2025 NBA Draft: Ryan Kalkbrenner Chasing National Player Of The Year Award

Ryan Kalkbrenner nearly dropped 50 points in his season debut. Does the fifth year senior have a shot at winning the National Player of the Year Award?

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In the last two years, the National Player of the Year Award went to Zach Edey out of Purdue. The 7-foot-5 center dominated college basketball with his dominance inside the painted area on both ends of the floor.

Could we see a center win the award for the sixth straight year?

Ryan Kalkbrenner certainly made a case in his season debut. The 7-foot-1 center absolutely dominated, dropping a career-high, 49 points against UT Rio Grande Valley. Although the competition wasn’t great, it’s still extremely impressive to see him shoot 20-for-22 from the field.

His play-finishing ability and touch inside the paint is what really stood out. The opposition struggled to handle his size, touch and patience on the interior. Kalkbrenner has a clear role on the offensive end as someone who can finish lobs, set screens and convert on nice touch shots.

The thing that had scouts enticed was him making two 3-pointers in the first game of the season. Kalkbrenner is just a 29.4% 3-point shooter throughout his college career on pretty low volume so if he shows real improvement as an outside shooter then his stock will absolutely skyrocket.

Even if he’s only shooting one or two per game, that’s still quite good given how much of a presence he is inside the paint. Throughout his college career, he has also had a great reputation as a rim protector. Kalkbrenner has great length, awareness and timing when it comes to altering shows inside the painted area.

Conversely, he isn’t particularly athletic and is quite slow-footed, so it’s very doubtful he will be able to defend out in space. Even then, if the Creighton star center keeps up his play this season then we could not only see him creep up into first-round conversations, but also make a great case for the National Player of the Year Award

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