"It's a two-horse race": NCAAB analyst Jay Bilas breaks down Cooper Flagg & Johni Broome as elite forces in men's college basketball

Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome are two of the most prominent names in college hoops. Flagg is a freshman phenom with the Duke Blue Devils, while Brooke is the senior superstar for the Auburn Tigers.

NCAA basketball analyst Jay Bilas considers both to be the cream of the crop in the NCAA. The veteran analyst said:

"It's a two-horse race for the National Player of the Year, and it's Cooper Flagg of Duke and Johni Broome of Auburn."

Bilas sees no one better than the duo as the regular season reaches its home stretch ahead of March Madness.

How have Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome performed this season?

Cooper Flagg was ranked the top recruit in the 2024 high school recruiting class. He had offers from the UConn Huskies and Duke Blue Devils, eventually taking his talents to Duke.

That decision turned out to be a masterstroke, as Flagg is the team's best player in just his freshman season. Flagg plays both guard and forward, and his style of play is tailor-made for modern basketball.

The Nokomis Regional and Montverde Academy product averages 19.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. He carries the team on his back and will be one of the players to watch as the regular season ends. Cooper Flagg is considered the consensus first-overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Johni Broome is quite different from Flagg. Broome is in his senior year at Auburn and is now playing the best basketball of his collegiate career.

Broome started out at Morehead State where he was a regular, putting up solid numbers while alternating between power forward and center. However, it wasn't until his move to the Auburn Tigers that his talents were fully displayed.

He joined the Tigers before the 2022/23 season and has been a regular fixture ever since. This season sees Broome averaging 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He is also racking up these stats on an efficient 50.6% from the field. He'll be looking to continue his impressive showings in the coming weeks to improve his draft stock.