KU Basketball: Frank Mason III a National Player of the Year Favorite
By Joel Wagler
The KU basketball team is 10-1 and there is a star emerging. Frank Mason III may not have been your first guess before the season started but he is the key for the Kansas Jayhawks.
Frank Mason III is having an incredible season thus for the Kansas Jayhawks. He is surprisingly the team’s leading scorer through 11 games with 20.3 points per game, and he has two outings with 30 points.
It isn’t just Mason’s scoring that is gathering attention. He also leads the team in assists with 5.6 a game and he is averaging 4.6 rebounds per contest. For a point guard generously listed at 5’11”, that is quite an accomplishment. He has 14 steals for good measure.
Mason has just 24 turnovers on the season and considering how many minutes he plays a game (34.3) and how much he handles the ball, which is quite a low number.
Evan Daniels of Fox Sports released his 11 favorites for the National Player of the Year, and he has Mason listed second, right behind Josh Hart for Villanova.
In fact, Daniels doesn’t think there is much difference between Mason and Hart.
"The truth is, it’s splitting hairs for the top spot and you couldn’t certainly make a case for Frank Mason to be at No. 1. Mason’s stats are as good as anyone’s in the country…"
Considering Mason originally inked with Towson but because of a coaching change was allowed out of his letter of intent, it is amazing what he has accomplished at Kansas. He is a three-year starter for the Jayhawks, and he has 1,355 career points and 451 assists.
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It makes you wonder how many players of this caliber don’t get highly recruited out of high school and end up going to mid-majors. Kansas has two! Devonte’ Graham was initially slated to attend Appalachian State.
If Bill Self and his staff can find these two gems, there must be countless others who didn’t the opportunities Masan and Graham received at Kansas.
Mason’s calling card is his toughness. He gets knocked to the floor more than most players you will see, but he always bounces back up. Things seem to have slowed for him in his senior campaign as he doesn’t appear as out of control as he sometimes did in the past.
Another amazing improvement in Mason’s game is his shooting. He is hitting 56 percent of all his shots (75 for 134), and it’s not all lay-ups either! He is knocking down 52.1 percent of his attempts behind the arc (25 for 48).
In comparison, he’s a career 45.1 percent shooter and 40.8 percent shooter from three-point range.
It will be interesting to see if Frank Mason can maintain this level of play for the KU basketball squad once Big 12 conference match-ups start next week. Playing against better competition night in and night out, when opposing coaches know your strengths and weaknesses, will be the big test for him.
If would be great if Mason can maintain his performance levels throughout the season. If he is still a top Player of the Year candidate in March, the Jayhawks will be in pretty good shape!
Next: Who is the Greatest Head Coach in KU History?
The KU basketball team is lucky to have such a scrappy, intelligent, talented leader. He has the chance to become a KU legend if he can lead this team to another National Championship!