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Johni Broome or Cooper Flagg? ESPN’s Seth Greenberg gives his pick for National Player of the Year
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Johni Broome and Cooper Flagg have been two of the true superstars in all of college basketball season. Now, those two players remain the heavy favorites in the National Player of the Year race, and both have been impressive for Auburn and Duke.
When it comes to the odds of capturing the Wooden Award, it is Flagg who leads the way at -260 per DraftKings while Broome checks in at +195. However, ESPN’s Seth Greenberg sees the race a bit differently, and fans can continue to track those odds and get in on the action with the best sports betting apps.
According to Greenberg, he is leaning towards the Tigers star and believes it is Broome who has been “everything college basketball is in 2025” but still admits he loves what Flagg brings to the table.
Both players have certainly followed different trajectories to get to where they are today. Broome is the 5th-year senior and veteran leader for Bruce Pearl while Flagg is the freshman phenom and heavy favorite to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
In terms of impact on their respective teams, it is hard to differentiate. Auburn and Duke both captured outright league titles and will be the No. 1 seeds in the SEC Tournament and the ACC Tournament, respectively, while also holding the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the AP Poll for much of the season.
For Broome, he is the leading scorer for the Tigers at 18.6 points per game and is also the team’s leader in rebounds (10.6), assists (3.3) and blocks (2.4) while shooting better than 50% from the floor. Flagg has a similar portfolio as Duke’s leader in points (19.4), rebounds (7.6), assists (4.2), steals (1.5) and blocks (1.3).
During the regular season, it was Flagg leading the Blue Devils to a win over Auburn, 84-78, in the ACC-SEC Challenge, but both players shined with double-doubles in the head-to-head matchup.
The POTY race is a great debate, but the one thing fans will certainly hope for is another chance to see the two face off in March Madness. Hopefully we get that showdown at some point in the postseason in the race to the national championship.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
