Rhymes Heating & Cooling Hot Players of the Week
(St. Louis, MO) – Ja Morant is blowing people away on the national scene and in the Ohio Valley Conference. Even when we announce these weekly awards as part of our ‘Rhymes Heating & Cooling Hot Players of the Week’ feature with the OVC and Missouri Valley Conference, Morant dwarfs every competitor.
It is Morant and everybody else.
Ohio Valley Conference
What else can this guy do? Murray State’s Morant averaged 33.5 points and 10.5 assists in the Racers’ two victories. In a tightly contested game at Southern Illinois Edwardsville he posted a career-high 40 points, making 21 free throws WITHOUT A MISS! This week’s OVC ‘Player of the Week‘ has topped 30 points three times and has amassed 13 double-doubles.
This week’s award is his third straight and sixth of the season.
Two first-time winners are sharing the OVC’s ‘Newcomer’ award.
Jacksonville State’s Ty Hudson scored 18 points in the team’s overtime win against Belmont and scored 14 against Tennessee Tech. He is the first Gamecock to earn an OVC weekly honor for JSU (14-5, 6-0).
SIUE’s Tyresse Williford tried to go toe-to-toe with Morant. He came close. The 5’10 junior scored 33 points and he made 11 free throws WITHOUT A MISS! He added 13 points against Austin Peay and shares the ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ award with Hudson.
Nick Muszynski is starting to distance himself from the other OVC freshmen. The 6’11 center earned his second straight (fourth overall) ‘Freshman of the Week‘ award. He and Murray State’s Tevin Brown (three honors) are the only multiple winners of the title. Muszynski posted identical 23-point performances in Belmont’s games.
Muszynski added five blocked shots and is now 18th nationally (2.47 per game) in that category.
Missouri Valley Conference
Drake went 2-and-0 and Brady Ellingson totaled 40 points and he is the Valley’s ‘Player AND Newcomer of the Week‘. The Iowa transfer connected on 12 of 17 three-point efforts (.706). He added 15 points during a road win at Bradley.
Ellingson joins Drake teammate Nick Norton and Missouri State’s Tulio Da Silva as players that have swept the league’s two weekly awards this season. The feat has been accomplished 16 other times. Illinois State’s Milik Yarbrough and Missouri State’s Alize Johnson are the only players to have done it twice.
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Done like only you can @Frank_Cusumano. So perfect. Respectful. Hopeful. Personal. You've always been the best. @DanRolfes, you are in our prayers still today. Thanks for sharing.
As we said the 'closed' transfer portal keeps growing. Paperwork delays and/or no regard for deadlines. Over 2K in the portal now. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that. Just saying before you think your program won't have more players leaving, give it a minute to see
BTW, despite the portal being 'closed' you'll still hear about players entering it because sometimes paperwork is slow AND all they have to do is sue to be able to enter later.
Admittedly I am no recruiting expert, but I'm seeing these reports about which coaches have been crushing the portal. We'll know who did what when we see them play, but no one has been more active than @TSUTigersMBB's @coachpenny1. 6 D1's among the 9 he's signed.
