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, Feb. 23.
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:
Nate Bittle, Oregon (Big Ten Conference)
Bittle paired 19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.7 blocked shots in Oregon’s 3-0 week as he recorded double-doubles in wins over Rutgers and at Iowa. He scored a game-high 23 points, including six in the extra period, as the Ducks claimed a 77-73 overtime win at No. 11 Wisconsin
Jahnathan Lamothe, North Carolina A&T (Coastal Athletic Association)
Lamothe posted 24.0 points, 9.0 boards and 1.5 steals per game in a 2-0 week for the Aggies, marking the team’s first back-to-back wins since November. He also played 40 minutes in both of A&T's games last week. The sophomore guard scored 25 points, including a clutch 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining, to go with seven rebounds in A&T's 53-50 home win over Campbell. He followed up with a 23-point, 11-rebound effort in the team’s 73-72 win, going 8-for-11 from the free-throw line. Lamothe also tied with Charleston’s Ante Brzovic for the league lead in double-doubles with eight.
Bez Mbeng, Yale (Ivy League)
Mbeng averaged 12.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 block per game in a 2-0 week for the Bulldogs. He posted an 11-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple double Saturday’s win over Columbia which secured an outright title for Yale and had 13 points and dished out eight assists in the Bulldogs’ comeback win over Cornell on Friday.
Richie Saunders, BYU (Big 12 Conference)
Saunders led the Cougars to consecutive AP Top 25 wins for the first time since 1988, while averaging 22.5 points off 73.9% shooting from the field and 58.3% on 3-pointers. The junior guard scored a team-high 22 points in the 91-57 win over then-No. 23 Kansas, marking the largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in BYU program history. The Riverton, Utah native had a 23-point performance at Arizona, adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals. The Cougars’ 96-95 win over then-No. 19 Arizona marked the program’s first over a ranked Wildcats team, as Saunders made the game-winning free throws in the final seconds of the game.
Mark Sears, Alabama (Southeastern Conference)
Sears, a senior from Muscle Shoals, Ala., averaged 32.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals against No. 15 Missouri and No. 17 Kentucky. Scoring 65 points on just 37 field goal attempts, he shot 54.1 percent (20-of-37) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from 3-point range and 94.4 percent (17-of-18) from the free throw line on the week. He opened the week with a 35-point performance against the Tigers and then followed that up with 30 points against the Wildcats. He became the first player in Division I this season to have back-to-back 30-point games against ranked teams and is just the second player to do so in the last 20 years.
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.
• Week ending Dec. 15: Lamont Butler, Kentucky; Tarence Guinyard, UT Martin; Jamichael Stillwell, Milwaukee; Taryn Todd, Arkansas State; Brice Williams, Nebraska.
• Week ending Dec. 22: Donovan Dent, New Mexico; Treysen Eaglestaff, North Dakota; Caden Pierce, Princeton; Erik Reynolds II, Saint Joseph's; Bruce Thornton, Ohio State.
• Week ending Dec. 29: Eric Dailey Jr., UCLA; Mason Falslev, Utah State; Connor Kochera, Davidson; Ahmad Robinson, Mercer; Brice Williams, Nebraska.
• Week ending Jan. 5: Leo Colimero, Queens; Melvin Council Jr., St. Bonaventure; Cooper Flagg, Duke; Chaz Lanier, Tennessee; Malik Thomas, San Francisco.
• Week ending Jan. 12: AJ Clayton, Ohio; Cooper Flagg, Duke; Yaxel Lendeborg, UAB; Issac McBride, Oral Roberts; Lamar Washington, Pacific.
• Week ending Jan. 19: Tyeree Bryan, Santa Clara; Rahsool Diggins, Massachusetts; Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest; Javon Small, West Virginia; Earl Timberlake, Bryant.
• Week ending Jan. 26: Mekhi Conner, Sacred Heart; Dawson Garcia, Minnesota; Max MacKinnon, Portland; Bo Montgomery, UNCW; Milos Uzan, Houston
• Week ending Feb. 2: Rahsool Diggins, Massachusetts; Madison Durr, Monmouth; Jamal Mashburn Jr., Temple; Darryl Simmons, Gardner-Webb; Brice Williams, Nebraska.
• Week ending Feb. 9: Jamar Brown, Kansas City; Nelly Junior Joseph, New Mexico; Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue; RJ Luis, St. John’s; CJ Walker, East Carolina.
• Week ending Feb. 16: Denver Jones, Auburn; Jalen Terry, Eastern Michigan; John Tonje, Wisconsin; JT Toppin, Texas Tech; Corey Washington, Wichita State.
• Week ending Feb. 23: Nate Bittle, Oregon; Jahnathan Lamothe, North Carolina A&T; Bez Mbeng, Yale; Richie Saunders, BYU; Mark Sears, Alabama.