The Markus Howard NPOY Campaign

Marquette's leader, Markus Howard | Photo by Jordan Johnson - Marquette Wire

The 2019-20 season has had one of the longest running debates about who deserves to be the National Player of the Year. Typically, the race is done by now (think Zion Williamson last year) or maybe down to two candidates (Jalen Brunson and Trae Young in 2017-18). This year, the field is considered to be wide open. Jeff Goodman recently released his top candidates for the 2019-20 award and I was surprised to see Markus Howard all the way down in 6th.

Why is that? Because when you look at the numbers, there is no doubt whatsoever that Markus Howard is clearly the player most deserving of the National Player of the Year Award.

For the record, here is the top-10 of Goodman's list:

1) Obi Toppin, Dayton
2) Luka Garza, Iowa
3) Myles Powell, Seton Hall
4) Malachi Flynn, San Diego State
5) Payton Pritchard, Oregon
6) Markus Howard, Marquette
7) Vernon Carey Jr., Duke
8) Devon Dotson, Kansas
9) Jordan Nwora, Louisville
10) Cassius Winston, Michigan State

In this series, I will be examining a number of different statistics, metrics, and evidence to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Markus Howard is the best player in the country, the most valuable to his team, and the obvious choice for the most prestigious individual award in the sport. However, I will also be examining this comment from Mark Titus, one half of the Titus & Tate College Basketball podcast:

So why are only MU fans nuts about Howard then? What's the conspiracy? It's not like the whole world thinks the dude should be POY and I'm on an island. He's great and can obviously score but he's not setting the world on fire for a reason. That's what the point has always been.

— Mark Titus (@clubtrillion) February 4, 2020

Why indeed are Marquette fans the only ones banging this drum? Why are players like Toppin, Garza, and Powell leading this list if they are clearly inferior choices to Markus Howard? We not only have the answer to that question, but we also have the remedy that will correct those inferior choices.

This initial post will serve as the front page for the Markus Howard National Player of the Year campaign as well as a place you can come to find the articles we will be releasing to address the topic. As they are released, they will also be linked below. Here are the topics we will be addressing:

1) Markus Howard is a Ridiculously Historic Scoring Machine
2) Dispelling the Myths
3) The NPOY Metric
4) Why Markus Howard is Not (Yet) the NPOY Favorite

So without further ado, it is time to pull back the curtain on why Markus Howard is the best and most obvious choice to win the National Player of the Year award.