The national player of the week for men’s college basketball during the initial week of the season has been announced as Ryan Kalkbrenner from Creighton.
The towering 7-foot-1 senior, weighing 270 pounds, delivered exceptional performances in the Bluejays’ first two matchups, which positioned them at 14th in the rankings.
His standout game saw him score a remarkable 49 points, achieving a shooting percentage of 90.9% by going 20-for-22. Alongside these points, he also recorded 11 rebounds and tallied three blocked shots in a commanding win over UT-Rio Grande Valley.
Remarkably, he finished just two points shy of Bob Portman’s 1967 record for a single game within the program.
In his subsequent game, Kalkbrenner contributed another 24 points on a stunning 9-for-10 shooting while helping the Bluejays secure a victory against Fairleigh Dickinson.
Over the week, he averaged an impressive 36.5 points and shot 90.6% from the field, completing 29 of his 32 shots.
Zeke Mayo from Kansas was recognized as the runner-up for the week.
The 6-foot-4 transfer from South Dakota State made a significant impression in his debut with the top-ranked Jayhawks.
He started strong with 19 points against Howard, then followed up with an outstanding performance in a classic showdown against then-No. 9 North Carolina, where he scored 21 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out four assists, ultimately aiding his team to a 92-89 victory.
Notably, Mayo played a key role in the game’s final moments, tying the score twice in the last 2.5 minutes, first by sinking two free throws and then hitting a jumper with 1:45 remaining.
Over the week, he successfully made 14 of 26 attempts from the floor and converted 8 out of 17 from beyond the arc, achieving shooting percentages of .538 and .471, respectively.
Honorable mentions for the week include Alex Karaban from UConn and Kam Jones from Marquette.
A player to watch in the upcoming games is Nelly Junior Joseph from New Mexico.
The 6-foot-10 center has started this season strong in his fifth year, recording 28 points and 16 rebounds in the game against Nicholls State, followed by another double-double performance, scoring 16 points and pulling down 12 rebounds against then-No. 22 UCLA.
He is set for another challenge this week, facing a ranked opponent once again as New Mexico is scheduled to play No. 22 St. John’s at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday.
