Arizona's Tommy Lloyd is the Coach of the Year and Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg earned Transfer of the Year honors from CBS Sports experts
By Matt Norlander , Cameron Salerno & David Cobb Apr 2, 2026 at 1:44 pm ET • 4 min read Due to the unpredictable, volatile and unforgiving nature of the NCAA Tournament, college basketball's best player often doesn't make it to the sport's ultimate stage.
We were fortunate the past two years to see Zach Edey (Purdue, 2024) and Cooper Flagg (Duke, 2025) survive long enough in the bracket to receive their NPOY honors in person at the Final Four.
But this year, the top guy on the court won't be on the floor to vie for a national title in Indianapolis.
Every fan of college basketball who followed this season from the start is aware that the race for national player of the year was Cameron Boozer's to lose by the time we reached Thanksgiving. And though the space he had on other competitors varied as the season went along, the Duke freshman was never threatened for NPOY honors here or anywhere else.
He is going to sweep all the awards, and rightfully so. Boozer was even more statistically productive and valuable than Flagg's phenomenal season in 2024-25. In winning NPOY, Boozer becomes the 11th Blue Devil to take the honor. Duke claims more national players of the year than any school.
Jon Scheyer is now the first coach to ever have back-to-back players of the year who were freshmen. Boozer joins Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Zion Williamson and Flagg as the only freshman to earn the honor. What's more, the Flagg/Boozer combo marks the first time since Shane Battier and Jay Williams won in 2001 and 2002 that the same school had different players win NPOY honors in consecutive seasons. St. John's also claims this with Chris Mullin and Walter Berry in 1985 and '86, as does UCLA Sidney Wicks and Bill Walton in 1971 and '72.
But that's it: just four instances in men's college basketball history.
Let's look deeper at Boozer's season, then reveal our choices for national coach of the year and transfer of the year. The coach pick was a competitive vote with four really strong candidates, while the top transfer really isn't up for debate.
2025-26 CBS Sports All-Freshman team: College basketball's best young stars headline list Cameron Salerno
2025-26 CBS Sports Player/Freshman of the Year
Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports design Cameron Boozer | Duke | PF | 6-9 | 250 | Fr
For the second consecutive year, a Duke freshman is the CBS Sports National Player of the Year. Boozer, of course, also captured the award of CBS Sports Freshman of the Year. Last season, Cooper Flagg took home the hardware after putting together one of the best one-and-done seasons in college basketball history. Statistically, Boozer had as good stats as Flagg did last season and was the most consistent player in the sport from his first game against Texas to his final game against UConn in the Elite Eight.
Boozer, the son of former NBA star Carlos Boozer, is a projected top-three pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. What made Boozer such a special player during this season at Duke was his passing and basketball IQ. There are not many post players who can run an offense like he did, while also being calm and making the right reads while operating in the post. From a scoring standpoint, Boozer did a terrific job using his size to overpower defenders, which also allowed him to get to the free-throw line consistently. — Cameron Salerno
2025-26 CBS Sports All-America teams: College basketball's best and most talented players Gary Parrish
2025-26 CBS Sports Coach of the Year
Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports design Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
This award is a reflection not only of what Lloyd accomplished in the 2025-26 season by guiding Arizona to its first Final Four since 2001, but also of the masterful five-year build that has returned the Wildcats to college basketball's elite class. A deep NCAA Tournament run was the last hurdle Lloyd needed to clear in order to cement himself as one of the greats, and he's officially checked that box.
Lloyd's 2025-26 team is his best yet, as he crafted an elite defense to pair with a predictably high-powered offense. His all-in push on a bully-ball lineup worked to perfection as the Wildcats cruised to the Big 12 regular season and conference tournament titles behind a bruising rotation. This team attempts fewer 3-pointers than all but a small handful of teams but is ruthlessly efficient at wearing down the opposition.
Arizona's roster construction is the perfect illustration of a coach who knows how to ace the essential blend of retention, high school recruiting and international acquisitions. No first-year transfers are part of the rotation, although Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka and Anthony Dell'Orso each came from other schools in past years. The fruitful pairing of personnel with playing style is indicative of a college basketball mastermind poised to operate at the top of college basketball for years to come. — David Cobb
2025-26 CBS Sports Transfer of the Year
Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports design Yaxel Lendeborg | Michigan | PF | 6-9 | Gr
he most impactful transfer in the country doubles as a unanimous First Team All-American after being the centerpiece on what should be regarded as the best Michigan team ever. (Apologies to the Fab Five, but this team is even more impressive.) Lendeborg is averaging 15.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and has a top-10 138.1 ORtg heading into the beastly FInal Four matchup against Arizona. The guy whose teammates call him "Dominican LeBron" could have left for the NBA last year but signed on with Dusty May's program after graduating from UAB. What came next? Merely one of the greatest seasons he'll ever experience. Not a bad college ending for a guy who began his journey at an Arizona junior college five years ago. — Isaac Trotter
2025-26 CBS Sports All-Transfer team: College basketball's best and most talented players at new schools Isaac Trotter
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