Men’s college basketball awards: Cameron Boozer, Yaxel Lendeborg headline consensus picks

The 2025-26 men’s college basketball season has been billed as the year of the freshman. But it’s been so much more.

There are a trio — at least — of dominant teams at the top of the sport. There’s undefeated Miami (Ohio) becoming one of the biggest stories in college basketball. There have been a long list of injuries that will undoubtedly be talking points in the NCAA tournament. And yes, there’s that generational class of freshmen, led by — stop us if you’ve heard this before — the Player of the Year front-runner at Duke.

ESPN college basketball writers Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf take a look at the best of the best in the sport this season with their end-of-the-year awards, while also acknowledging one or two critiques.

There wasn’t much debate for Player of the Year — and, by extension, Freshman of the Year — but there’s reasonable discussion for the rest. Where did we land for Transfer of the Year, Coach of the Year and other honors?

Player of the Year

Consensus: Cameron Boozer, Duke

On Nov. 27, Boozer recorded 35 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals in Duke’s 80-71 win over Arkansas at the United Center in Chicago. Five days later, he finished with 29 points and provided the assist on Isaiah Evans‘ winning 3-pointer in a 67-66 victory over Florida at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Boozer had already emerged earlier in the season as a national player of the year front-runner. But those two wins in particular created a gap between Boozer and the field. And it has only grown over the past four months.

The numbers and accolades speak for themselves. All you really need to know is that Cooper Flagg had one of the greatest freshman seasons in college basketball history in 2024-25 — and Boozer has surpassed him in most major categories, including 3-point shooting percentage (41%). Duke is plus-20 points per 100 possessions better overall with Boozer on the court, per EvanMiya. Flagg, who won the award and also led his team to the Final Four last season, was plus-7.0.

Beyond the statistics, Boozer has led Duke to wins over some of the top teams in America, including Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Michigan State and Kansas. The numbers, the wins and the sheer dominance have separated Boozer from his peers, not only this season, but throughout recent college basketball history. — Medcalf

Freshman of the Year

Consensus: Cameron Boozer, Duke

In a season filled with elite freshmen, Boozer has stood above his peers since the opening weeks of the season. He had 33 points and 12 rebounds in his first college exhibition game, and followed it up with 24 points and 23 rebounds in his second exhibition game. And Boozer, who entered college as arguably the most decorated high school basketball player of the modern era, barely slowed down once the regular season began.

It’s genuinely remarkable to look at his stats this season. He leads the KenPom Player of the Year standings by a wide margin, almost double that of the No. 2 name in kPOY rating, which measures a player’s value on both ends of the court. He’s the clear first-place player in ESPN Analytics’ MVP leaderboard. He leads the nation in player efficiency rating, he leads the nation in win shares, he leads the nation in box plus/minus. For those who prefer old-school stats, he’s third among all freshmen in scoring (22.6), fourth in rebounding (10.0) and 19th in assists (4.0).

What further separates Boozer from prime competitors AJ Dybantsa and Darius Acuff Jr. is his consistency, and the fact he has done it since day one at the college level. Both Dybantsa and Acuff started slow, relatively speaking, with their least productive months happening in November; by contrast, Boozer was the pacesetter out of the gate, averaging 22.9 points and 9.8 rebounds in his first month of play.

To further put the consistency of Boozer’s season into context, this might be the best way: Basketball Reference assigns a game score to every player’s statistical performance in every game. Boozer’s worst — worst — game score came in the season opener against Texas, when he had 15 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

There has been no debate about who’s winning these two awards since late November. — Borzello

Transfer of the Year

Consensus: Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

In May, Lendeborg announced he had withdrawn from the NBA draft and signed with Michigan, via an Instagram post that said: “I’ll see you at the Crisler Center. Go Blue!”

In a pre-NIL world, the former UAB transfer — who was the American Conference’s defensive player of the year and an all-first team conference selection last season — might have taken his chances with the draft. He was projected to go late in the first round or early in the second. Instead, this season he has made Michigan a national title contender and boosted his draft prospects, all while making enough cash to make it all worth it.

