It’s never too early to talk college basketball. And with the release of the first AP Top 25 poll, I felt it’d be a good time to unveil my early list of All Americans. To make things easy (and to spread my praise around the country), I’ve also included ten players to watch outside of my All American list. And, in case you were wondering, we’re still alive. School has been kicking our ass, but we’re not abandoning Sportable whatsoever. Stick around.

Center: Tyler Hansbrough, UNC. Duh. Psycho T has returned to Chapel Hill for several reasons. One is the fact that he’s probably not a lottery pick, so there’s really no sense in skipping his senior season. But this big ogre wants to cut down the nets in Detroit’s Ford Field. The Tar Heels have a hell of a shot behind Hansbrough, Danny Green and point guard Ty Lawson, who is still one of the most exciting players in the country. This is a no-brainer. Like him or not, slightly overrated or not, Hansbrough will become the first player in the history of college basketball to be a 1st-team All American four years in a row.

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With conference play already winding down (less than three weeks ’till Selection Sunday!), a lively debate has begun about who is deserving of National Player of the Year. While perimeter players like Tennessee’s Chris Lofton and Davidson’s Stephen Curry (if you haven’t seen him play, do it) can make an argument, it’s essentially a two-man race: Kansas State’s freshman phenom and North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough.

Beasley follows in the footsteps of last year’s star freshmen, Kevin Durant and Greg Oden. There’s little doubt he’ll be going pro after this year, and there’s little doubt that he’ll be the first pick in June’s NBA Draft. Beasley and freshman teammate Bill Walker have quickly put Kansas State back on the national stage. Over the weekend, he set a Big 12 record with 44 points, upping his scoring average to 26 points to go with 12 rebounds a game. Both of those marks are higher than Durant’s averages last year.

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to see Beasley on national television as much as we saw Durant, largely because Kansas State games don’t air very often. Last month’s upset over Kansas (a win Beasley guaranteed before the season) wasn’t televised nationally. For those who haven’t seen him play, tonight’s game at Texas will be broadcast on ESPN.

Beasley’s biggest competitor in the National Player of the Year debate is Hansbrough, the psychotic white boy from Chapel Hill. Hansbrough’s physical abilities can’t compare with Beasley’s, but his determination sure can. If it’s possible for the ACC’s leading scorer and rebounder to be “scrappy” and “feisty,” Hansbrough would fit that description.

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