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, Nov. 19.
For the 2023-24 season, the USBWA has expanded its national player of the week program that has been affiliated with the Oscar Robertson Trophy since the 2009-10 season. In past seasons, the USBWA has recognized just one player each week.
Each Tuesday during the regular season, designated USBWA board members will select five standouts from the 32 Division I conference players of the week to be recognized.
Following are the five players selected for performance this past week:
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas (Big 12 Conference)
In an 89-84 win against No. 17 Kentucky in the Champions Classic in Chicago, Dickinson recorded his first double-double as a Jayhawk and the 32nd of his career with a game-high 27 points and a career-high 21 rebounds while adding a career-high-tying three steals. Dickinson secured the double-double in the first half with 13 points and 10 rebounds at the break. The senior center, a 2020-21 USBWA second team All-American at Michigan, is the first Big 12 player with a 25/20 game against a ranked opponent since Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin on Nov. 18, 2008 vs. No. 21 Davidson (25 pts, 21 reb). He is the first Kansas player with a 25/20 game since Thomas Robinson on Dec. 31, 2011 vs. North Dakota (30 pts, 21 reb).
Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State (Mountain West Conference)
In leading the Aztecs to a 3-0 record last week, the Houston, Texas, product averaged 28.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.0 steals and added a block. In three games he shot 57.1 percent from the floor (28-of-39), including 50.0 percent from the bonus distance (2-of-4) and 84.8 percent from the line (28-of-33). In addition, he dished out seven assists, had six steals and a block. In the games vs. Long Beach State, Saint Mary’s and Washington at the Continental Tires Main Event, he totaled 86 points to lead the Aztecs to the tournament title as he became the first Aztec since at least the start of the 1996-97 season to total at least 34 points and 17 rebounds in a game. He is the only player in Mountain West history to do it and shoot at least 50.0 percent from the field.
Quinten Post, Boston College (Atlantic Coast Conference)
Post, a graduate center/forward from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, averaged 18.5 points, 14.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 3.0 steals per game in a 2-0 week for the Eagles, off to their best start (4-0) since the 2007-08 season. In the two games, he posted double-doubles in wins over Richmond and Harvard. On Wednesday, he had 17 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and a blocked shot and followed that with a career night vs. Harvard on Saturday, scoring 20 points to go along with new career-highs with 19 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Kyle Rode, Liberty (Conference USA)
The Myrtle Beach Invitational MVP led the Flames (5-0) to the tournament title after they handed Furman, Wichita State and Vermont their first losses of the season. Rode averaged 19.3 points and six rebounds while connecting on 45.5 percent (10-of-22) of his three-point attempts. On Friday night against the Shockers, Rode scored a career-best 31 points with a career-high seven threes. He added five rebounds and four assists in the 83-66 win. In the opening round game against the Paladins – an 88-74 victory – Rode led the squad with 19 points and added five rebounds and a game-high three steals while converting 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. In the 71-61 win over Vermont in the title game, Rode finished with eight points and eight rebounds, locking up MVP honors.
Marcus Tsohonis, Long Beach State (The Big West)
The senior guard averaged 26.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in two road games against national powerhouses, shooting a combined 52.8 percent (19-of-36) from the floor and 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from behind the arc in the two games. Tsohonis started the week with a team-high 17-point effort in a 88-76 defeat at San Diego State, last year's national ruuner-up. The Portland, Ore. product scored 35 points, matched a career high six rebounds and dished out three assists in a 94-86 victory at Michigan. For the season, Tsohonis is currently averaging 22.8 points per game.
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 2024 Men's Final Four in Glendale, Ariz., 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.
2023-24 USBWA Men's Weekly Honors
• Week ending Nov. 12: Armando Bacot, North Carolina; Tucker DeVries, Drake; Terrence Edwards, James Madison; Dillon Jones, Weber State; Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor.
• Week ending Nov. 19: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas; Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State; Quinten Post, Boston College; Kyle Rode, Liberty; Marcus Tsohonis, Long Beach State.