ST. LOUIS (USBWA) The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Oklahoma guard Trae Young as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Dec. 17. The USBWA's weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
As the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, Young 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 ninth season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week.
The 6-2 freshman from Norman, Okla., produced 29 points, 10 assists and four rebounds in the Sooners' 91-83 win at No. 3 Wichita State in the team's only action last week. Young continued his seven-game streak of scoring at least 28 points per game in leading Oklahoma to its first road win over a top-three team since 1949. His double-double made him the first player with 25 points and 10 assists against an AP top-three team since Syracuse's Jonny Flynn in 2009 against UConn during a classic six-overtime game.
Young continues to lead the nation in scoring with 28.8 points per game while ranking third in assists at 8.9 per contest. He has now earned a Big 12 weekly honor in five of his first six weeks in the conference.
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 37th 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.
2017-18 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
Week ending Dec. 3: Devonté Graham, Kansas (Big 12 Conference)
· Week ending Dec. 10: Shannon Evans II, Arizona State (Pac-12 Conference)
· Week ending Dec. 17: Trae Young, Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference)
· Week ending Dec. 24: Trae Young, Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference)
· Week ending Dec. 31: Kelan Martin, Butler (Big East Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 7: Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State (Big Ten Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 14: Chandler Hutchison, Boise State (Mountain West Conference) and Luwane Pipkins, Massachusetts (Atlantic 10 Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 21: Jock Landale, St. Mary's (West Coast Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 28: Kevin Knox, Kentucky (Southeastern Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 4: Noah Dickerson, Washington (Pac-12 Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 11: Shamorie Ponds, St. John's (Big East Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 18: Matt Mobley, St. Bonaventure (Atlantic 10 Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 25: Carsen Edwards, Purdue (Big Ten Conference)