NCAA Basketball: Clarence Daniels II and Isaiah Wong among Players of the Week

Power Conference nominees

Drew Timme

It was only a matter of time until the most polarizing player in all of NCAA Basketball made his way to the list right?  Gonzaga is one of the premier programs in all of college basketball and Timme is the best player on one of the best teams in the country. The big man had one of the best games of his career in a close win against Kent State. Timme scored 29 points to go along with 17 rebounds. He added 2 blocks onto that stat line. The big man was not done yet and had a great game against their bitter rivals the Washington Huskies. In a win over Washington, he scored 22 points with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Timme had a great week as he has so many times over his career. Will it be enough to win the award this week?

Terquavian Smith

The sophomore guard from NC State has shown why he was so highly recruited. He is an elite scorer and can score in a wide variety of ways. He is fast, shoots the ball well from deep and when he is scoring and passing, he makes offense come easy for the Wolfpack. Smith had the best week he has had in his short college career. In a win against Coppin State, he scored 33 points with 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Then to close out the week in a loss against Miami he had 19 points with 4 rebounds and 7 assists. Smith is likely going to find himself on a lot of NBA draft boards at the end of the year so enjoy him now NC State fans.

Zach Edey

When you are 7’4” and close to 300 pounds you should dominate the game of Basketball. Edey dominates the game every time he steps on the floor for Purdue. Two weeks in a row for Edey being nominated for the Player of the Week. It is not hard to see why Edey dominates games other than his size. He runs the floor really well and rarely leaves the floor this season. In a win over Hofstra the big man scored 23 points and 18 rebounds. In an Overtime win at Nebraska Edey didn’t score as many points only 10 but did have a ton of rebounds and finished with 17 on the day. He is the frontrunner for the National Player of the Year.

Trayce Jackson-Davis

Trayce Jackson-Davis is one of the best big men in the country and it’s because you know exactly what you are going to get every single night. He is going to score, rebound, and pass the ball well. He is a matchup nightmare for everyone on the floor and when he plays Indiana is so much better. The big man started off the week in a win over Nebraska with a triple-double. It was the third triple-double in Indiana history which is an impressive feat on its own given the storied history of that program. In a win over Nebraska, the big man had 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. He added on 3 blocks. Indiana was actively trying to get him the assists as they were up big and could afford to do that. In the last game of the week, a matchup with Arizona in Vegas, the Indiana big man scored 11 points with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. If not for the Triple Double the Hoosier star would not have made this list.

Isaiah Wong

Miami is a sleeper pick to win the National Title they have a loaded starting five and there is no one on their starting five better than Wong. The point guard had an incredible week and with this week has put himself right in the mix for the ACC player of the year. Miami and Wong were also part of one of the best games of the year when they beat Cornell 107-105. The guard scored 36 points to go with 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Then in a win against conference foe NC State the point guard followed up his masterful performance with 22 points 5 rebounds and 8 assists. It was a great week for Wong.

Oscar Tshibwe

Finally an appearance by the reigning National Player of the Year. Kentucky only played one game last week because of final exams but the big man made the game count. We all know that Tshibwe can dominate a game on both ends of the floor, he is an elite rebounder and has turned himself into an elite scorer for head coach John Calipari. There are not many big men who are as athletic as the Wildcat big man. In the win over Yale, Tshibwe scored 28 points on 12 rebounds. He added 2 assists and 2 blocks. He was off to a slow start this season but seems to be back to his old self. Kentucky needs their star to be what he was last year.

KJ Williams

I have a feeling that Williams is going to consistently be on this list for the remainder of the season. I said it earlier in the season when he was on the Player of the Year list then that he has made a seamless transition from the Ohio Valley to the SEC conference. Williams is a matchup nightmare for almost every big man in that conference because of the things he can do. The LSU Tigers were another team that only played one game this week and Williams had a good one at the Holiday Hoopsgiving event. In a two-point win over Wake Forest, the big man scored 35 points to go with 10 rebounds. He was hitting shots from all over the floor and is currently on pace for his best season during his time in college.

Jalen Wilson

I am starting to sense a trend within the Power 5 ranks of players who are going to be on this list every week. This is also the second appearance for the Kansas star and if you have followed Kansas at all you would understand why it’s no surprise that Wilson has made multiple appearances on this list. He is extremely skilled and arguably the best wing in the game. He has really stepped up his game now that he is the go-to guy on the offense. In the rivalry game against Missouri, a game that Kansas won, the wing was special. He scored 24 points with 10 rebounds. He dominated the game from the tip and the Tigers had no answer for the Jayhawk wing.

Will Richardson

I have said critical things about Oregon this year and especially the play of Richardson. He is making me eat my words as he was the second player this week to log a triple-double. Oregon still has a ton of flaws but Richardson is showing he is not one of them. He is playing like one of the top guards in the Pac-12 early in the season. Oregon also played one game this week due to finals and the guard had a good one. In a win over Nevada, Richardson had 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists.

That will do it for the nominations for the Power five players. Then who is the winner?