ST. LOUIS (USBWA) The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Weber State guard Damian Lillard as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 8. The USBWA's weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and will be handed out each Tuesday through Feb. 21 this season.
As the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, Lillard 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.
Lillard, a 6-3 junior from Oakland, Calif., averaged 34 points, six rebounds and five assists for the week. He scored 30 points with seven rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot in the Wildcats' 79-71 win over Eastern Washington on Thursday. During the game, he scored his 1,500th career point.
Lillard followed that with 38 points, five assists and five rebounds an 88-81 victory over Portland State. Lillard scored 23 points in the first half, including a half-court 3-point shot at the buzzer to cut Portland State's lead to 51-44. In the two games last week, he shot 47.5 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from 3-point range, and 94.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Lillard leads the nation in scoring with an average of 26.3 points per game and has been selected as the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week four times this season.
This is the third season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week. The weekly Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week will be considered for 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 2012 Oscar Robertson Trophy will be announced and presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the USBWA's annual awards breakfast on Fri., March 30 in New Orleans, site of the 2012 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 31st 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.
2011-12 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
Week of Dec. 11: Thomas Robinson, Kansas (Big 12
Conference)
· Week of Dec. 18: Mike Glover, Iona (Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference)
· Week of Dec. 25: Doug McDermott, Creighton (Missouri
Valley Conference)
· Week of Jan. 1: Kyle Weems, Missouri State (Missouri
Valley Conference)
· Week of Jan. 8: Damian Lillard, Weber State (Big
Sky Conference)
· Week of Jan. 15: Brandon Paul, Illinois (Big Ten
Conference)
· Week of Jan. 22: Faisal Aden, Washington State (Pac-12
Conference)
· Week of Jan. 29: Mason Plumlee, Duke (Atlantic Coast
Conference)
· Week of Feb. 5: Tray Woodall, Pittsburgh (Big East
Conference)
· Week of Feb. 12: Jeff Withey, Kansas (Big 12 Conference)
· Week of Feb. 19: Draymond Green, Michigan State
(Big Ten Conference)