NCAA Basketball: Kendric Davis, Brice Williams among Players of the Week

Mid-Major Nominees for Player of the Week

DeMaree King

The Jacksonville State star had a great week after Christmas. The guard has led his team all season, and it has been a disappointing season by all accounts for the Gamecocks. They made the NCAA tournament last season, won the Atlantic Sun regular season, and performed well against Auburn in the NCAA tournament. King played on the NCAA tournament team and has come back and has been the leader on and off the court for Jacksonville State.

In a non-division 1 game King scored 30 points with 5 assists and 1 rebound. It was a game that Jacksonville State won by 3 points and they needed every single point from King to avoid the embarrassing loss to a nondivision 1 team.

Chris Ledlum

The Harvard star is one of the only players on the list this week who did not score 30 points last week. The Crimson are not as good as they have been in the past years but are better than last year and look like they are one of the four best teams in the Ivy League which means they will qualify for the Ivy League tournament. Ledlum is the star for Harvard and the Crimson run the offense through him. The forward gets a touch on every possession for Harvard. In a one-point win over Maine, the forward scored 27 points with 15 rebounds. He was able to follow that up in a close loss to Princeton with a 22-point and 13-rebound performance.

Isaiah Range

This is the first time a player from the SWAC has been represented on the list for the Player of the Week. Alabama State only played one game last week, but Range earned his spot on this as he had one of the best lines of the week. The SWAC is now into their conference so the buy games for them are over. Range is a microwave and when he gets hot can score quickly. In a win against a nondivision 1 opponent the Alabama State Hornets guard scored 31 points with 7 rebounds.

Leon Ayers III

As we run through the list of players in the mid-major ranks you will see a lot of low-major teams playing a non-division 1 opponent. That is typical this time of year as most of these teams want one last tune-up before they head into conference play. Ayers III had a great game in the lone game of the week against a nondivision 1 opponent. The Bowling Green Falcons star was able to score 30 points with 4 rebounds and 6 assists in the win over Ohio Dominican.

Brice Williams

It has been a great start to the year for the Charlotte 49ers. They play smothering defense and have a dynamic offense that can put up a ton of points quickly. Williams is a starting guard for Charlotte, and he had one of the best weeks any player in the country has had this season. In a win over Middle Tennessee, the guard scored 31 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Then in the second game of the week, a win over Louisiana Tech the guard scored 31 points with 6 rebounds and one assist.

Lots of players have had multiple 30-point games this season, but none have had two in the same week. Williams finished the week 18-23 from the floor, 5 of 9 from deep, and 21-27 from the line. You likely will not see another line like that all season.

Aaron Estrada

This is the third time the Hofstra star has been nominated for the player of the week. Estrada is one of the game’s best pure scorers and his ability to take over a game at any point is what makes the Pride a real threat in the Colonial Athletic. Unfortunately, the guard doesn’t always get much help. Nonetheless, he had a tremendous week with two games played. In a win over Delaware, the guard went for 31 points, with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. It was his third 30-point game of the season. In the second game of the week, a loss to North Carolina A&T, the Hofstra star scored 18 points to go along with 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Estrada didn’t hit a three in the second game which kept his point total lower.

Trey Calvin

Wright State made the NCAA tournament last season on the backs of three of the best scorers the Horizon League has ever seen. Two of those players have left for Power 5 schools and Calvin decided to stay for one last ride as a Raider. Calvin is on pace for his best season at Wright State and had a great game in the first conference game after the break. In a loss against Northern Kentucky, the guard scored 31 points with 2 rebounds and 3 assists. It was a fantastic game for the player likely to finish near the top of the Horizon League in scoring. Calvin is the type of player who can carry Wright State to some wins.

Jahmyl Telfort

The Northeastern Huskies did not start out the year very well but have won 3 of their last five games. Telfort is a huge part of this as he has been playing like the star that Northeastern needs him to be. His star was shining bright last week. In a win over North Carolina A&T, the guard scored 31 points with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. It was the career high in points for the junior guard. In a loss at home to Stony Brook the guard scored 16 points with 5 rebounds and 1 assist. Over his career at Northeastern, when the guard scores 20 points or more the Huskies usually win. They need him to score points to be successful.

