NCAA analyst Andy Katz was on the receiving end of fans' backlash as they expressed their displeasure at his player selection for end-of-season awards. This included Johni Broome, Cooper Flagg and Kelvin Sampson.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, March Madness posted a carousel showing Katz’s picks for the end-of-season awards.
Katz’s selection stirred reactions from fans as he selected Auburn’s Johni Broome (Player of the Year), Duke’s Cooper Flagg (Freshman of the Year) and Houston’s Kelvin Sampson (Coach of the Year).
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College hoops fans were quick to air their thoughts on the selected names as they flooded the comments section with their opinions.
“Are we serious?” a fan commented.
“How did he win coach of the year over Bruce pearl??” Another fan said.
Still dropping their thoughts in the comment section, hoops fans continued to express their disagreement with Andy Katz’s selection.
“Bruce pearl should be coach of the year,” a fan commented.
“Bennett Stirtz averages more points,” another commented.
“Pitino>>>>>>>> literally any other coach in the nation,” a fan said.
Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome top Wooden Award's top 15
Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Auburn’s Johni Broome top the list of players named to the Wooden Award’s top 15 national ballot, according to ESPN’s "College GameDay."
Flagg started the season with impressive performances against Kentucky, Arizona and Auburn and put on a show in ACC play.
This season, Flagg averaged 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 49.4%, with January being a productive month (25.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 4.9 apg).
Flagg then continued his impressive form to set an ACC freshman record by scoring 42 points against Notre Dame on Jan. 11. In 13 games, Flagg has scored 20 or more points.
He is set to join an elite company in Kevin Durant (2007), Anthony Davis (2012) and Zion Williamson (2019), if he secures the Wooden Award. It will make him just the fourth freshman to do so.
Auburn’s Johni Broome was impressive as he averaged 18.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 blocks in 15 games at the start of the season.
A few standout performances from Broome included 20 points and nine rebounds against Houston (Nov. 10), 21 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa State (Nov. 26), and 21 points and 20 rebounds against Ohio State (Dec. 14).
Broome was then sidelined with an ankle injury in January, which slowed his momentum before he bounced back by averaging 18.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 50.6%.
The contenders for the 2025 John R. Wooden Award:
- Johni Broome, Auburn
- Walter Clayton Jr., Florida
- L.J. Cryer, Houston
- Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
- Eric Dixon, Villanova
- Cooper Flagg, Duke
- PJ Haggerty, Memphis
- Dylan Harper, Rutgers
- Kam Jones, Marquette
- Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
- Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
- Mark Sears, Alabama
- Braden Smith, Purdue
- John Tonje, Wisconsin
- Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
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