The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Kansas center Jeff Withey as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending Sunday, Feb. 12. The USBWA's weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and will be handed out each Tuesday this season.
As the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, Withey 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.
Withey, a 7-0 junior from San Diego, Calif., began the week with a career-best 25 points to go along with five rebounds and three blocks in a 68-54 win at No. 8 Baylor. He made 8-of-10 shots from the floor in the game.
He then grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in an 81-66 win over Oklahoma State while scoring 18 points and adding seven blocks. Withey is just the second Big 12 player to collect at least 20 rebounds in a game this season. For the week, Withey shot 60.9 percent from the field, and .789 from the free-throw line.
Withey is the second Kansas player to be named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week this season. Thomas Robinson earned the honor back during the week of Dec. 11, 2011.
This is the third season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week. The weekly Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week will be considered for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, which will be presented to the National Player of the Year on March 30.
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 of the USBWA. The winner of the 2012 Oscar Robertson Trophy will be announced and presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the USBWA's annual awards breakfast on Fri., March 30 in New Orleans, site of the 2012 NCAA Men's Final Four.
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.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 31st season, bigger and better in 2010-11. 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.