Kansas' Thomas Robinson Boasts MVP Credentials After Slow Start

Here's to you, Mr. Robinson! Kansas junior forward Thomas Robinson, making incredible strides since an inauspicious freshman season two years ago, seemed to be the consensus mid-season choice as national player of the year. In a "Beasts of the Baseline" battle, he could gain an edge over Kentucky center Anthony Davis with a big game against Missouri when Allen Fieldhouse welcomes equally physically-imposing Ricardo Ratliffe, who was leading the nation in field-goal shooting (73%).

Robinson, a native of Washington, D.C., was anything but the country's most dominant player in 2009-10 when he averaged an anemic 2.5 points per game. If Robinson emerges as national player of the year, he will have posted the lowest first-year scoring average for any such honoree since the initial award by UPI in 1955.

Robinson, overshadowed last season (when he averaged a modest 7.6 ppg) by twins Markieff and Marcus Morris (combined for 30.8 PPG and 15.9 RPG before leaving school early to become NBA first-round draft choices), is a classic example why fans shouldn't put too much stock in freshman statistics. But Robinson is in plenty of good company among players who endured growing pains before blossoming into stars. He could be on the low end of the following list of nine national players of the year who averaged fewer than eight points per game in their first varsity campaign:

Shane Battier, F, Duke (7.6 ppg as freshman in 1997-98)
David Robinson, C, Navy (7.6 ppg as freshman in 1983-84)
*Sidney Wicks, F-C, UCLA (7.5 ppg as sophomore in 1968-69)
Marques Johnson, F, UCLA (7.2 ppg as freshman in 1973-74)
Jimmer Fredette, G, Brigham Young (7 ppg as freshman in 2007-08)
Danny Ferry, F-C, Duke (5.9 ppg as freshman in 1985-86)
Gary Bradds, C, Ohio State (4.7 ppg as sophomore in 1961-62)
Ed O'Bannon, F, UCLA (3.6 ppg as freshman in 1991-92)
Kenyon Martin, C, Cincinnati (2.8 ppg as freshman in 1996-97)
* Junior college recruit.