The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has put together their list of who they consider could become the national player of the year by the end of the season and Payton Pritchard was chosen as a candidate. Payton is one of five PAC-12 players on the list, joining Zeke Nnaji (Arizona), Nick Rakocevic (USC), Tres Tinkle (Oregon State) and McKinley Wright IV (Colorado). Here are the other players who were listed:
G Ty-Shon Alexander, Creighton
G Cole Anthony, North Carolina
C Udoka Azubuike, Kansas
G Desmond Bane, TCU
C Charles Bassey, WKU
F Kerry Blackshear Jr.