UMASS’ DIGGINS 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, Jan. 19.

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:

Tyeree Bryan, Santa Clara (West Coast Conference)
Bryan scored a career-high 35 points on 13-of-21 shooting, including a 7-of-12 mark from 3-point range leading the Broncos to a 103-99 win at No. 16 Gonzaga. The win was SCU’s first over the Bulldogs in Spokane since Feb. 12, 2007. Bryan’s seven 3-pointers tied for the third-most in program history. He added seven rebounds, collected four assists and notched a pair of steals. Bryan’s final 3-pointer of the game came with 43 seconds remaining and gave SCU a 98-92 advantage, which proved to be instrumental to the Broncos holding off the Zags.

Rahsool Diggins, Massachusetts (Atlantic 10 Conference)
Diggins averaged 31.5 points over back-to-back league wins. The Philadelphia product scored 46 points in a triple overtime win over Fordham. The performance ties for the eighth-best single-game total in A-10 Conference history and it marked the most points by a visiting player at Rose Hill Gymnasium, surpassing all-time UMass great Julius Erving’s 37-point performance in 1970. The performance tied for the most points ever scored at the facility, tying Kenny Charles just one day shy of Rose Hill Gym’s 100 anniversary mark. Diggins followed the record-breaking performance with 17 points and four rebounds in a key 22-point victory over La Salle.

Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest (Atlantic Coast Conference)
Sallis spearheaded Wake Forest’s 2-0 week, leading the team in scoring both times during wins over Stanford and Virginia Tech as the Demon Deacons ran their ACC win streak to five straight games – the program’s longest since the 2004-05 season. The Omaha, Nebraska, product averaged 27.0 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 64.7 percent from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point distance. In the 80-67 win over Stanford last Wednesday, Sallis scored 30 points, going 12-of-17 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc. He followed that up with 24 points, seven rebounds and two steals in the 72-63 win at Virginia Tech on Saturday. He was 10-of-17 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. He has posted seven consecutive showings of 20-plus points – the best stretch in his collegiate career.

Javon Small, West Virginia (Big 12 Conference)
Small scored 27 points in the Mountaineers’ 64-57 win over No. 2 Iowa State, with 12 of those points coming in the final two minutes. The South Bend, Indiana, product added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals as the Mountaineers picked up their third top-10 win of the season, tied for the nation’s most. The senior guard added a 13-point outing with eight assists against No. 10 Houston. For the week, he averaged 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists.

Earl Timberlake, Bryant (America East Conference)
Timberlake stuffed the stat sheet last week averaging 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 4.0 blocks in a 2-0 week for Bryant. He shot 72 percent from the floor (13-of-18) and nearly had a triple-double in a win at UAlbany on Thursday, contributing 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and also added four blocks. He added 14 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in a dominant win over UMass Lowell on Saturday.

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.