Mid Major candidates of the week
I had mentioned earlier that consistency was the theme of the week. There were a lot of players who only played one game or didn’t provide much else outside of scoring on the ledger. I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize those players who scored 30 points but either only played one game or did not provide much outside of scoring.
Aaron Estrada of Hofstra, Steele Venters of Eastern Washington, Maxwell Lewis of Pepperdine, Byron Joshua of Alcorn State, Jelly Walker of UAB, Rob Perry from Murray State, and Greg Parham II from South Alabama were all players who scored over 30 points this week but didn’t make the cut. The one game hurt these players for these rankings.
Ty Johnson
The sophomore from UC Davis had a good week and sees himself on this list for the first time this season. Early in the week in a game against Boston University. The guard scored 27 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. That was a win in overtime. The second game this week saw the guard score 16 points with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Johnson is turning into a big-time scorer and is one of the key pieces for the Aggies. He had a great week and hopefully, more people will start to talk about Johnson as the year goes on.
Jake Stephens
The Big Man began his career at VMI and put up huge numbers there, when head coach Dan Earl decided to take the Chattanooga job his star player came with him. Stephens did put his name in the transfer portal and was a player many teams wanted because of his ability to stretch the floor and stuff a stat sheet. This is the first appearance on the Player of the Week list for the Chattanooga big man. In his two games this week he had 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists in a win over Tennessee Tech. Then to close out the week in a win over Gardner-Webb the big man scored 26 points with 9 assists.
Parker Stewart
Stewart has been well-traveled over his college career. He started at Pitt, and then transferred to UT Martin to play for his father Anthony. Coach Stewart passed away last year, and the guard decided to transfer to Indiana, and then during his Covid year returned to UT Martin to finish out his playing career. The Skyhawks guard was all over the place in a win over McNeese State when he scored 34 points with 7 rebounds. The guard made 7 threes in that game. In the most recent game a loss to UNC Asheville, Stewart came back to reality as he scored 12 points with only 2 rebounds. His 34-point game was hard to leave him off the list.
DaRon Holmes II
The Dayton Flyers came into the year as one of the teams to watch for as an at large into the NCAA tournament. As it currently stands Dayton does have a little work to do but the team is still in a good place to make a tournament appearance. The big man didn’t score 30 points this week, but he did dominate both games Dayton played this week. In the first game, a win against Western Michigan, Holmes scored 24 points with 10 rebounds. In the win over Southeastern Louisiana, the big man scored 19 points to go with 12 rebounds. He took over both games down the stretch and helped his Flyers win the games and avoid the bad losses.
Ace Baldwin
VCU has a new star guard at their disposal. Baldwin returned this week after missing the last four games due to injury and he did his part in the VCU offense. In two games this week, the first a win over Vanderbilt, the guard scored 28 points with 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Baldwin is one of the most athletic players on the floor every night he takes the floor. In the second game of the week a loss to Temple. Baldwin scored 16 points but was able to couple that with 9 assists. The point guard is one of the best players in the American and if he stays healthy the Rams can reach their goals for this year.
Marques Warrick
Huge apologies to the Northern Kentucky fan base and the team as I did forget to mention Warrick last week when he ended the week with a huge 45-point game in a double-overtime win. The guard picked up right where he left off last week and started the week with a 30-point game in a huge win over Youngstown State. The guard finished the week with another win for his team and 13 point game against Robert Morris. Warrick is an elite scorer as evidenced by his 88 points over three games. Warrick is not going to provide much else, but he can put the ball in the cylinder, and sometimes that is all you need.
Yuri Collins
Saint Louis is one of the best mid-major programs in the country, they have already beaten some power schools and will continue to beat the ones they are put up against. The Billikens also have the best point guard in the country. Collins is the most important player on an already fantastic team and while he isn’t going to score a ton of points, he will impact the game in so many other ways. Last week that was evident as seen in the win over Tennessee State. Collins had 4 points, 20 assists, and 8 rebounds.
The best part about that stat line is he only had one turnover the entire night. In the second game of the week, a win against Southern Illinois, the guard scored 13 points to go along with 14 assists and 4 rebounds. Anytime you can average 17 assists per week you are going to be in the running for the player of the week.
