Watch: "That's the National Player Of The Year, uh oh!" - Christian Braun jokingly calls out Ochai Agbaji, the latter says, "I guess not" as Kansas punches its ticket to the NCAA championship game
Ochai Agbaji has been critical for the Kansas Jayhawks reaching the NCAA championship game, prompting teammate Christian Braun to call him out before Agbaji shut down the comment.
Christian Braun may have been the closer, and David McCormack may have been the highest scorer, but Ochai Agbaji has been KU's best player. That was true throughout the season and especially so in the NCAA Tournament.
Agbaji has emerged as one of the best players thanks to workouts with players like Damian Lillard.
Agbaji's development has taken him from a good player with NBA potential to one of college basketball's best, almost guaranteed to be a lottery pick. He's been so great that Braun's comment about him was a joke but had some validity.
Christian Braun-"That's the National Player of the Year,uh oh!"
Ochai Agbaji-"No. No. No, I guess not"
#kubball #FinalFour https://t.co/GGIrW7J7rv
While the AP Player of the Year award went to Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe, Agbaji has a strong case for winning other player of the year awards. He is a finalist for both the Naismith Trophy and the John R. Wooden Award.
Regardless of individual accolades, a national championship would be something that will make Agbaji, Braun, McCormack and the rest of their team happy.
If Kansas wins another March Madness game when it plays for the national title on Monday, Agbaji could win the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award.
Kansas (33-6) faces North Carolina (29-9) on Monday in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun aim to win Kansas an NCAA championship
Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun are two of Kansas' crucial players as they attempt to win another national championship for their coach, Bill Self. In order to accomplish that goal, they will need to be at their absolute best.
For Agbaji, being at his absolute best may not be much of an issue given how well he has been playing during March Madness. His best performance may have been his last, which got Kansas to the natoinal championship game.
Ochai Agbaji scored 21 points on eight shots and was 6-7 from three-point range.
As good of a performance as I've seen in an NCAA Tournament game since Christian Laettner was 10-10 from the field and 10-10 from the FT line while scoring 31 points when Duke beat Kentucky in 1992. twitter.com/JonRothstein/s…
If Agbaji can remain efficient on Monday, it will open the door for his teammates like Christian Braun and David McCormack to find their rhythms. In a championship game, the more players who get in a rhythm, the better a team's chances of winning.
Ultimately, Kansas’ ability to win the title will hinge on the performance of the potential Naismith Trophy and Most Outstanding Player winner. Agbaji will need to be the leader for the Jayhawks to win the championship.