Lendeborg is one of the top two-way players in America, the anchor of a defensive unit that’s top-three nationally. He leads the Wolverines’ trio of big men, which includes Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara — also transfers. Dusty May’s offensive attack works with three centers because of Lendeborg’s overall versatility. He has made 72% of his shots around the rim, compared to the 30.2% by his opponents, according to Synergy Sports data.

The Wolverines have lost only two games by a combined eight points, and they could be on a collision course for a rematch with Duke in Indianapolis. Lendeborg isn’t just the best transfer in America. He’s arguably the best player in the country not named Cameron Boozer or AJ Dybantsa. — Medcalf

Coach of the Year

Consensus: Jon Scheyer, Duke

There are plenty of great candidates for Coach of the Year this season. Arizona‘s Tommy Lloyd and Michigan’s May are at the helm of two clear national championship front-runners. Nebraska‘s Fred Hoiberg took a team picked 14th in the Big Ten preseason poll and has it in the mix for a top-three seed in the NCAA tournament. Miami (Ohio)’s Travis Steele is close to a historic unbeaten season with the RedHawks.

But our pick is Scheyer, the head coach of the No. 1 team in the country.

We get it. “It’s Duke, how hard can it be?” But let’s dig a little deeper. This isn’t last season’s team that had three NBA lottery picks, including generational talent Flagg. There’s only one Blue Devil — Player of the Year front-runner Boozer — in the lottery of ESPN’s most recent projected Big Board. Duke didn’t enter the season as one of the favorites to cut down the nets; it wasn’t even in the top five of the preseason AP poll.

It’s also impossible to ignore the fact that Scheyer lost all five starters from last season’s 35-4 Final Four team — all were selected in the NBA draft — and rebuilt the roster to the point the Blue Devils are entering the ACC tournament as arguably the best team in the country. They have the best defense and they’ve lost only two games all season, with both coming in the final seconds by a combined four points.

This has been Scheyer’s best coaching job since taking over for Mike Krzyzewski, and it has been the best coaching job in the country. — Borzello

Defensive Player of the Year

Borzello: Rueben Chinyelu, Florida

This could essentially double as the Breakout Player of the Year award for Chinyelu. He has made massive strides at both ends of the court, scoring in double figures 20 times this season after doing it 16 times in his first two college seasons combined. He even had a four-game stretch in SEC play in which he averaged 17.8 points and 14.8 rebounds.

But we’re here to talk about defense, and Chinyelu is the anchor for one of the nation’s elite defenses — and an even better defense than Florida had when it won the national championship last season.

The 6-foot-10 junior from Nigeria is second in the country in defensive rebounding percentage and ranks in the top 20 in the SEC in block percentage. He leads the nation in rebounds per game, at 11.7. His physicality and size at the back end of the Gators’ defense has helped Florida hold opponents to under 45% shooting inside the arc, which ranks sixth nationally. The Gators are also one of the elite rebounding teams in the country, with much of that because of Chinyelu’s dominance on the glass. He can switch, he can defend ball screens, he can recover.

If there’s a need for visual evidence to show why Chinyelu deserves this award, look no further than this possession against Alabama on Feb. 1.

BEST DEFENDER IN ALL OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL

📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/KNPL5xapgW

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) February 1, 2026

Medcalf: Flory Bidunga, Kansas

The national headlines about Kansas’ turbulent seasons have all included the injuries and cramping that sidelined projected No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson for 11 games in the middle of multiple games. They’ve also overshadowed the contributions of Bidunga, the most impactful player on the roster.

While Kansas’ offense has been an unpredictable quagmire, its defense has been top 10 because of the 6-10 sophomore from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who’s averaging 13.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks.

Bidunga was key in the Feb. 9 win over Arizona, challenging its frontcourt to the point the Wildcats made only 45% of their shots inside the arc. A top-10 offense, Arizona recorded only 102 points per 100 possessions in that game, six points fewer than what the Indiana Pacers (the NBA’s worst offense) have averaged this season. Bidunga had three blocks against the Wildcats and altered other shots.

