INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 22.
As the Horizon League Player of the Week for a record 12th time in his career, Davis was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week. Once again, the USBWA will select a Division I men's National Player of the Week each Tuesday throughout the season. The USBWA has named Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week since the 2009-10 season. Davis is the second Horizon League player to earn the weekly award, joining Kay Felder of Oakland the week of Dec. 20, 2015.
The 6-1 fifth-year graduate senior guard from Birmingham, Ala., scored 42 points in an 89-77 win over IUPUI to pass Portland State's Freeman Williams (3,249 points from 1974-78) and become the second all-time leading scorer in Division I college basketball history. He trails just Pete Maravich (3,667) now.
The 42 points marked his second straight 40-point game and tied a career high. The nation's leading scorer (26.4) was 16-of-30 from the field and 8-of-18 from three with five assists in his one game last week.
Davis, the Horizon League Co-Player of the Year last season, is among the 50 players named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List last week.
Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson. It is the nation's oldest award and the only one named after a former player.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership. The winner of the award will announced at the 2023 Men's Final Four in Houston with the formal presentation to follow at the annual USBWA Awards Luncheon hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and the Oscar Robertson Trophy, contact executive director Malcolm Moran at 814-574-1485.