We’ve made it through November, and the college basketball landscape is starting to crystallize.
Teams and players will continue to surprise, of course, but we finally have enough of a sample size to know who we should expect to be good, and which teams have a shot at making noise during the conference season.
With that in mind, it’s not surprising to see two players who have been in the running in previous weeks win HBCU Player of the Week honors for Nov. 25-Dec. 1. Both of these players have been great this year already but elevated their games enough this past week to take home the hardware.
Here are the Men’s and Women’s Players of the Week.
Men’s Player of the Week: Wynston Tabbs, Morgan State
Tabbs has been on the national radar since 2018-19, when he scored 13.9 points per game at Boston College. Now in his second year at Morgan State, he’s taken a step up from last year when he led the Bears in scoring. Tabbs has scored in double figures in all 10 of his games in 2024-25 while leading the team in steals and ranking fourth in blocks.
He started off the week with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting in a 92-69 loss to UMBC. His 16 points were tied with teammate Amahrie Simpkins for the most by a player on either team.
Tabbs then poured in 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting and hit three of his five 3-point attempts on Sunday. He also chipped in three steals and four rebounds as the Bears blew out the Central Penn Knights 123-70.
Among the 427 players in Division I who have attempted 30 or more free throws, Tabbs has the best free throw percentage at 97.2.
It’s not a fluke, either, as Tabbs knocked down over 88% of his free throws last year and was in the top 30 in the country in free throw percentage among players who had shot at least 75 free throws.
Women’s Player of the Week: Kalia Walker, Alabama A&M
Alabama A&M had a nice showing at the San Diego Thanksgiving Classic this week, and Walker was a big reason why. The Bulldogs lost a 56-54 thriller to open the week against a 6-1 Utah Valley team. Walker had 14 points, two assists and two steals.
Then, Walker had a game-high 24 points to lead Alabama A&M to a 78-67 victory over San Diego to close the week. The game was tied at 32 at the half, but Alabama A&M opened up a big lead by outscoring San Diego 25-11 in the third quarter. Walker had nine points in the frame by hitting two 3-pointers and three free throws.
It was indicative of how Walker’s been successful this year. On the surface, her 39.3 field goal percentage would indicate low efficiency, but she’s been able to mitigate that in two ways: 3-pointers and free throws.
Over half of Walker’s shots on the season have come from behind the arc, and she’s shooting 39.4% on those 3-point attempts. She’s also getting to the line over six times a game and hitting 88.9% of her free throws. That’s led to a career-high 61.3 true shooting percentage.
Enjoy this? Check out our NBA, NFL, college basketball, FBS and FCS coverage. And follow along on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook and X for more.
