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As we all know, the race for player of the year is a marathon, and not a sprint. With that said, it was a certain Kemba Walker who took hold of the college basketball community early last season and proceeded to keep us on the edge of our seats well into April. With a bunch of select games on the docket this week pitting POY contenders from coast-to-coast, it's worth watching to see if anyone will ascend to Walker's early 2010-11 form and separate himself from the rest.
It's with little surprise that the top five from last week remains unchanged. You'll see a minimal amount of jockeying going on among players in the 6-15 range, but keep in mind this is more of a broad reflection than any one or two game comparison. At the bottom of the big board resides a pair of first-timers for 2011-12, Purdue's Robbie Hummel and Missouri's Marcus Denmon. Both guys narrowly missed in week one, and could easily be around for the long haul.
Week two big board after the jump...
| Rank | Change | Player-School | Notes |
| 1 | -- |
Jared Sullinger-OSU | 3 blocks in opener was nice to see. Gets Florida & Patric Young on Tue. |
| 2 | -- | Harrison Barnes-UNC | Hasn't exploded yet. Hasn't needed to either. 17-5 in both games. |
| 3 | -- |
Jordan Taylor-WISC |
Surprise, surprise: Zero turnovers in 28 min vs. Kennesaw St. |
| 4 | -- |
Tu Holloway-XAV |
Sat out opener on 1-game suspension. Back Tue. vs. IPFW |
| 5 | -- |
Terrence Jones-KENT |
UK freshmen look promising. Could be a crowded box score each night. |
| 6 | +1 | Jeremy Lamb-CONN | His 30 point, 4 steal performance was overshadowed by this |
| 7 | -1 |
John Jenkins-VAN |
2 games in, 2 games w/ less than 43% FGs. Frustrated by Clev St. |
| 8 | +1 |
Draymond Green-MSU |
Looked strong on glass in Carrier Classic. More tests are coming. |
| 9 | -1 |
Perry Jones-BAYL |
Out until late November. Still plenty of time to go nuts statistically. |
| 10 | -- |
Ashton Gibbs-PITT |
Clutch shooter. Already has nine 3PMs in two games. |
| 11 | -- |
Thomas Robinson-KAN |
Might be better than we imagined. Efficiency level is still unreal. |
| 12 | -- |
Andrew Nicholson-BON |
Business as usual in opener (24-5-2). Gets upstart Clev. St. on Fri. |
| 13 | +1 |
JaMychal Green-BAMA |
Nailed a three on Fri. after making just one over last three seasons. |
| 14 | -1 |
Jorge Gutierrez-CAL |
Might not top his 14.6ppg from a year ago with Justin Cobbs around. |
| 15 | -- |
Anthony Davis-KENT |
Scary-good debut: 23 pts, 10 rebs, 5 blks, 3 asts in just 23 min. |
| 16 | +4 | John Henson-UNC |
Only blocked two shots vs. UNC-Ash. after swatting NINE vs. MSU. |
| 17 | +2 | Kendall Marshall-UNC | Can't ignore a 15:1 AST:TO ratio in one game. NCAA assist leader? |
| 18 | -2 | Tim Abromaitis-ND |
Still suspended for that phony ruling. Might not hang on much longer. |
| 19 | UNR |
Marcus Denmon-MIZZ |
Flirted w/ the top 20 last year. Like that rebound #'s are up in 11-12. |
| 20 | UNR |
Robbie Hummel-PUR |
It's important that he looks healthy. Always a legit 20ppg scorer. |
Five who just missed: Austin Rivers-Duke, Trevor Mbakwe-Minnesota, Deonte Burton-Nevada (LW: 19), Nate Wolters-South Dakota State, Andre Drummond-Connecticut (LW: 16)
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