Player Of The Week:
Grant Sherfield, G, Oklahoma
The Nevada transfer continues to impress for the Sooners and while it wasn’t a perfect week for the Sooners, it wasn’t in anyway Sherfield’s fault. Oklahoma cruised to a win on Tuesday against Kansas City with Sherfield leading the way with 24 points. Things were a little tougher for the Sooners when they took on top 10 Arkansas on Saturday. The Sooners fell by 10 but Sherfield was one of the few reasons it was even close, putting up 23 and adding 3 assists and 2 rebounds and just to top it all off 3 steals. Sherfield also led the way for the Sooners in aa key win against Florida. He again scored more than 20 dropping 22 points and pulling down 2 rebounds. Sherfield has carried the Sooners offense and if they want to be dancing in March, Sherfield is going to have to keep doing what he’s doing.
Who’s Hot
Jalen Wilson, F, Kansas Jayhawks
It seems like Jalen Wilson is going to end up being in Who’s Hot or Player of the Week every week for the rest of the year. Wilson and the Jayhawks dominated Missouri in their only game last week. Wilson put up his sixth double double of the year going for 24 points and 10 rebounds. He also played a key part in Kansas’s big win over Indiana putting up 11 points and pulling down 8 rebounds. No one has raised their draft stock more than Wilson this year who is playing out of his mind so far. He’s shooting the three well, he’s scoring in the paint, he’s rebounding, he’s averaging a steal per game. Wilson is contributing everywhere for Kansas and has the Jayhawks looking like another national championship contender.
Tre Mitchell, F, West Virginia Mountaineers
Tre Mitchell may finally be living up to the expectations that were around him when he started at UMass back in 2019. That year and his next one at Texas were not what people had expected. He really stepped up last year though and ended up transferring from Texas to West Virginia. He’s off to a strong start again this year and this week was a great one for Mitchell. He started it off with a 19 point 6 rebound and 3 assist game in a 21 point win over Navy. While not the toughest of competition Mitchell proved himself again on Saturday against a much tougher UAB team. He put up 13 points along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists which lead the team. On top of that it put West Virginia in the win column against a really good Blazers team. While another Mitchell in the Big 12 (Dillon Mitchell) may get more NBA attention, Tre is certainly starting to create his own buzz with how he has been playing lately.
Who’s Not
Texas Tech
It may officially be time to start panicking in Lubbock. After an extremely average start to the year things have started to trend downhill. They squeaked out 7 point win at home to Nicholls on Wednesday who rank outside the top 200 according to kenpom. Then six days later they have to squeak out another 7 point win to Eastern Washington another team ranked outside the 200. That’s already a tough week. But today it got even worse. Fardaws Aimaq, who was expected to return from injury soon, announced that he was going to transfer. Aimaq was supposed to be one of the Red Raiders best players this year and his pending return was one of the few things giving Texas Tech fans hope. But knowing he won’t be coming at all this year might start to get fans to start panicking. They did finally put together a dominant performance beating Jackson State 102-52, but their 1-10 record doesn’t make that super impressive although it is a step in the right direction. They are 8-2 so things aren’t all bad, but the way they’ve been playing they will be in big trouble once conference play starts.
Iowa State
The Cyclones didn’t just get blown out. They got flat out embarrassed. And by who? Their biggest rival, the Iowa Hawkeyes. And now you’re probably wondering how many points one the best players in the country, Kris Murray, scored for Iowa. The answer. Zero. He was hurt and Iowa’s best player didn’t play. The Cyclones still lost by 19. It was a terrible performance by Iowa State there is no way around it. They did manage to right the ship a little bit by beating McNeese by 33 a few days after but I think they would trade that away in a second for a better showing against Iowa
Top 5 Shooters in the Big 12
1. Gradey Dick, G, Kansas Jayhawks
Gradey Dick may not be just the best shooter in the conference but in the entire country. The five star freshman has lit it up from deep so far this year shooting just under 50% from three point range. What makes Dick so special is that he isn’t just a catch and shoot threat. He has shown that he is more than capable of pulling up and shooting off the dribble. Dick’s shooting ability will more than likely get him taken in the first round of the draft this summer, but I think that he is going to help the Jayhawks get very far this year.
2. Grant Sherfield, G, Oklahoma Sooners
Grant Sherfield is just an absolute scoring machine. Undersized at just 6’ 2” he’s able to score at the rim but he really excels as a shooter. Sherfield has done most of his scoring on the right side of the floor often with his pull up jumper around the right elbow where he is just lethal. Sherfield shoots around 60% from that spot and also hits them from all different kinds of ways. From contested turnaround jumpers to step backs Sherfield is acrobatic and can hit his shots through a ton of pressure.
3. Adam Flagler, G, Baylor Bears
Flagler has been showing of his shooting ability for years now at Baylor. The senior guard has been a key part of Baylor’s success since he transferred in as a sophomore. A career 40% three point shooter Flagler has been shooting well above that number so far this year at 51.8%. Flagler doesn’t just excel at shooting from deep he also is a knock down shooter from midrange. Keyonte George is probably the best overall scorer in Baylor’s rotation of guards, but Flagler’s pure shooting ability may be a little better.
4. Erik Stevenson, G, West Virginia Mountaineers
Now with his 4th team in 5 seasons, Stevenson has taken a massive step forward as a shooter. In his first four college seasons Stevenson was around a mid to high 30% FG shooter and a high 20s low 30% three-point shooter. This year however he is shooting 52.8% from the field and 46.3% from behind the three point line. Perhaps the most impressive shooting stat from Stevenson was his free throw percentage from last season. He shot an incredible 98.4% from the charity stripe last season. While that number is an outlier it is still extremely impressive. West Virginia has been a surprise early on this season and Stevenson’s improved shooting has been a big part of that.
5. Keyonte George, G, Baylor Bears
LJ Cryer may be the better pure shooter, but Keyonte George is an overall scoring machine. George is an offensive machine and can score from literally anywhere and in almost any way he wants. George is a true three level scorer and can hit from deep, midrange, and finish at the rim. While he’s not considered a sharpshooter that is more due to his ability to score in every other way and not because he doesn’t have the shooting ability to score just from three. The superstar freshman is already an NBA level scorer and will almost defiantly end up as a first round pick this summer and if he improves other areas of his game he could find himself going inside the top 10.