Rudd and Bone earn USBWA weekly honors

Rudd, a 6-9 junior from Los Angeles, Calif., scored a season-high 29 points in an 87-84 triple-overtime win against Bowling Green last Friday. He hit a game-tying 3-pointer with four seconds left in regulation and scored the final three points in the final seconds of the third overtime. Earlier in the week, in a 72-54 win against Youngstown State, Rudd recorded 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. For the week, he averaged 22.5 points and 11.5 rebounds.

This is the fourth 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 watch list, which will be released at mid-season.

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 winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy presented by Aflac will be presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards on April 15, 2013, at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award and the Integris Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award will also be presented at the gala to be held annually the Monday following the 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.
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2012-13 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
* Week of Dec. 9: Brandon Paul, Illinois (Big Ten Conference)
* Week of Dec. 16: Doug McDermott, Creighton (Missouri Valley Conference)
* Week of Dec. 23: Victor Rudd, South Florida (Big East Conference)

TEXAS A&M’S BONE IS ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Texas A&M center Kelsey Bone as its Ann Meyers Drysdale Women’s National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Dec. 23. The USBWA’s weekly honor will be handed out each Tuesday through Feb. 19 this season. This week’s award was released today due to the Christmas holiday.

As the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, Bone 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.

Bone, a 6-4 junior from Houston, Texas, averaged 27.6 points and 10.3 rebounds in the World Vision Classic, including 33 points against Old Dominion and two double-doubles, while in the three games she combined to shoot 85 percent from the field. Last season, before the Aggies switched conference affiliation last summer, Bone was named the Big 12’s top newcomer after making her own switch previously from South Carolina.

Since the 1987-88 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. At the Women’s NCAA Final Four in Denver last April, the organization announced going forward that the national and weekly player award has been named for Hall of Famer and former UCLA All-American Ann Meyers Drysdale. 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 2013 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year will be announced and presented at the USBWA’s annual awards breakfast in New Orleans, site of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Final Four.

Several other women’s awards are also to be announced later this season associated with more famous names in women’s basketball history. At last season’s Women’s Final Four it was also announced that former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who was the female recipient of the Most Courageous Award for her battle against early onset dementia, Alzheimer type, would have that award named in her honor.

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 a women’s All-America team since the 1996-97 season.
2012-13 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week
* Week of Dec. 9: Maggie Lucas, Penn State (Big Ten Conference)
* Week of Dec. 16: Chucky Jeffery, Colorado (Pac-12 Conference)
* Week of Dec. 23: Kelsey Bone, Texas A&M (Southeastern Conference)