INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Army West Point guard Tommy Funk as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Feb. 2.
As the Patriot League Player of the Week, Funk 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. Once again, the USBWA will select a Division I men's National Player of the Week each Tuesday throughout the season. The USBWA has named Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week since the 2009-10 season.
Funk, a 5-11 senior from Warrington, Pa., averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in league wins over Bucknell (68-59) and Lehigh (80-79) to help extend a program-record league winning streak to six games for the Black Knights.
Last Wednesday, Funk scored 19 points and added six rebounds and five assists to push the Black Knights past Bucknell. He followed that up with a career-high 33 points on 10-of-14 shooting – including 7-for-9 from 3-point range – in the one-point victory over the Mountain Hawks on Saturday.
Funk is the second Patriot League player to earn the USBWA's National Player of the Week honor since the program was started in the 2009-10 season and the first since Bucknell's Mike Muscala the following 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.
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 Malcolm Moran at 814-574-1485.