Sports Illustrated released their College Basketball preview addition which included crystal ball picks from their top 4 writers. While none of the four had the Cards in the Final Four Luke Winn named Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell as his prediction to win National Player of the Year. Seth Davis and Pete Thamel had Duke’s Jahlil Okafor while Brain Hamilton chose UNC’s Marcus Paige meaning all four selections came from the ACC. Here is what Winn had to say about Harrell:
Winn: Montrezl Harrell, Louisville. Not an easy call between Harrell andFrank Kaminsky. The deciding factor? Kaminsky has two rising stars (Sam Dekker and Nigel Hayes) alongside him in Wisconsin’s frontcourt, and I see the Badgers being more balanced statistically than they were in ’13-14. Harrell is the only real offensive option on Louisville’s front line, and thus is a threat to average something like 18-and-11 as a junior. That’s a POY stat line.
