NCAA Basketball: Xavier and UMBC Headline latest Players of the Week
By Bryan Mauro
![Xavier Musketeers guard Quincy Olivari (8) reacts after making a 3-point shot in the second half of Xavier Musketeers guard Quincy Olivari (8) reacts after making a 3-point shot in the second half of](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4352,h_2448,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/184/01hnyf56bcjt11kd8kev.jpg)
Dion Brown - UMBC Retrievers
Admittedly I have not watched much of the Retrievers guard play basketball but he has mine and the rest of the America East’s attention. Brown is in the middle of a breakout year but plays for a team that isn’t doing much on a national scale and are not doing much in the America East but his 18 points per game average heading into this week shows that he may not be getting near the attention he deserves. The guard shoots a very high percentage from the floor and is a fantastic rebounder for a player under 6’4.” Brown is going to be a star in the America East before his career is over.
In a close loss to Bryant, the guard had 31 points on 13-20 shooting including 3-5 from deep. The guard is a fantastic rebounder and was able to secure 13 rebounds and 3 assists. Brown was able to follow that performance up nicely in a win over Albany, a game that saw UMBC score 114 points in regulation, the guard scored 29 points on 11-20 shooting including 1-2 from the three-point line. The guard got to the line a lot in that game going 6-8 from the line. Brown recorded another double-double with 12 rebounds and 3 assists. Brown averaged 30 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 3 assists over the week. That type of week is going to earn most guys the player of the week.
Brown has now put himself on my radar and I look forward to seeing what he can do the rest of the way. He is a good scorer and he is going to get most every look for the Retrievers when it is crunch time and he is likely going to deliver when they need them most. UMBC is not having a great year but through it all the next potential America East star is born. Congratulations to Dion and the UMBC program.