INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has named five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week for games of the week ending Sunday, Dec. 8.
For the 2024-25 season, the USBWA continues its national player of the week program that has been affiliated with the Oscar Robertson Trophy since the 2009-10 season. Prior to last season, the USBWA had recognized just one player each week.
Each Tuesday during the regular season, designated USBWA board members will select five standouts from the 31 Division I conference players of the week to be recognized. This week's selections were chosen from a list of the conferences that named a player of the week on Monday.
Following are the five players selected for performances this past week:
Devin Haid, Central Connecticut (Northeast Conference)
Haid has stepped up his game recently, and last week helped CCSU collect two impressive road victories to improve the Blue Devils to 6-3 on the season. He contributed 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals, while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and a stellar 54.5 percent from beyond the arc. Haid’s breakout performance came last Wednesday, when he poured in a career-high 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished for three assists and added a pair of steals in CCSU’s 73-69 win at UMass. Haid, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half, connected on 3-6 from deep and finished 6-of-12 overall. The win marked the Blue Devils’ second road victory over an A10 opponent this season. Three days later, Haid remained hot, converting 3-5 from three-point territory and finishing with 12 points in a 69-56 victory at Holy Cross. The Wooster, OH product has lifted his scoring average to 10.0 ppg, which ranks third on the Blue Devils.
Tyler “Chip” Johnson, Mercer (Southern Conference)
Johnson led the Bears to a pair of wins last week. On Dec. 4, the graduate student had 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting, along with five rebounds and two steals in an 86-72 win against West Georgia. The native of Athens, Ga., followed that with a season-high 26 points in an 89-83 overtime win at Stetson on Dec. 8. Johnson also logged five rebounds and three steals in the game with Stetson. For the week, Johnson shot 17-for-28 (.607) from the field, including 11-for-21 (.524) from beyond the arc. He also went a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference)
The senior forward and Atlanta native averaged 13.0 points, 16.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists to help Clemson to a 2-0 week, including a 70-66 win over No. 4 Kentucky. The win was the highest ranked non-conference win at home in Clemson’s program history. He secured a career-high 20 rebounds in the win over Kentucky – the most rebounds in a game for a Clemson player since Harold Jamison had 20 on March 4, 1999. He totaled 11 points, 20 rebounds, four assists and one block in the win over the Wildcats, becoming the only Division I men’s player in the last 25 years to put up 10-plus points, 20-plus rebounds and 4-plus assists in a win against an AP Top 5 opponent and the fifth player to secure 20 rebounds or more in a win over an AP Top 5 opponent since 1996-97. Schieffelin followed up that big performance with 15 points and 12 rebounds against Miami to help Clemson to its first ACC win of the season, 65-55. He finished 3-for-4 from 3-point range in the game and added two assists.
Sean Smith, Western Illinois (Ohio Valley Conference)
Smith recorded two triple-doubles as Western Illinois won a pair of home games. The transfer from Alabama State had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 rebounds against St. Ambrose and two days later had 10 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over East-West University. It marked the 25th and 26th triple-doubles in OVC history; Smith is now one of three players in OVC history to have more than one triple-double in the same season (joining UT Martin’s Lester Hudson and Murray State’s Ja Morant) and the only one to do it in back-to-back games. There have been six triple-doubles nationally this season, and Smith is the only player with more than one. For the week he averaged 17.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and 10.0 assists/game while hitting 52 percent (13-of-25) from the field, 40 percent (4-of-10) from 3-point range and 100 percent (4-of-4) at the free throw line.
Sebastian Thomas, Rhode Island (Atlantic 10 Conference)
Thomas averaged 19.5 points, 5.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals over two wins for Rhode Island. Against Providence, he led Rhode Island back from a 10-point first-half deficit, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer with 24 seconds to go, sealing the victory. Against Yale, Thomas had 20 points, six assists and was 10-for-10 at the free throw line. He scored 18 of his 20 points and had four of his assists after halftime. Thomas scored his 1,000th career point in the win over Yale.
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 winner of the award will be announced at the 2025 Men's Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, with the formal presentation to follow at the annual USBWA Awards Luncheon hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 800 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.
2024-25 USBWA Men's Weekly Honors
• Week ending Nov. 10: JaKobe Coles, Grand Canyon; Tyson Dunn, Buffalo; TY Johnson, UC Davis; Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton; Justice Shoats, Siena.
• Week ending Nov. 17: Abdi Bashir, Monmouth; Jaron Pierre, Jax State; Maxine Raynaud, Stanford; John Tonje, Wisconsin; Sonny Wilson, Toledo.
• Week ending Nov. 24: Mason Falslev, Utah State; Cooper Flagg, Duke; Chaz Lanier, Tennessee; Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa, Columbia; John Tonje, Wisconsin.
• Week ending Dec. 1: Johni Broome, Auburn; Chucky Hepburn, Louisville; Tyrese Hunter, Memphis; Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue; Javon Small, West Virginia.
• Week ending Dec. 8: Devin Haid, Central Connecticut; Tyler “Chip” Johnson, Mercer; Ian Schieffelin, Clemson; Sean Smith, Western Illinois; Sebastian Thomas, Rhode Island.