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ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association
has selected the Villanova guard Josh Hart as its Oscar Robertson
National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday,
Dec. 11. The USBWA's weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon
College Basketball Yearbook.
As the Big East Conference Player of the Week, Hart 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. This is the eighth season that the USBWA has selected
a national player of the week.
Hart, a 6-5-1/2 senior from Silver Spring, Md., averaged 29 points
and 9.5 rebounds in a 2-0 week that included a 37-point effort to
help the top-ranked defending national champions beat Notre Dame,
74-66. The Big East's preseason player of the year also grabbed
a team-high 11 rebounds and added four assists on the afternoon.
He was 14-of-14 from the foul line. Earlier in the week, Hart scored
21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in an 89-79 win against city
rival La Salle. For the week, Hart shot 56.3 percent from the floor
and 62.5 percent from 3-point range.
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 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 Joe Mitch
at 314-795-6821.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive
college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 36th
season. Blue Ribbon – long-known as "The Bible of College Basketball"
– gives its readers the most thorough, up-to-date and timely evaluations
of every Division I team in the country. For more information about
Blue Ribbon Yearbooks, visit
blueribbonyearbookonline.com.
2016-17 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
• Week ending Dec. 11: Josh Hart, Villanova (Big East Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 18: Malik Monk, Kentucky (Southeastern Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 25: Quentin Snider, Louisville (Atlantic Coast Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 1: Dillon Brooks, Oregon (Pac-12 Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 8: Ryan Taylor, Marshall (Conference USA)
• Week ending Jan. 15: Quincy McKnight, Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 22: Lauri Markkanen, Arizona (Pac-12 Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 29: Tim Cline, Richmond (Atlantic 10 Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 5: Jacob Wiley, Eastern Washington (Big Sky Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 12: Bonzie Coles, Notre Dame (Atlantic Coast Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 19: Mike Daum, South Dakota State (The Summitt League)
• Week ending Feb. 26: Elijah Bryant, BYU (West Coast Conference)
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