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INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) — The U.S. Basketball Writers Association is excited to reveal the fourth pair of winners for our new in-season feature, the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Month. The dual honor is handed out to one player apiece at the high-major and mid-major level in an effort to bring attention to both levels of men’s Division I basketball.
February sets the tone for March, and justly so, we had a litany of outstanding performances to ramp onto the greatest basketball month of them all. Incredibly, for the fourth straight month the high-major honoree is a freshman, which reinforces the growing opinion that this year’s crop of one-and-done players represent the most talented and deepest pool of NBA-ready freshmen college basketball has ever seen.
On the other side, our mid-major winner was the most reliable double-double player in college basketball — and hails from a military academy, marking one of the most notable runs at that level since David Robinson’s player of the year campaign in the late 1980s at Navy.
The monthly awards are voted on by the USBWA’s 11-person executive board. Here’s why these two standouts won out for February.
High-Major Player of the Month: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
The freshman from Detroit battled through injuries and still managed to be a dynamite presence for John Calipari’s Razorbacks. Acuff guided Arkansas to a 5-2 record in February, and it was almost 6-1. His 49 points in arguably the best game of the season — a 117-115 double overtime loss at Alabama — is the high-water mark of his young career so far. Acuff played all 50 minutes of an 88-possession game, grabbing five rebounds, dishing five assists and only giving up one turnover.
For the month, Acuff averaged 27.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists while totaling just nine fouls in seven games. The former five-star prospect was ranked as the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2025 and was fifth overall, according to 247Sports.
Acuff is averaging 22.0 points and 6.3 assists on the season while shooting 49% from the field and 42.1% from 3. He’s a borderline First Team All-American heading into March as the head of the snake for a 21-8 Arkansas team that sits in third place in the SEC with two games left in the regular season. Acuff is pacing to become the second player to lead the SEC in scoring and assists, joining Pete Maravich in the early 1970s.
Acuff’s February didn’t just lift him to this award, it also brought up conversation for where he ranks among the best guards to ever play for John Calipari. That discussion remains open, as the heady point guard has a chance to rise up even higher when Arkansas gets a chance to make another run into the second weekend (or beyond) when the NCAA Tournament starts in two weeks.
Mid-Major Player of the Month: Aidan Kehoe, Navy
While 29-0 Miami University has rightfully gained a lion’s share of the headlines at the mid-major level this season, there’s another great story playing out in the Patriot League. Navy (25-6) just captured an outright regular-season title for the first time since 1997, doing so with a 17-1 record in league play and blazing into and out of February with an 8-0 record.
It was Kehoe’s play that lifted the Midshipmen to a new level under first-year coach Jon Perry. The senior from Montvale, New Jersey, wears No. 99 and is one of the most accurate shooters in the country due to his dominant nature around the rim. Kehoe not only averaged a double-double in February, he had one in all eight games, putting up 16.6 points, 12.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting 73% (54-of-74) across Navy’s eight victories that came by an eye-opening average of 16.0 points.
For the season, Kehoe is making 73.6% of his shots, which ranks No. 1 in college basketball. He’s also second nationally in double-doubles (18) and rebounds (340). On Monday, Kehoe was named the conference’s defensive player of the year. At 6-11 and 246 pounds, he’s a bruiser who could be a matchup issue for whatever team is unlucky enough to draw Navy in the NCAA Tournament, should the team win the Patriot League automatic bid. Not bad for someone who received nuclear surface warfare as his service assignment after his upcoming graduation.
And it speaks to Navy’s prowess that Kehoe wasn’t the only player to receive a vote on a ballot from our board; teammate Austin Benigni also had a terrific month. The senior point guard connected for 36 assists in eight games, plenty of them winding up in the hands of Kehoe.
As the 1-seed in the Patriot League, Navy will await the winner of Bucknell vs. Army and play its next game in the conference quarterfinals on Thursday, March 5. The school is looking to end a 28-year NCAA Tournament drought.
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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 2026 Men’s Final Four in Indianapolis, 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.
2025-26 USBWA Men’s Monthly Honors
• November: Cameron Boozer, Duke (HIgh-Major); Delrecco Gillespie, Kent State (Mid-Major).
• December: AJ Dybantsa, BYU (HIgh-Major); Cruz Davis, Hofstra (Mid-Major).
• January: Keaton Wagler, Illinois (HIgh-Major); Dominique Daniels Jr., California Baptist (Mid-Major).
• February: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas (HIgh-Major); Aidan Kehoe, Navy (Mid-Major). |
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