Sites for betting in the USA slightly favour Gonzaga Bulldogs point guard Nigel Williams-Goss to win the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player award, followed by three of North Carolina’s finest, and then Oregon’s and South Carolina’s best.
Nigel Williams-Goss
NW-G started March Madness off on the wrong foot, scoring only nine points against South Dakota State – the first time he had fewer than 10 since late January. Nonetheless, Williams-Goss has averaged 17.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.3 rebounds per game ever since. In addition to that, he posted 23 points, eight rebounds, and four assists against Xavier in the Elite 8. Which is tantamount to saying that NW-G was instrumental in the Zags reaching their first Final 4. Then again, that would apply to the entirety of his first full season with Gonzaga.
Justin Jackson
Tar Heels forward/guard is averaging 19.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game and shooting 46.7% from the field in the NCAA tourney. Jackson was named to the Associated Press First Team All-American on Tuesday. It is interesting to note that the AP deemed Jackson the only player still active in the NCAA tournament worthy of the distinction. The 22 year old considered going pro following his sophomore year, but his decision to stay at UNC not only benefited the school but has certainly improved his NBA draft stock.
Joel Berry II
Sites for betting in the USA place the North Carolina point guard right behind teammate Jackson in the MOP race, and fittingly so since Berry is the second most important player on the Tar Heel roster. That’s why it is such bad news for everyone involved that Berry aggravated his right ankle – which he sprained in the second round – in UNC’s Elite 8 win over Kentucky. “Hopefully by the time we get to Thursday or Friday, he’ll be able to do some things in practice,” head coach Roy Williams said. “But I’m scared to death right now because I just don’t know.”
Kennedy Meeks
While both Jackson and Berry stand out more on the point-scoring side of the Tar Heels’ game plan, Meeks is a force to be reckoned with on the boards. The 6’ 10” forward has recorded 11.2 rebounds per contest in four March Madness games, including a career-best 17 boards against Kentucky. If not the most outstanding player, Meeks is arguably the most improved, going from a doughy, slow 320 pounder to the lean, mean rebounding machine we know today. In other words, he is the Chris Pratt of college basketball.
Tyler Dorsey/Sindarius Thornwell
This is sort of an honorable mention. Oregon point guard Dorsey and South Carolina guard Thornwell are pretty much the hottest thing going on in college hoops right now. However, a tacit and seldom broken rule of thumb is that the best player in the championship-winning team gets the MOP. As a matter of fact as far as sites for betting go, Gonzaga’s Johnathan Williams has better odds than either Dorsey or Thornwell. Of course, even if the Zags do go all the way, Williams’ odds would still be slim and none.