Johnny Davis is New Favorite to Win Naismith Player of the Year Award
By Matt De Saro
NCAA College Basketball is one of the most exciting sports to wager on due to just how quickly things can change. Teams can go from pretenders to contenders overnight and no outcome is certain. The rate of change in college basketball is highlighted when you follow the odds to win the College Basketball Player of the Year Award.
A few weeks ago, the odds at WynnBET Sportsbook for the Naismith award were led by Paolo Banchero (+500), E.J. Liddedd +600), and Drew Timme (+600). Cut to today, and two of the three are out of the top 5. Here are the updated odds at WynnBET for the College Basketball Player of the Year Award:
Updated Naismith Player of the Year Odds
- Johnny Davis (Wisconsin) | +500
- Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky) | +600
- Ochai Agbaji (Kansas) | +800
- Kofi Cockburn (Illinois) | +800
- Drew Timme (Gonzaga) | +800
- Paolo Banchero (Duke) | +1000
- E.J. Liddell (Ohio State) | +1000
- Jaden Ivey (Purdue) | +1500
- Hunter Dickinson (Michigan) | +2000
- Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga) | +2000
The biggest takeaway from this updated list is that four of the new top 5 weren’t in the top 10 the last time we checked in on the odds. Only Drew Timme remains but his odds have gone from +600 to +800. Johnny Davis is the new king of the mountain with Oscar Tshiebwe and Ochai Agbaji rounding out the top three.
Davis was never a highly-touted recruit as a three-star player coming out of high school but has excelled at Wisconsin this year. The sophomore guard is averaging 22.3 points, 7.4 boards, and 2.6 assists per game for the Badgers. His scoring total ranks him fifth in the nation while his rebounding number is very respectable for a high-scoring guard. Davis has nine 20+ performances in 12 games this year and dropped 37 on West Lafayette. He also led the team in their upset of No.3 Purdue. It was one of three wins that the Badgers earned last week including victories over Maryland and Iowa. The Badgers are now 13-2 and third in the Big Ten. They have Davis to thank.
While Davis can hold this spot if he continues to play well, there will always be guys trying to outdo him. E.J Liddell is one of such players who, despite struggling over the last few weeks, exploded for 34 points against Northwestern in their last game.