Mark Freeman

Freeman currently plays for Morehead State in the Ohio Valley, but his story takes us to the first team he suited up for in college the Tennessee State Tigers. It doesn’t happen very often that a player who transfers gets a chance to come back and play their former team again. That is exactly what happened to Freeman as he led his Morehead State Eagles to a win over Tennessee State.

In that game, the guard scored 30 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. He was the reason that the Eagles won the game. In the second game of the week, the guard scored 18 points with 2 rebounds and 1 assist in a loss to Tennessee-Martin. Freeman is not likely to wind up on this list again, but he had a great game against his former team.

Zeke Mayo

South Dakota State is going to have one of the most prolific offenses in the country every year. It is just how head coach Eric Henderson likes to play. There may not be a better sophomore guard in the country than Mayo either. He may not score consistently like some of the other guards in the country but when he gets going, he can fill it up fast. This is the second appearance for Mayo on the nominations list. In a win over Western Illinois, the guard scored 33 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. In the final game of the week, a win over Saint Thomas the guard only scored 12 points. The guard did contribute 11 rebounds and 5 helpers in that game though. It was a great week for the Jackrabbits guard.

Max Abmas Oral Roberts is playing like the best team in the Summit League and Abmas is ready to take his place as the player of the year. Abmas has been one of the best scorers in the game his entire career in college. He is currently on pace to average over 20 points per game for the third season in a row. This is also the second time that the guard has been featured on this list. In a win over Omaha the guard scored 32 points with 7 assists and 4 rebounds. That is likely one of the best lines you will see in a Summit League game the rest of the season. In a win over Denver the guard scored 17 points to go with 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

Jacob Polakovich

Southern Indiana has two stars on their team and Polakovich was the one player I felt was due for a breakout season this year. He has been a steady player, a load inside, and is the focal point of the offense. Everything has been there for the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles star. He took that and ran with it this week as he had one of the best lines of any player in college basketball and it’s a game that likely won’t be replicated this year by anyone. In a win over SEMO, the big man had 27 points, 26 rebounds, and 5 assists. That is an amazing game that just might win him the award this week. In a loss to Eastern Illinois, he ended up with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

Emoni Bates

Anyone who follows basketball should know all about the Emoni Bates story by now. When he was in High School, he was touted as the next LeBron James, originally committed to Michigan State, then de-committed and went to Memphis for one year. When he went to Memphis he didn’t play as much as he thought, and it was not a good match. He decided to transfer back home and play for Eastern Michigan.

The Eagles do not have a great team and are lucky if they are higher than the top 300 but Bates has been great for them. He is living up to his hype as a high-major player playing for a low mid-major. In a loss to South Carolina, the forward scored 36 points with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Bates is an elite scorer and has been on the NBA radar for a long time, so he is likely headed to the pro circuit after this season.

Jordan Johnson

Only the true college basketball sickos would watch the entire Houston Chrisitan and New Orleans overtime thriller. It was one of the best games of the young season so far. It also had one of the best performances of any player this season. Johnson is a transfer from Denver who has stepped right in and been the best player on the floor for New Orleans.

He has also firmly placed himself in the league player of the year conversation. In the overtime loss to Houston Christian, the guard scored 39 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He was unbelievable as he was 8 of 9 from deep, and 12 of 17 overall from the floor. He was everywhere and made that game even more fun than it already was.

Antoine Davis

Hello old friend, Davis is back on the list again for the fourth time. It is not surprising for one of the nation’s leaders in scoring to be on a list of the top players every single week. The Detroit Mercy Titans are the same old team, they have some talent around their star, but it is still the Davis show and they are going to go as far as he will take them. He is always going to win them some games and is on pace to be one of the top 5 scorers of all time in NCAA Basketball. He should score over 3,000 points in his career.

