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ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – Detroit guard Antoine Davis is the
Wayman
Tisdale National Freshman of the Week for games ending the week
of Jan. 6. Davis was selected by CBSSports.com's Matt Norlander,
in partnership with the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
 Norlander's
popular weekly freshman watch column will continue to feature nation's
the top freshmen each week in addition to the national player of
the week. Later in the season, the USBWA will release a midseason
watch list before naming finalists for the award. This season marks
the first time a weekly national freshman of the week will be selected
and, each Tuesday through Feb. 26, a standout first-year player
will be chosen for the honor.
Norlander writes of the Birmingham, Ala., product, "This is our
easiest pick of the season to date. Davis has been dominating in
relative obscurity, but he's unquestionably one of the best freshmen
in college hoops. He's our Freshman of the Week in light of averaging
40.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in his past two games last week, highlighted
by 48 points against preseason Horizon League favorite Wright State.
He followed that up with 33 against Northern Kentucky, maybe the
second-best team in the conference."
"Davis is the son of Mike Davis, the coach at Detroit. This is
all turning into one pretty sweet story."
Davis' 48 points against Wright State was one short of Detroit's
program record, but it came with a 10-of-15 shooting performance
on three-pointers that did set a school record for made treys. The
48 points also ranks among the highest scoring performances by a
freshman in Division I in the past 15 years, Norlander cites. Davis
is second in the country in scoring average and has made more three-pointers
(81) than anyone in college basketball and is on pace to break the
national freshman record (122) set by Stephen Curry in the 2006-07
season. Davis has scored 30 points in seven of the Titans' 16 games.
The late Wayman Tisdale was a three-time USBWA All-American
at the University of Oklahoma. Following a stint on the 1984 U.S.
Olympic basketball team, he played 12 seasons in the NBA before
retiring in 1997 to focus on a blossoming jazz music career. In
March 2007, he was diagnosed with cancer and, following a courageous
and difficult battle that included the amputation of his right leg
in 2008, he passed away in May 2009.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in
1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers.
With more than 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 its award programs, contact executive director Joe Mitch at
314-795-6821.
2018-19 Wayman Tisdale National Freshmen of the Week
• Week ending Dec. 2: Zion Williamson, Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 9: RJ Barrett, Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 16: Wynston Tabbs, Boston College (Atlantic Coast Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 23: Mac McClung, Georgetown (Big East Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 30: Tyler Herro, Kentucky (Southeastern Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 6: Antoine Davis, Detroit (Horizon League)
• Week ending Jan. 13: Jaylen Gardner, East Carolina (American Athletic Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 20: Zion Williamson, Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 27: Zion Williamson, Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 3: Lamine Diane, Cal State Northridge (Big West Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 10: Devon Dotson, Kansas (Big 12 Conference)1
• Week ending Feb. 17: Jalen Pickett, Siena (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 24: RJ Barrett, Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
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