Kansas is currently vying for a top-five seed in the NCAA tournament, according to Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology. Without Bidunga, it might be a bubble team. He’s that important. He’s also the national defensive player of the year.

Biggest surprise

Consensus: Nebraska

Nebraska entered 2025-26 with only one NCAA tournament appearance in Hoiberg’s six seasons as coach, off a campaign in which it went just 7-13 in Big Ten play. Despite winning the first College Basketball Crown postseason tournament last March, the Cornhuskers were picked 14th in the Big Ten in the fall. Expectations weren’t high.

Entering the Big Ten tournament, they’re No. 11 in the AP poll and knocking on the door of a 2-seed in the NCAA tournament. They opened the season with 20 straight wins — including at Illinois and over Michigan State — with only Arizona and Miami (Ohio) lasting longer as unbeaten teams. Even after last week’s surprising loss to UCLA, Nebraska is still ranked in and around the top 15 in every NCAA team-sheet metric.

What’s fascinating about this team is the way it has achieved success. It doesn’t have the high-powered offense of some of Hoiberg’s best teams when he was at Iowa State, but it has the Big Ten’s best defense in conference play, with Sam Hoiberg the catalyst for a unit that forces turnovers at the highest rate in the league. And it has plenty of firepower at the other end, with Pryce Sandfort, one of the elite transfers in the country, and freshman Braden Frager, who has established himself as one of the best sixth men in America.

High-level 3-point shooting and an elite defense? It’s a recipe to win games in March. — Borzello

Biggest disappointment

Medcalf: Kentucky

When he was introduced at his alma mater two years ago, Mark Pope accepted the standard required of every head coach at Kentucky — the winningest program in Division I basketball.

“We are here to win banners,” he told a sold-out crowd at the pep rally. “Our job here and our assignment here is to win banners in the Final Four, national championships.”

The Wildcats look as if they’re going to earn an F on that assignment.

After reportedly spending more than $20 million on this season’s roster, the Wildcats enter the SEC tournament with a 2-5 record in their past seven games. They were picked to finish second in the conference. Instead, they finished the regular season in a three-way tie for seventh place with Missouri and Georgia. The Wildcats are also 11th in offensive efficiency in the SEC. Wins over St. John’s, Tennessee (twice), Vanderbilt and Arkansas have kept them off the bubble, but they have otherwise done little to make anyone believe the game’s most expensive roster is anything more than a first weekend threat, or an easy bet to lose in a first-round upset.

Injuries to Jayden Quaintance and Jaland Lowe have further disrupted Kentucky’s chemistry. The Wildcats are not the only team to be hit with the injury bug — Texas Tech, BYU, Kansas, Illinois, Gonzaga, Louisville and others have also overcome injuries to key players — but they are the only one with such an expensive roster.

Forget this season. Kentucky is, thus far, one of the most disappointing teams the NIL era has produced.

Borzello: Purdue

I’ll be honest, I’m pretty terrified this can go wrong. It feels like an incredibly risky claim to make given Purdue is still likely to get a 3-seed in the NCAA tournament and still has guard Braden Smith, coach Matt Painter and one of the most experienced starting fives in college basketball. The Boilermakers are also ranked eighth at KenPom and have the No. 2 most efficient offense in the country.

But this Purdue team entered the season ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP poll, the national championship favorite led by the front-runner for National Player of the Year honors. And it’s now going to enter the NCAA tournament without much consideration as a potential title contender. The Boilermakers have lost five games at Mackey Arena this season — the same number of home games they lost in the previous four years combined. They’re sixth in the Big Ten, two spots lower than they finished in the standings last season.

Smith’s numbers have improved, but he has had some down moments in big games. Trey Kaufman-Renn has taken a step back, with the paint often more crowded alongside South Dakota State transfer Oscar Cluff. Fletcher Loyer‘s numbers in losses are really poor. And the defense has struggled against high-quality opponents — including the program’s worst defensive performance in the KenPom era (since 1997) in Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin.

There’s still time to turn this around, but Purdue has had a disappointing season thus far.