We’ve partnered with Urban Edge Network to highlight the best players in HBCU Division I men’s and women’s basketball each week.
There are many paths to a great season.
Some players take off immediately while some bounce back from slow starts. Some are key parts of a team all year, while others have to earn their way into big minutes and opportunities.
Our HBCU Men’s and Women’s Players of the Week highlight the different journeys players take during the season. But for this week, both players’ paths converged, as they were the best of the best in HBCU.
Men’s HBCU Player of the Week: Michael Jacobs, Southern University
It’s easy to see how important Michael Jacobs is to Southern. When Jacobs scores in double figures, the Jaguars are 4-0. When he doesn’t, the Jaguars are 1-4.
Fortunately, most of his good performances have come in the last few weeks. And Jacobs has shown no signs of slowing down.
Jacobs was the best player on the floor against Lindsey Wilson College on Tuesday, scoring 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting as Southern won 94-69. The amazing thing was he did this in just 23 minutes, meaning he was a hyper-efficient point-per-minute player for the entire game.
And Jacobs didn’t rely on 3-point shooting or free throws, either. He hit his only 3-point attempt and all four of his free throws, doing most of his damage from inside the arc. The Blue Raiders had no chance of staying in front of him.
The 23 points were a season-high for Jacobs, surpassing the 19 points he scored in two other games. One of those games was Southern’s previous game, a big win against Tulsa. Overall, the freshman has scored in double figures three times in Southern’s active four-game winning streak.
He is now the second-leading scorer on the Jaguars after a slow start. And his ascension coincides with the recent great play of his team, which means he could make Southern a threat moving forward.
Women’s HBCU Player of the Week: Kierra Wheeler, Norfolk State
While Jacobs took a while to find his footing (like most freshmen), senior Kierra Wheeler has been an integral part of Norfolk State’s tremendous season since the start.
Wheeler scored nine points in Norfolk State’s first game of the year and has been in double figures every game since. Last week, Wheeler scored a season-high 22 points in a big 75-66 win over Saint Louis. She started this week off matching that total in a 90-57 victory over Shaw. Wheeler added 17 rebounds, four steals, five blocks and three assists.
In a 68-59 win over North Carolina A&T, Wheeler had 13 points and five rebounds to go with five turnovers. It wasn’t her best offensive performance of the season, but she was an absolute force on defense with three steals and four blocks. She is one of the better defensive playmakers in the country and those skills were on display all week.
If you think that’s an exaggeration, consider this. Wheeler is one of only six players in the country averaging 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. And she’s easily averaging the most minutes per game among those players at 32.8.
Wheeler’s improved her game throughout her college career and this year has taken her defense to a whole new level. She’s an integral part of what Norfolk State is doing on both ends and is certainly deserving of the Player of the Week Award for her two-way impact.
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