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ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Butler
forward Kelan Martin as its Oscar Robertson National Player of
the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Dec. 31. The
USBWA's weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College
Basketball Yearbook. As the Big East Conference Player of
the Week, Martin was nominated for the weekly award, and then
chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from
a list of Division I conference players of the week. This is the
ninth season that the USBWA has selected a national player of
the week. A 6-7 senior forward from Louisville, Ky.,
Martin averaged 25.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in
leading the Bulldogs to a 2-0 week, including a win over No. 1
Villanova and a win at Georgetown. Martin shot 53 percent
from the field for the week, including 55.6 percent from 3-point
range and 80 percent from the foul line. In a 91-89
double-overtime win at Georgetown last Wednesday, Martin scored
27 points, including the game-winner with 2.6 seconds left in
the second overtime. He had tied the game previously by hitting
two free throws in the final minute. He followed that up
Saturday with a team-high 24 points and eight rebounds in a
101-93 win over Villanova, keyed by a 4-for-4 performance from
three-point range. Martin scored nine points over the final
5:05. Martin now has nine 20-point games on the season
and leads Butler with a 18.9-point scoring average and 7.1
rebounds per game. 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 37th
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.
2017-18 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
• Week ending Dec. 3: Devonté Graham, Kansas (Big 12 Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 10: Shannon Evans II, Arizona State (Pac-12 Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 17: Trae Young, Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 24: Trae Young, Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 31: Kelan Martin, Butler (Big East Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 7: Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State (Big Ten Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 14: Chandler Hutchison, Boise State (Mountain West Conference) and Luwane Pipkins, Massachusetts (Atlantic 10 Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 21: Jock Landale, St. Mary's (West Coast Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 28: Kevin Knox, Kentucky (Southeastern Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 4: Noah Dickerson, Washington (Pac-12 Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 11: Shamorie Ponds, St. John's (Big East Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 18: Matt Mobley, St. Bonaventure (Atlantic 10 Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 25: Carsen Edwards, Purdue (Big Ten Conference)
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