attempts. The next closest percentage in the conference is Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton who’s 50.4 percent from the floor.
In his game today against top-ranked Baylor, Azubuike had a monster game scoring 23 points and grabbing 19 rebounds in the Jayhawks’ most important win of the season so far. Doke was unstoppable, throwing down lobs and vicious dunks on what felt like every possession. Here’s what head coach Bill Self had to say about Azubuike’s performance today:
"“[Azubuike] was great. He controlled the paint and certainly rebounded the ball at a high level. So that’s about as well, overall, I’ve seen him play. He was terrific. “"
The bottom line is that Azubuike is the most dominant player in the conference. His offense is overpowering, his defense is unbelievable, and he gives Kansas a chance to win every game they’re in given how much of a mismatch he is for opposing teams.
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It’ll be interesting to see who wins the award this season. Dotson is certainly a contender, but Azubuike impacts a game in so many different ways that it’s hard to give the award to anyone else no matter how much better they are statistically.
At the very least, the Big 12 Player of the Year will undoubtedly be a Jayhawk.