In a win over Green Bay, the guard scored 24 points with 3 assists and 1 rebound. In a loss to Milwaukee, the guard recorded his third 30-point game in December when he scored 31 points to go along with 1 rebound and 2 assists. What hurts Davis is he does not provide much in the counting stats other than scoring.

Daron Holmes II

The Dayton Flyers finally seem to be hitting their stride after a very disappointing start to the season and their star has been right in the thick of it all for the Flyers. Holmes II has flirted with a spot on this list for a few weeks and he was finally able to crack the list with a fantastic finish to 2022. In a win over Duquesne, the big man scored 22 points with 13 rebounds and 3 assists. It was the game on New Year’s Eve that secured his spot on the list. In a win over Davidson, the guard scored 32 points with 10 rebounds. Holmes II is one of the best big men in the country and doesn’t get enough recognition for it. That needs to change quickly.

Kellen Amos

Central Connecticut State has 3 wins on the season and yet somehow the Blue Devils still seem to be a lot better than last year they are playing closer games and are well-coached. The talent discrepancy is shrinking and the players for CCSU are getting better every game. Amos is never going to be the guy who first comes to mind when game planning for the Blue Devils and that is due to his lack of quality minutes his first two years in the program. The guard is now getting over 30 minutes a night and he is making the most of them.

In a loss to Saint Francis PA, the guard scored 20 points with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. It was the final game that found him on this list. In a win over Saint Francis Brooklyn, the guard scored 36 points and was 6 out of 6 from deep. He was feeling it all night and the Blue Devils made it a point to get him the ball. One other note on Amos is that he is also an elite dunker.

Daryl Banks III

If the name sounds familiar that is because Banks III was the leading scorer for Saint Peter’s last season and had a huge NCAA tournament which led to the Peacocks making the Elite Eight. This season the guard didn’t move far just from New Jersey to Olean, NY to play for Saint Bonaventure. He is once again the biggest offensive threat for the Bonnies, and he was deep into his bag in the latest game for Saint Bonaventure. Banks III scored 31 points in a win over UMass.

Kruz Perrot-Hunt

The set of players on the nominations this week is going to present us with an international flair. There are some players who are non from the United States on this list and it starts with the South Dakota Coyotes star Perrot-Hunt. The New Zealand native had his breakout season in the Summit League last year and is following it up with a great season this year. The guard is one of the best shooters in the country and his play has helped make South Dakota one of the favorites in the Summit League.

In a win over Saint Thomas, the guard scored 19 points with just 1 rebound. In the second game of the week, a win over Western Illinois the guard scored 30 points with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Perrot-Hunt contributes to the game in a variety of ways, but he is a scorer first.

Will Johnston

Another international player as the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros point guard is from Australia. Johnston is one of two players at the guard position for the Vaqueros to put up a ton of points. The transfer from South Georgia Tech has lived up to the billing of being an elite scorer and he is one of the best players in the WAC. He has been close to making the list a few times and it would make sense given he shoots 50% from deep and 50% from the field but it is his ability to score a ton of points without a lot of volume.

In a loss to Utah Tech the guard scored 24 points with 3 rebounds. In the final game of the week on New Year’s Eve, the guard scored 31 points with 4 rebounds and 1 assist. He did have to take a large volume of shots in that game because of some foul trouble by the other players but he can usually do a ton of damage with 10 or fewer shots.

Austin Crowley

Southern Mississippi being 13-2 may be one of the most shocking storylines of the entire season. They are playing fantastic basketball and are winning games that they lost a season ago. They have great guard play led by their star Crowley. The guard is a transfer from Ole Miss where is a role player and has moved right into being one of the premier players in the Sun Belt. Crowley is not usually a guy who is going to go off and score upper 20’s or lower 30’s, he is a consistent 15 to 17 points per game guy but he went off in one of the final games of 2022 to earn himself a spot on this list.

I am excited that Crowley finally had a great performance he is one of my favorite players to watch in the NCAA. The guard led his team to two huge wins this week. In a win over Troy, Crowley scored 17 points to go with 6 rebounds. In the final game, a win over Appalachian State the guard scored 30 points with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. It was a great week for a player during a breakout season.

