![\"arkansas-basketball.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/arkansas-basketball.jpg\")
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CBS Sports graphic<\/p>\n
As a statistical monster for the nation’s top-ranked team, Duke<\/a> star Cameron Boozer<\/a> is probably going to be everybody’s national player of the year, and deservedly so. He’s been incredible for an incredible team.<\/p>\n He’d get my vote this morning.<\/p>\n But if the question is about which player is best equipped to put a team on his shoulders and take it somewhere in the NCAA Tournament bracket that exceeds his team’s season and seed, that dude is Darius Acuff Jr<\/a>. The freshman at Arkansas<\/a> went big again Friday. He took 21 shots, made 11 of them and finished with 37 points, five assists and five rebounds in an 82-79 win over Oklahoma<\/a> that likely popped the Sooners’ bubble while advancing the Razorbacks to Saturday’s semifinals of the SEC Tournament.<\/p>\n “I know he’s been compared to a lot of NBA<\/a> guys, as he should,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said heading into his quarterfinal matchup with Acuff and Arkansas. “He just has like that Derrick Rose, Allen Iverson speed — with power. And he makes the right pass. For a young guy, he doesn’t get sped-up too much. He can score at all three levels. He can get to the rim at ease. He can hit you and get some separation on a pull-up. And he’s got deep range. He’s phenomenal.”<\/p>\n How many SEC coaches do we need to hear say something like this about Acuff before we all properly appreciate what we’re watching?\u00a0(Here’s<\/a>\u00a0what Texas<\/a> coach Sean Miller said about Acuff last week.) The projected top-10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft<\/a> is now averaging 22.7 points and 6.4 assists for an Arkansas team that’s 15th in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Duke remains No. 1 for the 21st consecutive day following Friday’s win over Clemson<\/a>.<\/p>\n