INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has named five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week for games of the week ending Sunday, Dec. 3.
For the 2023-24 season, the USBWA has expanded its national player of the week program that has been affiliated with the Oscar Robertson Trophy since the 2009-10 season. In past seasons, the USBWA has recognized just one player each week.
Each Tuesday during the regular season, designated USBWA board members will select five standouts from the 32 Division I conference players of the week to be recognized.
Following are the five players selected for performance this past week:
Boo Buie, Northwestern (Big Ten Conference)
Buie averaged 27.0 points, 8.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game as Northwestern went 2-0 on the week. He posted 31 points, nine assists, four rebounds and two steals with no turnovers in a 92-88 overtime win over then-No. 1 Purdue to open Big Ten play. He became the only top-conference player in the country to post at least 31 points and nine assists with no turnovers in a game since at least 2010. Buie is the first Big Ten player with at least 30 points and nine assists in a game since Denzel Valentine had 30 and 13 for Michigan State against Indiana on Feb. 14, 2016. Earlier in the week, the Albany, N.Y., product scored 23 points and added seven assists, two rebounds and one steal in an 89-67 win over Northern Illinois.
Boogie Ellis, USC (Pac-12 Conference)
Ellis torched the nets in USC's two games averaging 28.0 points on 62 percent shooting (21-of-34), including 12-of-19 behind the arc (63 percent), to go along with 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals. He hit a career-high and Pac-12 season-high eight three-pointers en route to 28 points in 27 minutes during Wednesday's 106-78 rout of Eastern Washington. Ellis also scored 28 points and added seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals in an 89-76 loss to No. 11 Gonzaga, going 12-of-21 from the field with four three-pointers.
Baylor Scheierman, Creighton (Big East Conference)
Scheierman averaged 22.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in a 2-0 week away from home. He started with 21 points and eight rebounds in a 79-65 victory over Oklahoma State in the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle and finished by scoring 20 of his game-high 24 points in the first half of an 89-60 win at Nebraska. Scheierman is the nation’s only player with three or more three-pointers in every game this season. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Shahada Wells, McNeese (Southland Conference)
Wells dominated his competition this week en route to a 2-0 record with the Cowboys. He averaged 30.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals across two games. McNeese defeated UAB, 81-60, with Wells going off for 36 points, six boards and two assists. Wells, a graduate transfer from Amarillo, Texas, followed that up with another 25-point outing, adding eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals in McNeese's 91-80 win over UT-Martin. He was 24-for-36 (67 percent) from the field, including going 5-for-10 from three point range, and 8-for-10 at the free throw line.
Trazarien White, UNCW (Coastal Athletic Association)
White’s career-best 27-point performance Saturday powered UNCW to an 80-73 win over No. 12 Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The junior from Mansfield, Texas, was 9-for-16 from the floor and added 10 rebounds to secure the Seahawks’ second win over a ranked opponent in program history. White averaged a double-double for the week with 20.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in games against East Carolina and Kentucky.
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 be announced at the 2024 Men's Final Four in Glendale, Ariz., 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 800 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.
2023-24 USBWA Men's Weekly Honors
• Week ending Nov. 12: Armando Bacot, North Carolina; Tucker DeVries, Drake; Terrence Edwards, James Madison; Dillon Jones, Weber State; Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor.
• Week ending Nov. 19: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas; Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State; Quinten Post, Boston College; Kyle Rode, Liberty; Marcus Tsohonis, Long Beach State.
• Week ending Nov. 26: Zach Edey, Purdue; Kevin McCullar Jr., Kansas; Isaiah Stevens, Colorado State; Tyler Thomas, Hofstra; Jamir Watkins, Florida State.
• Week ending Dec. 3: Boo Buie Northwestern; Boogie Ellis, USC; Baylor Scheierman, Creighton; Shahada Wells, McNeese; Trazarien White, UNCW.