OHIO STATE’S THORNTON HEADLINES USBWA MEN’S NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS

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. 22.

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:

Donovan Dent, New Mexico (Mountain West Conference)
The junior guard led the Lobos to a 78-71 victory over VCU to conclude non-conference play with a career-best 40 points behind a 14-of-26 (.538) shooting effort from the floor. In addition, he made10 of his 11 attempts from the charity stripe and tallied five rebounds and four assists.

Treysen Eaglestaff, North Dakota (Summit League)
Eaglestaff scored a career-high 40 points, making a career-high eight 3-pointers in a 97-90 loss to Alabama. The Bismarck native scored 24 second-half points as he became just the fifth Division I player this season to reach the 40-point plateau in a game. Eaglestaff’s final triple of the night trimmed the Crimson Tide’s lead to 91-88 with 21 seconds to play. He finished 15-for-30 from the floor. His 40 points also landed right on the 1,000-point milestone for his career.

Caden Pierce, Princeton (Ivy League)
The junior forward from Glen Ellyn, Ill., led the Tigers to an 83-82 victory over in-state opponent Rutgers in the Never Forget Tribute Classic inside Prudential Center on Dec. 21. He recorded his 24th career double-double and led the Tigers with 21 points 10-for-17 shooting and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, which included a game-high seven offensive rebounds and hit the game-winning shot with five seconds remaining.

Erik Reynolds II, Saint Joseph’s (Atlantic 10 Conference)
Reynolds averaged 24.0 points per game and shot 56.3 percent (18-for-32) from the field during a 2-0 week for the Hawks. He stuffed the stat sheet on Saturday against Virginia Tech with 25 points, three assists, a block and two steals as the Hawks won by 20. Earlier in the week, the guard from Temple Hills, Md., tallied 23 with six assists against American, shooting 8-for-13 from the floor. During the two games, he had nine assists and only one turnover and connected on 8-of-18 shots from beyond the arc.

Bruce Thornton, Ohio State (Big Ten Conference)
The junior guard averaged 22.0 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and shot nearly 60 percent in a pair of wins last week. He scored a career-high 30 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the floor and a season-best 13-for-14 from the free throw line in leading Ohio State to an 85-65 win over then-No. 4 Kentucky, its largest margin of victory over a Top 5 team in 13 years. Earlier in the week, he recorded 14 points and dished out a game-high six assists in a 95-73 win over Valparaiso earlier in the week.

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.