The Associated Press announced its national players of the week in men’s and women’s basketball for Week 11 of the season. On the men’s basketball side:
Coit averaged 36.5 points in two games last week, including an XFINITY Center-record 43 points in a 96-73 win over Penn State. The 5-foot-11 guard nicknamed “Diggy” tied a school record with nine 3-pointers and became the first Maryland player since Gene Shue in 1952-53 to have multiple 40-point games in a season.
Coit had 30 points in the first half against the Nittany Lions and became the first Maryland player since Nick Caner-Medley in 2006 to have consecutive 30-point games after scoring 30 in a loss to Southern California. Coit shot 23 of 41 from the field and 13 of 26 from 3-point range in the two games.
Runner-up
Cameron Boozer, Duke. The 6-9 freshman averaged 25.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals, while shooting 63.6% from the field in road wins over the ACC’s Bay Area schools. Boozer finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and three assists in No. 5 Duke’s 71-56 victory at California. He followed with 30 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, four steals and a blocked shot in an 80-50 win over Stanford.
Boozer was the AP player of the week in Week 5 of the season.
Honorable mention
JT Toppin, No. 12 Texas Tech; John Blackwell, Wisconsin; Eric Pratt, Stony Brook.
Keep an eye on
Delrecco Gillespie, Kent State. The 6-8 forward averaged 8.1 points per game last season, but has become one of the nation’s best scorers this year. Gillespie has increased his scoring average to 19.8 points per game this season while grabbing 12.6 rebounds. He had 29 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Toledo last week, then finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a win against Buffalo. Kent State is a game behind No. 25 Miami (Ohio) in the Mid-American Conference and hosts the RedHawks on Tuesday.
And on the women’s side:
The senior forward had 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the Hawkeyes’ win over then-No. 15 Michigan State to keep the team unbeaten in Big Ten play. It was her fourth 20-plus point performance of the season. She had 18 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists in a win over Oregon earlier in the week. Stuelke shot over 65% from the field in the two wins.
Runner-up
Dominique Darius, Syracuse. The graduate guard scored 19 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer, in Syracuse’s triple-overtime victory over California, marking the first triple OT game in the conference since 2019. She followed that up with a career-high 26-point effort in a win over Stanford where she made all 12 of her free throw attempts.
Honorable mention
Imari Berry, No. 9 Louisville; Dani Carnegie, Georgia; Avery Koenen, North Dakota State.
Keep an eye on
Western Illinois senior forward Mia Nicastro averaged 30.5 points, 13 rebounds and 4.5 steals in wins over Eastern Illinois and Little Rock. She had 28 points, going 9-for-14 from the field and hitting all nine of her free throw attempts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Read the full article here
