Mid Majors nominees for Player of the Week
Nate Calmese
To even see a Lamar player on this list after the season they had last year just shows how much that program has grown in a short amount of time. Calmese is a freshman point guard who is turning into one of the best freshmen in the country and in the Southland conference. Calmese scored 31 points against Our Lady of the Lake. Our Lady of the Lake is not a division 1 school but 31 is still impressive. The point guard followed that in a loss against Southern Mississippi with only 8 points. That was a huge step back but growing pains for the guard are to be expected.
Clarence O. Daniels II
Not many mid-major players had a better week than the New Hampshire guard did. The Wildcats had a great week when they came up to Chestnut Hill and beat Boston College since well before any of us were watching college basketball. New Hampshire was able to beat Boston College piggybacked by the 34-point and 14-rebound performance. To finish out the week the guard scored 11 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Daniels is in the first year of the program and is looking like an All-America East-type player.
Jake Stephens
The Chattanooga forward is having himself quite a year this is the second week in a row that Stephens has been nominated for the Busting Brackets player of the week. The big man opened the week in a win over Milwaukee with 31 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and three blocks. It was the first 30-point game for the big man. He followed that up in a win over a non Divison 1 opponent with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocks. It was a heck of a two weeks for the Mocs big man who was one of the most coveted transfers on the market and decided to follow his coach Dan Earl to Chattanooga. Stephens is a great player
Noah Reynolds
Wyoming has been one of the more disappointing teams early in the season. They do have some injuries to some key players, but they have also had some very head-scratching results. Reynolds showed up this week to provide the Cowboys the spark they were looking for. In a win over Texas A&M Commerce, the guard scored 30 points with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. In the final game for Wyoming, a win against Louisiana Tech, the guard scored 20 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Reynolds is the only player on the list who is not a starter.
Gerald Liddell
Make it two weeks in a row for the Detroit Mercy big man. Liddell has made his mark on every game he has played for the Titans. He has only played four games and has already been a nominee for two straight weeks for the Player of the Week. In a win over Tulsa, the big man scored 27 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Then in the second game of the week, a game the Titans lost, Liddell scored 13 points to go along with 18 rebounds. The big man had six blocks in two games for the Titans as well. He is 2 for 2 on being nominated. Will he make it 3 for 3 next week?
Jordan Dingle
The Ivy League finally makes its way to the Player of the Week list. Penn is one of the better teams in the Ivy and Dingle has been one of the better players in the Ivy for a long time. He is a great shooter and can put points on the board quickly. To open the week the guard scored 25 points with 9 rebounds and 4 assists. The Quakers may have lost to Villanova, but Dingle was fantastic. In the final game of the week, a win over Temple, Dingle had his best game of the young season. He scored 30 points to go with 4 rebounds and 6 assists. He had a great week and will likely find himself on this list more times this year.
RayJ Dennis
Toledo was a team that I had high hopes for, and they have not lived up to the lofty expectations put on them this season. The Rockets have gotten it corrected over the last few weeks and Dennis is playing at an extremely high level. The point guard is a stat sheet stuffer and a big week in two wins for Toledo. In a win over Northern Iowa, the guard had 21 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists. In the final game of the week, a one-point win over Canisius, Dennis scored 29 points to go with 9 rebounds and 6 assists. The guard stuffed the stat sheet this week.
Antoine Davis
It was just a matter of time until the premier scorer in the Mid Major ranks found himself on this list. Davis is a guy who has been known to put up huge scoring games over his career. He can score 30 in his sleep and makes scoring look easy. In a win over Tulsa, the dynamic guard scored 23 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Then in the second game, which was an overtime loss to Charlotte, Davis had one of his games when he went crazy. He scored 36 points and went 10-17 from three. Oh yeah, did we mention Davis is a volume shooter, even with high volume 10-17 from three is impressive and it just might win him the award this week.
Ja’Monta Black
Yet another Northwestern State Demon to make the list. This is the second week in a row that Northwestern State has had a player represented on the list for Player of the Week. This also marks the third game in a row that a Demon guard has had a 30-point game. Black and the Demons only played one game this week and he made the most of it. He scored 31 points in a 19-point win against Louisiana-Monroe. Northwestern State is one of most surprising teams in the country early on in the year and it is because of their guard play.
Zeke Mayo
We all remember how good South Dakota State was last year and how good their offense was. Mayo was a huge part of that as he started at point guard as a freshman of the Jackrabbits. This year due to some players leaving for South Dakota State things are not going as well as they have been, but Mayo is still producing at a high clip. In an early week loss to Montana, the guard scored 11 points with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Then in the second game of the week, which was a win against Eastern Washington, Mayo scored 30 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Mayo has adjusted nicely to having to be the main scoring option for the Jackrabbits.
Ben Sheppard
The Belmont guard is one of the premier scorers in the Missouri Valley Conference and the Bruins go as their star guard goes. Sheppard is relied on to do so much for the Belmont offense and he rarely misses a beat for them. In the first action for the Bruins this week Sheppard scored 16 points with 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Then in the final action fo the week, a loss against Middle Tennessee the guard scored 33 points with 4 rebounds. Even in games where the star is scoring 30 points, the Bruins are still struggling to win games. Sheppard needs to keep it up for Belmont to be successful.
