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ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association
has selected Eastern Washington's Jacob Wiley as
its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games
ending the week of Sunday, Feb. 5. The USBWA's weekly honor
is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
As the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, Wiley 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.
Wiley, a 6-7 senior graduate transfer forward from Newport, Wash.,
scored 83 points in home wins over Sacramento State and Portland
State last week. In the two victories, he also averaged 14.5 rebounds,
two assists and two blocks while shooting 70 percent from the field
(32-for-46) and 76 percent from the free-throw line (19-of-25).
Wiley made history in last Saturday’s 130-124 triple-overtime
win over Portland State when he scored a school-record 45 points.
His teammate, Bogdan Bliznyuk would equal the record with 45 points
of his own in the game.
Eastern Washington’s 130 points set a new Big Sky Conference
record for points scored by a single team in a game and the 254
total points between PSU and EWU set another league record for most
points by two teams. Wiley and Bliznyuk’s 45 points was the first
time in Big Sky and that two players have scored at least 45 points
in a game.
Last Thursday, Wiley had what was then a career-high 38 points
on 14-of-23 from the field with 12 rebounds in a 77-72 win over
Sacramento State. For the season, he has scored in double figures
in all but two of EWU’s 24 games and has six double-doubles.
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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