Oregon Basketball: Payton Pritchard Frontrunner for Player of the Year

The national media has officially bought into the idea that Payton Pritchard is leading the race for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Player of the Year Award.

The nation-wide Pritchard Fever was all over twitter after he hit his incredible game-winning three against Washington on Saturday afternoon, but it was made all-the-more-prevalent when the Pritch Hype Train was one of the first topics covered on FOX Sports’ Titus & Tate Podcast.

Co-host Tate Frazier proposed that, “Payton Pritchard is the frontrunner for the National Player of the Year, right?” And he also noted that, “America wants [Pritchard] to win the National Player of the Year Award. He wants to fit the mold of the gritty guard that everyone loves.”

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Tate and his co-host, Mark Titus, have recently moved their podcast from The Ringer over to FOX Sports. The two are avid UNC and Ohio State homers, respectively, so it’s notable that Episode 1 of their newest endeavor began with them singing the praises of the King of the West (& beyond).

Titus agreed with Frazier’s belief in Pritchard, but also listed a couple of other players that could challenge for the award. Other possible candidates include, Obi Toppin from Dayton, Myles Powell from Seton Hall, and Iowa’s Luka Garza.

The most popular college basketball-equivalent to the Heisman Trophy is the Naismith Trophy, so it’s safe to assume that that is what Titus & Tate (along with the rest of the country) are referring to when they say “National Player of the Year.”

There is still plenty of time left in the season for Pritchard to maintain or lose his position as the presumed frontrunner for the title, but if he were to somehow receive the honor at the end of the year, he would make history in a lot of different ways.

He would be the first Pac-12 player to win the Naismith since Utah’s Andrew Bogut in 2005 (although Utah was not in the conference at the time, that’s how long it’s been).

Pritchard would be the first recipient of any-such honor that comes from a Pacific Northwest school since Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison won the NABC POY award in 2006. And he’d be the first Oregon-born NABC winner since BYU’s Danny Ainge in 1980-81.

Neither Ainge, nor Morrison managed to win the Naismith Trophy.

But the most important achievement of all would obviously be that Pritchard has a chance to become the first Duck to ever hoist a National Player of the Year award of any kind.

Something like that would come with incredible acclaim in Eugene. Jersey number retirement, GOAT status, and maybe even breaking ground on the Payton Pritchard Sports Nutrition Facility (nestled in the shadow to the Sabrina Ionescu Superdome, of course).

Pritchard talked about his POY chances after winning at Washington for the fourth time in his storied career: “If I end up getting the award, that’s great, but winning the conference and all that, that means more.” It’s clear that PP3 isn’t solely focused on individual accolades, and that’s just part of what makes him such a great leader.

Frazier wrapped up his recurring Pac-12 Update/Duck talk with the assertion that, “Oregon is the top team in the Pac-12,” and Pritch & Co. will look to keep that status as they come home to Eugene to face a talented USC team on Thursday night at 8 PM PST on ESPNU.

Go Ducks.

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