Brooks Allen

Most people have never watched St Thomas play and that is okay. If you have not watched them play let’s fill you in a little on Tommies basketball. They play an up-tempo heavy three-point attack offense. They play five out on offense and every single player on the floor can shoot. Allen fits that bill as the Senior guard is a good shooter and it was on full display last week. St Thomas is going to be overmatched most nights in the Summit, but they have a ton of guys who can get hot and when that happens, they can beat anyone.

In a loss to South Dakota, the guard scored 17 points with 4 rebounds and 1 assist. It was the second game of the week, a loss against South Dakota State, that Allen scored 30 points with 3 rebounds and 1 assist. It was a great week for a player that most likely none of you have heard of.

Jelly Walker

Hello Old Friend, Walker leads the country in scoring and if I wanted to he could be represented here every week. The UAB guard is one of the best guards in the country. He is one the best pure shooters and scorers in the game and he is under 6 feet tall. He is quick, efficient, and can get in the paint against anyone. I know I just said this about Crowley, but Walker may be my favorite player on any team to watch play basketball. Walker was his normal consistent self, scoring 25 points or more again in both games this week.

Don’t think that because he plays in the Conference USA, he can’t play Walker is one of the hardest players to defend in the country, and when UAB makes the tournament watch out. In a double OT win over UTEP the guard scored 25 points and had an awful shooting night. He was only 2-15 from three and 7-26 from the field. That is what you are going to get with the guard. In the second game, a win over UTSA, Walker came back and showed why he is one of the best guards in the country when he scored 31 points, went 7-12 from deep and 12-21 overall from the floor. Jelly is never down for long.

James Bishop IV

This is the second appearance on the list for Bishop IV. I will admit before this season I didn’t know nearly enough about the guard from George Washington. He is explosive and one of the best players in the Atlantic 10. Even though he doesn’t play on a great team he can light the nets on fire, and he is able to go for 30 every time he steps on the floor. Bishop IV is not a great shooter from deep, but he is great at getting into the paint and he gets fouled a lot. The guard had an unbelievable game in a win over Loyola Chicago. He scored 40 points to go with 7 assists. He made 5 out of 8 from deep and was 12-17 from the floor. He also was 11-12 at the line. In only one game last week Bishop IV made quite an impact.

Demarcus Demonia

Texas A&M University-Commerce is in its first year in Division 1 and they have already had some big wins. They also have one of the best individual players in the Southland conference. Demonia made quite the impression in the Lions’ first-ever Southland Conference game. Now that the Lions are in conference play, they should start winning some more games, they were extremely overmatched in all of the buy games they had to play early on in the season. In a loss to open the week against Texas, the guard only scored 10 points with 2 rebounds. As mentioned in the first game against Southland competition a win over Incarnate Word the guard scored 33 points with 9 rebounds. That was quite the introduction to the new conference.

Kristian Sjolund

I had high hopes for the Portland Pilots as the West Coast Conference play started. Portland showed well in the non-conference but they head into this week having lost four games in a row and two in a row in the West Coast. The Pilots still have the talent to finish in the middle of the pack in the league especially if their Norwegian forward keeps playing as he has been over the last week.

In the first game of the week, the forward only scored 7 points with 7 rebounds. It was a loss to Loyola Marymount. In the final game of the week, a loss to BYU, the forward scored 32 points with 6 rebounds. He won’t win the award because of his poor game against Loyola Marymount but he did score well over half of his team’s points against BYU.

Sion James

Tulane is one of the top teams in the American and James does a lot of good things for the Green Wave. He is a solid defender, rebounder and passer. He rarely turns the ball over and is contributing double-digit points on the year. He does not however usually score in high volumes he is more concerned with getting his teammates involved. In a loss to Cincinnati, the point guard scored 12 points with 3 rebounds and 4 assists. In a huge Green Wave win over Memphis the guard went crazy he scored 30 points to go with 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 blocks. It was one of the best all-around performances of any player in the country this year.

Finally, that is the end of the mid-major nominations for the last week of the year. Who was the winner?