NCAA Basketball: Western Illinois and Gonzaga represent Players of the Week

Mid Major Player of the Week – Trenton Massner (Western Illinois)

The Leathernecks have won five in a row and currently sit in second place in the Summit League. Head coach Rob Jeter is on pace to have his best season at Western Illinois and is also going to be responsible for one of the best seasons in Western Illinois history. The Leathernecks have their senior point guard to thank for a lot of their success this year and it is evident that they are going to go as far as their star player takes them.

Massner started his career at Northwestern State, before deciding to transfer to Western Illinois last season.  It was the best decision that Massner has ever made in his basketball career. Massner has already had an eventful year and has appeared as a nominee on these rankings once. That was in the first two weeks of the season when he recorded a triple-double on opening night. That was a great week but this week he had the best week of his career. It all started with a win over North Dakota when the senior scored 46 points on 16-21 shooting. He made 9 threes in that game. The 46 points were his career high and one of the highest-scoring outputs by any player this season.

In the second game of the week, a win over South Dakota, the guard scored 23 points, made 4 threes, and added 6 rebounds and 6 assists. That was a great game but it was the third game of the week that helped him secure this award. In a win over South Dakota State, the guard scored 30 points with 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Not only did he score 46 points in the first game of the week but he closed with a 30-point gem where he impacted the game from everywhere.

Massner may never have had a week like that, but he has had plenty of games in his past that should have put him on every fans radar. Last season he sparked an offense and a comeback to beat Nebraska in Lincoln, which was the best win Western Illinois has ever had. He has already had one triple-double and flirted with a lot more. He has had multiple 25 or more scoring games this year and while he takes a large volume of shots he is efficient on the offensive end. Massner is never going to get the notoriety or the recognition for being the best player in the Summit League but if I had a vote for Conference Player of the Year in the Summit, Massner would get my vote.