ST. LOUIS (USBWA) The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected California guard Jerome Randle as its
Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Feb. 14. The USBWA's weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and has been handed out each Tuesday this season.
As the Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week, Randle was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week.
Randle, a 5-10 senior from Chicago, Ill., led the Golden Bears to wins over Washington and Washington State. In Thursday's 93-81 win over the Huskies, Randle scored 21 of his 33 points in the first half. It was his second 30-point game of the season and third of his career. Saturday, in the 86-70 victory over the Cougars, Randle scored 24 points while shooting 6-for-9 from the three-point line as Cal erased an 11-point halftime deficit.
Randle has now moved into third place on Cal's all-time scoring list, just eight points behind Lamond Murray. For the week, Randle 53 percent (19-for-36) from the field, 64 percent (9-for-14) from behind the arc and 91 percent (10-for-11) from the free throw line.
This is the first season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week. Later today, the USBWA will announce the finalists for the 2009-10 Oscar Robertson Player of the Year Award.
Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson. It is the nation's oldest award and the only one named after a former player.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA. The winner of the 2010 Oscar Robertson Trophy will be announced and presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the USBWA's annual awards breakfast on Fri., April 2 in Indianapolis, site of the 2010 NCAA Men's Final Four.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and the Oscar Robertson Trophy, contact executive director Joe Mitch at 314-421-0339.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 29th season, bigger and better in 2009-10. Blue Ribbon long-known as "The Bible of College Basketball" · gives its readers the most thorough, up-to-date and timely evaluations of every Division I team in the country. For more information about Blue Ribbon Yearbooks, visit
blueribbonyearbookonline.com.
2009-10 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
Week of Dec. 13: Gordon Hayward, Butler
· Week of Dec. 20: Jon Scheyer, Duke
· Week of Dec. 27: Devin Ebanks, West Virginia
· Week of Jan. 3: Jimmer Fredette, BYU
· Week of Jan. 10: Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
· Week of Jan. 17: Damion James, Texas
· Week of Jan. 24: Adrian Oliver, San Jose State
· Week of Jan. 31: Devan Downey, South Carolina
· Week of Feb. 7: Denis Clemente, Kansas State
· Week of Feb. 14: Jerome Randle, California