Michael Moreno
Normally I would exclude a player like Moreno because he did all of his scoring against a non-division 1 opponent, but it was how the Eastern Kentucky forward arrived at his 35-point scoring outburst. To recap in a Wednesday game against Tennessee the forward only managed 6 points but had 8 rebounds to go with that. Then in a Saturday night affair with Boyce, a game in which the Colonels scored 140 points the forward scored 35 of them when he made 11 threes out of 22 attempts. Eastern Kentucky shoots a ton of threes and Moreno takes about 80% of his overall shots from three. Making 11 of them is impressive, I just wish it would have happened against a Division 1 opponent.
Dayvion McKnight
Western Kentucky is another team who only played one game this week, but when they did take the floor the Hilltopper point guard took his play to another level. McKnight has always been relied on as the guy for head coach Rick Stansbury but in a close game win against Wright State the guard had 32 points to go along with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. He is a great defensive player as well as an offensive player. He should find himself on this list more than once.
Max Abmas
The point guard for Oral Roberts put himself and his team on the map during the magical run to the Sweet 16 in the 2020-2021 NCAA tournament. Everyone then saw the ability of Abmas to score and his ability to carry the team. He is doing that again this year, but he had yet to really make a mark on the individual scoring column until this week. The Golden Eagles only played one game, it was a win over Central Arkansas, and in that game, Abmas scored 31 points to go along with 2 rebounds and 5 assists. He is playing at a Summit League Player of the Year level.
Samir Stewart
What a year it has been for Stewart and his Manhattan Jaspers teammates. They are playing for a coach that just took the job a few days before the season and saw the preseason MAAC player of the year transfer. That has not stopped Stewart from producing at a high level. Manhattan is overmatched most nights and in the first game, a loss to Providence the guard scored 17 points to go with 5 assists. To close out the week the Jaspers played Bryant and while they lost it was one of the best displays of basketball, I have seen this year and it may not be topped. Stewart scored 35 points with 3 rebounds and 5 assists. The guard has never been known for his scoring, but he put it all together for one day to try and lead his team to a victory.
Jameer Nelson Jr
The Delaware Blue Hens have an NBA player’s son, and that player is one of the better guards in the Colonial Athletic Association and much like his father is a dynamic scorer. Nelson Jr started off the week with a win over Delaware State with 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. That is a great game against a rival. Even if that rival is Delaware State. Coming off of his fantastic performance against Delaware State the guard scored 30 points with 2 rebounds and 2 assists in a win over Siena. Nelson is on pace for his best season as a Blue Hen in his final season.
Josh Cohen
Saint Francis Pa was my pick to win the Northeast conference and it was in large part due to Cohen and his ability to carry the team. He has done that for the majority of this year and is the first player this season to have multiple 40-point games. Even though the Red Flash is not playing very well right now Cohen has been showing out. In the first game of the week against a non-division 1 opponent, the big man scored 14 points with 12 rebounds. It was the final game of the week both for Saint Francis and figuratively a loss to Hawaii, but the St Francis big man had 40 points and 9 rebounds. He is one of the last true back-to-the-basket dominant centers in the game and that alone should be celebrated.
Kamaka Hepa
Hepa is originally from Barrow, Alaska which makes complete sense that he would want to finish his college career in Hawaii. The Hawaii big man is a former five-star recruit who has never lived up to the lofty expectations put on him. Hepa has found a home in Hawaii, and he had one of the better big-man battles of recent memory in his most recent game. In a loss against UNLV, the big man scored 15 points with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. He was able to follow that up with the best game of his college career when he scored 30 points, with 14 rebounds and 2 assists. That was in a win against St Francis PA when he was going up against Cohen. Hepa has turned into a very dynamic scorer, but he doesn’t usually get a ton of shots in the offense. This may be the only time that Hepa ever gets anywhere close to 30 again this year.
Trevor Lakes
Lakes started his career at the University of Indianapolis, and when he was there, he got the reputation of being one of the best shooters in the country. Some said he was the best shooter they had ever seen at any level. Then he transferred to Nebraska for two seasons but injuries played their part and he didn’t play much in Lincoln. He has now found a home as a Southern Indiana Screaming Eagle, and he is showing why he was so coveted by Nebraska as he is still a great shooter and is getting the minutes for it to count. In the first game of the week in a win over a non-Division 1 team, Lakes scored 29 points to go with 9 rebounds and 2 assists. Then in the final game of the week, the Screaming Eagles forward scored 15 points to go along with 12 rebounds. It was his first double-double of the season.
Trey Townsend
I had very high hopes for Oakland this year and thought they would be a contender in the Horizon League but right now the Golden Grizzlies are a bad basketball team who has a lot to fix. One of the very few bright spots for them has been Townsend who is leading the team in scoring and picking up most of the scoring load for Oakland every night. In his one matchup this week the sophomore wing scored 29 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Oakland got beat by 30 but Townsend had a great game and continues to be the lone bright spot for the Golden Eagles.
That does it for the Mid Major nominations. Who is this weeks winner?