Every college basketball fan knows who the favorites for the Wooden Award are; we all have a grasp of those players before the season begins, and as the games continue, players will either play up to or fall off this list. Better yet, many players will validate their names on the list and separate themselves from the rest of the field. All college basketball fans know that and understand that.
What about the players who helped their teams win games week by week? Let’s focus on those players. We all know about the Wooden Award finalists, but we may not all know about the players who had exceptional weeks and helped their teams win games.
These 10 players had exceptional weeks. Keep in mind, these players may not have had 30-point nights; they have had 20-point games, but were impressive down the stretch in games their team won, which earned them a spot on the list. Another thing to remember is that not every player on this list played on a team that won games. Only games played against Division 1 opponents were considered. The competition is about to pick up for everyone, and that usually means the big-time performances do too.
No. 10 Ethan Roberts- Penn Quakers
Heading into the season, Roberts was already a scorer, but then Penn hired Fran McCaffery, who is one of the best offensive minds in college basketball. Under the new coach, Roberts has been thriving, and he has taken his game to the highest level it has ever been in the Big Five games. Those games are the battle for supremacy in Philadelphia, and winning them is a massive deal for the schools participating.
Roberts scored 61 points with 13 rebounds in two games. The scoring output by Roberts, who scored from all three levels, is precisely what the Quakers needed to start 2-0 in the Big 5. The guard looks like the best player in the Ivy League.
No. 9 Thomas Dowd- Troy Trojans
The Trojans had quite a week in California. Troy took San Diego State to double overtime and won the game. Then two nights later, the Trojans traveled to USC and took the Trojans to double overtime again before losing on a buzzer-beater. Dowd was a huge factor in both of those games. In the win, the big man scored 25 points with 19 rebounds.
The game against USC wasn’t as good a performance, but Dowd still scored 19 points with 12 rebounds. Double-doubles are one thing, but when you can get them against that level of competition, on the road, that is showing the country something.
No. 8 Braden Frager- Nebraska Cornhuskers
There wasn’t much known about Frager coming into the season. He was a redshirt last year, but head coach Fred Hoiberg would tell anyone who would listen how good his Freshman was and how big of an impact he was going to make. That was never more prevalent this week when the Huskers won the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. He scored 36 total points in two games and shot 70% from inside the arc in the two games.
Frager stepped up huge against New Mexico when the Lobos cut the game to 4 points. Frager stepped up, started getting steals, getting to the rim, making free throws, and making some giant threes to seal the game. Against Kansas State, the forward was at it again and was clutch when the Huskers relinquished the lead. He grabbed some huge rebounds and made a huge three to give Nebraska back the lead, which eventually led to a win. This won’t be the last time Frager is on this list.
No. 7 Jaden Bradley- Arizona Wildcats
Bradley didn’t have a line that would jump out at anyone against UConn, but his clutch baskets down the stretch in a game where offense was at a premium were unbelievable. Bradley scored 21 points in Gampel against a top-3 team and helped his Wildcats get a win. He was huge down the stretch and won the game for the Wildcats when no one else was doing anything.
It wasn’t just his ability on the offensive end of the floor; even though he scored 21 points and made the game-deciding basket, it was his effort on the defensive end that went unnoticed. Bradley took the UConn point guard out of the game, making running offense extremely hard. Arizona is excellent, and its point guard is the team's leader on both ends of the floor. Arizona needs Bradley to play well to be successful.
No. 6 David Coit- Maryland Terrapins
Coit is in his first year in the Maryland program and comes to College Park after a rough year at Kansas. Initially, it didn’t look like the guard was going to be anything more than a role player, and that may ultimately be what he ends up as, but right now, with the sheer number of injuries Maryland has, Coit needs to score points, and score points he did.
The Terrapins guard scored 41 points in his only game this week. The game was a 95-90 win over Mount St. Mary’s in Overtime. Given the score, the Terrapins needed every point that Coit was going to give them. The Terrapins are going to look a lot different when they get their injured players back, and roles will change, but right now, enjoy the ride with Coit.
No. 5 MJ Collins Jr.- Utah State Aggies
Collins is an under-the-radar player, not because he isn’t a good player, but because he has never scored double digits in a single season in his three previous seasons. The guard is a transfer from Vanderbilt who wanted to go somewhere where he would be an integral part of the offense and could show his ability to shoot and score. His ability to score was on full display in the Charleston Classic.
The Aggies won their bracket of the Charleston Classic, and Collins is a huge reason why. In the first game against Tulane, the guard scored 21 points with five assists. That is a nice output, but it was the championship game in which Collins Jr. scored 40 points, a record for the Charleston Classic. In all, the guard shot 70% from the floor, scored 61 points, and made 11 threes. That is quite a weekend.
No. 4 BJ Edwards- SMU Mustangs
Anytime a player records a triple-double, they are going to get recognized in the national awards, as they rightfully should. However, when you record as rare a triple-double as Edwards did, most players deserve all of that recognition. The guard scored 24 points with 13 rebounds and five assists. You said he got a triple-double? He did get a triple-double, and it was scarce.
Edwards recorded 10 steals. The 10 steals got the guard the triple-double. There isn’t much data to support how rare the 10 steals for a triple-double is, but it has been a while since I have seen one. Edwards is in the midst of the best year of his career. He has always been a quality defender, but now that he has added scoring, he has a shot to be one of the best players in the ACC.
No. 3 Labaron Philon- Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama is one of the best offensive teams in the country, and Philon is the best player on that team. The Crimson Tide gets up and down the floor, shoots a ton of threes, gets inside, and shoots a bunch of free throws. Every Alabama player needs to be able to run the floor and shoot from deep, but there have been few players better at doing that this year than Philon. His skills were on full display in the win over the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Philon scored 24 points and made clutch shot after clutch shot against Illinois. The guard was the difference between winning and losing. Philon entered the game with a 61% free-throw percentage and went 3-4 against Illinois. He shot 50% from deep and 50% from the field, and had a 5-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Alabama is going to need its star to play at that level the rest of the year.
No. 2 Chad Baker-Mazara - USC Trojans
Baker-Mazara is one of the oldest players in the country and has played in a ton of huge games. The USC guard was a star for Auburn last year and has been playing at that level in his short time in LA to start the year. He has a knack for hitting huge shots, but it is still hard to fathom that the win over Troy was his career-best game.
The guard scored 34 points, with nine rebounds and two assists. That is already a ton of points, but Baker-Mazara single-handedly brought USC back in the game against Troy, forcing the first OT, then hit some big baskets to send the game to the second OT. It is clear that the guard is the star for the Trojans and will be relied on to win many games as the year goes on.
No. 1 PJ Haggerty- Kansas State Wildcats
Let’s just get one thing clear: Haggerty can and likely will be one of the top players in the game every week. Haggerty is an elite scorer who has already scored 30 points multiple times and is virtually unguardable most of the time. Haggerty and his skills were on full display in the Hall of Fame Classic.
The guard opened the week with a 31-point effort in a comeback win against Tulsa. The guard brought the Wildcats from a 5-point deficit late in the game by making huge shots. In the first game of the Hall of Fame Classic, he scored 37 points with seven rebounds and six assists. The Wildcats won that game by 20. In the championship game, Haggerty scored 27 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. The majority of that output came after halftime, when Kansas State was trying to overcome the 10-point deficit. Haggerty is in the running for player of the year and makes Kansas State a threat to beat anyone every night they play.