ST. LOUIS (USBWA) The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected the Marshall's Ryan Taylor 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.
As the Conference USA Player of the Week, Taylor 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. This is the eighth season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week.
Taylor, a 6-5 senior guard from Indianapolis, averaged a double-double with 25.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game in three Marshall conference wins last week. His 25.3 points came from 29-of-47 (.617) shooting and he hit 3-of-7 (.429) three-pointers.
In the Jan. 2 win at Florida Atlantic, he scored a career-high 31 points shooting 13-of-20 from the field · and pulled down a then-season-high 13 rebounds. Taylor then added 21 points against Old Dominion as he helped Marshall become the first school to score 90 points on ODU in its last 179 games. He also collected a career-high five blocks and grabbed 13 rebounds. In Saturday·s high-scoring affair with Charlotte, Taylor scored 24 of the Herd·s 110 points and pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds. He was 9-of-14 (.643) from the field and was credited with three assists, two steals and one block.
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.
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 314-795-6821.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 36th season. 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.
2016-17 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
Week ending Dec. 11: Josh Hart, Villanova (Big East Conference)
· Week ending Dec. 18: Malik Monk, Kentucky (Southeastern Conference)
· Week ending Dec. 25: Quentin Snider, Louisville (Atlantic Coast Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 1: Dillon Brooks, Oregon (Pac-12 Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 8: Ryan Taylor, Marshall (Conference USA)
· Week ending Jan. 15: Quincy McKnight, Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 22: Lauri Markkanen, Arizona (Pac-12 Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 29: Tim Cline, Richmond (Atlantic 10 Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 5: Jacob Wiley, Eastern Washington (Big Sky Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 12: Bonzie Coles, Notre Dame (Atlantic Coast Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 19: Mike Daum, South Dakota State (The Summitt League)
· Week ending Feb. 26: Elijah Bryant, BYU (West Coast Conference)