Jalen Benjamin
Mount St. Mary’s is starting their first season in the MAAC and Benjamin has put his name into the early list of MAAC players to watch out for the conference player of the year. The 5’10” guard had a great week and his week got him recognized nationally as a potential national player of the week. Benjamin started the week in win over Saint Peter’s with 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. He followed that up in a loss to Rider with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Benjamin didn’t miss a free throw, shot over 50% from the floor, and well over 60% from deep in the two games. If he keeps that up, he will easily have more games like he did this week.
Gerald Liddell
We all know about Antoine Davis at Detroit Mercy but Liddell patrolling the paint and being a great second option for Davis makes the Titans a dangerous team in the Horizon League. Liddell didn’t play in any games at all until this week and when the Texas transfer suited for the Titans his impact was immediate. Liddell makes Detroit Mercy a different team. In a big win over Fort Wayne, the big man had 16 points and 16 rebounds to go along with 2 assists and a block. In a loss to Cleveland State, Liddell had 18 points and 13 rebounds to go along with 2 assists and 1 block. He dominated in his minutes, and he will likely find himself on this list a few more times this season.
DeMarcus Sharp
Northwestern State is one of the biggest surprises of the season and Sharp is leading the Demons every night. He put up two 30-point games this weekend and that came out of seemingly nowhere as he came in averaging 12 points per game. Sharp is on pace for his best season in college and his first averaging double figures. In a win over Stephen F. Austin, the Demon point guard scored 34 points with 7 assists. He was 16-17 from the line in this game. Then in the final game Sunday night the point guard hit a game-winner to stun Southern Mississippi and that game-winner gave the guard 32 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. That is a career for some players and Sharp did it in a week.
Daniss Jenkins
Iona is the overwhelming favorite to win the MAAC and guard Jenkins is going to help them get to where they need to be. The guard seems to be the missing piece that coach Pitino needed last season. The guard looks to be another in a long line of great guards to play for coach Pitino. In a win over Niagara, the guard scored 31 points to go along with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Jenkins did not have a turnover in that game which is mighty impressive considering how often he touches the ball. In a win over Canisius, the point guard just missed a double-double with 10 points and 9 assists.
Sam Sessoms
This is the second time the Coppin State guard has appeared on the player of the week list. Sessoms is an elite scorer in an elite backcourt for a team that is a lot better than people want to give them credit for. Sessoms won the award in week 1 after he put up great numbers, and then after a week’s hiatus is back on the list again. In a loss to UMBC the guard scored 22 points, with 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. It was Sessoms performance in the win against Loyola Maryland. In that game, he poured in 35 points to go along with 4 assists and 1 rebound. It was the first 30-point game of hopefully many for the Eagles guard.
Courvoisier McCauley
The Indiana State guard has the best name in the sport and is also showing that he has developed into an elite go-to scorer. McCauley has never put up anywhere close to double figures in scoring for a whole season. It would be a huge upset if he didn’t do that this year. In a win over Drake, the guard had an okay game with 12 points and 3 rebounds. It was a very pedestrian game given how well he played in a win over Miami Ohio. In the Miami game, the guard scored 30 points with 7 rebounds. The 30-point game for McCauley was his second 30-point game of the year. The Sycamores had a big week behind their star but was it enough?
Roman Penn
The Drake point guard is one of the oldest players in the country at 25 years old Penn has played a ton of basketball and even when he isn’t scoring he affects the game in a ton of ways for Drake. The Bulldogs need Penn to play in order for them to reach their goals this year. His first game of the week he made a huge splash. In the loss to Indiana State, the point guard scored 32 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. The second game of the week, a win over Illinois Chicago, Penn scored 2 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. He still made his mark on the game, but his scoring has been inconsistent from game to game his entire career.
Dwayne Cohill
The Youngstown State Penguins are the team to beat in the Horizon League this season and Cohill is one of the main reasons why. He is the best player on the floor most nights for either team. This week he reinforced what we were already learning about the senior guard. Cohill opened the week in a double overtime loss to Northern Kentucky with 21 points and 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Then on the final day of the week, the guard went off. He has the season high for points scored with 43. He was able to couple that with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. The Wright State announcers were getting all over Cohill for not passing the ball, but the Penguins won the game, and I am sure that his teammates were okay with him taking the shots if you are on a heater like he was all day Sunday.
That does it for the nominees for the Mid Major Player of the Week for Busting Brackets. Who was the winner this week?