We’ve done something different. We put together an elite group of voters: 10 media members who follow the game from 10 different outlets. They will vote each week to compile Stadium’s Ultimate Player of the Year Race, a weekly look at the top players in the country.

Here is the voting panel:

• Jeff Goodman, Stadium
• Clark Kellogg, CBS Sports
• Doug Gottlieb, Fox Sports
• Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News
• Jeff Borzello, ESPN
• Rob Dauster, NBC Sports
• Matt Norlander, CBSSports.com
• Dana O’Neil, The Athletic
• Mark Titus, The Ringer
• Jeff Eisenberg, Yahoo Sports

 

Stadium Preseason Player of the Year Race (first-place votes in parenthesis)

1. RJ Barrett, Duke – 77 (5)

2. Carsen Edwards, Purdue – 74  (1)

3. Dedric Lawson, Kansas – 63 (1)

4. Luke Maye, North Carolina – 46

5. Caleb Martin, Nevada – 37 (1)

6. Zion Williamson, Duke – 29 (2)

7. Grant Williams, Tennessee – 27

8. Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga – 27

9. Tyus Battle, Syracuse – 26

10. Tremont Waters, LSU – 25

 

11. Ethan Happ, Wisconsin – 21

12. Eric Paschall, Villanova – 14

13. Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s – 13

14. De’Andre Hunter, Virginia – 11

15. Mike Daum, South Dakota State – 9

 

T16. PJ Washington, Kentucky – 7

T16. Tres Tinkle, Oregon State – 7

T16. Reid Travis, Kentucky – 7

T19 Juwan Morgan, Indiana – 4

T20. Romeo Langford, Indiana – 4

 

Others receiving votes: Nassir Little, North Carolina (3), Cassius Winston, Michigan State (3), Sagaba Konate, West Virginia (3), Jon Elmore, Marshall (2), Markus Howard, Marquette (2), Kyle Guy, Virginia (2), Kellen Grady, Davidson (2)