ST. LOUIS (USBWA) The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Texas A&M forward Khris Middleton as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Dec. 19. The USBWA's weekly honor is presented by
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and will be handed out each Tuesday through Feb. 22 this season.
As the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, Middleton 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.
Middleton, a 6-7 sophomore from North Charleston, S.C., scored a career-high 31 points to lead the 25th-ranked Aggies to a 71-62 overtime victory over Arkansas in Dallas. In the first meeting between former Southwest Conference rivals in 20 seasons, Middleton connected on 10-of-16 from the field and 9-of-12 from the free throw line to life the Aggies to their seventh straight win and a 10-1 start.
With the Aggies trailing by six points in the second half, he scored 11 of the team's final 12 points of regulation to force overtime. Middleton's 31 points were the most by an Texas A&M player in nearly four years (Acie Law, 33 points at Texas in 2007), as he became only the second player this season to score more than 20 points against the Razorbacks. He is just one of four players all-time at Texas A&M to be named Big 12 Player of the Week.
This is the second season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week. The weekly Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week is added to the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list, which will be released at mid-season.
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 2011 Oscar Robertson Trophy will be announced and presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the USBWA's annual awards breakfast on Fri., April 1 in Houston, site of the 2011 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 314-444-4300.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 30th season, bigger and better in 2010-11. 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.
2010-11 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
Week of Dec. 5: Mike Glover, Iona
· Week of Dec. 12: Jimmer Fredette, BYU
· Week of Dec. 19: Khris Middleton, Texas A&M
· Week of Dec. 26: Doron Lamb, Kentucky
· Week of Jan. 2: Demetri McCamey, Illinois
· Week of Jan. 9: Vlad Moldoveanu, American
· Week of Jan. 16: Mike Muscala, Bucknell
· Week of Jan. 23: Jordan Hamilton, Texas
· Week of Jan. 30: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
· Week of Feb. 6: Chandler Parsons, Florida
· Week of Feb. 13: Nolan Smith, Duke
· Week of Feb. 20: Jacob Pullen, Kansas State