We are now well into December into the college basketball season and we need your help in deciding our Men’s Player of the Week for December 8-14 by voting in the poll below.
Here are our top five men’s prospects and a recap of their stellar performances in Week 6 of the college basketball season.
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Frank Mitchell – St. Bonaventure
Mitchell has been the A10 leader in double-doubles since arriving in St. Bonaventure, NY and last week he collected two more double-doubles for a 10-2 overall record to start the season. He opened last Wednesday with his fifth straight double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 18 rebounds to complete a 15-point comeback and defeat Colgate, 85-77.
On his 24th birthday, Mitchell notched his sixth straight double-double with a game-high 27 points and 15 rebounds despite the Bonnies falling to Ohio, 88-83 late in overtime. Not only is 27 points a career-high for Mitchell, but it’s also St. Bonaventure’s highest game total this season.
Dennis Parker Jr. – Radford
First-year head coach Zach Chu got off to a rough start to his tenure at Radford and at one point battled a six-game losing streak from early November to Thanksgiving before finally stopping the skid. However, Parker’s transfer from NC State has allowed the once highly regarded prospect to flourish as the Highlanders’ leading scorer and effective offensive piece in Chu’s analytics scene.
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On Sunday, Parker led Radford to a 107-77 victory over Coppin State in which he dropped a career-high 53 points on 19-of-24 shooting and 10-of-14 three-pointers. His performance shattered the Radford and Big South single-game scoring records, while the Highlanders 16 made threes to tie the program record against a Division I opponent.
Marcus Banks Jr. – UMass
The first year as MAC members has been an absolute roller coaster for Frank Martin’s UMass, and we haven’t even started conferences yet. The Minutemen started early with losses to Marshall, Charleston and ultimately Green Bay before responding with two historic wins in a 2-0 week against major ACC opponents.
Last Wednesday, UMass was able to defeat Boston College, 76-74, thanks to 29 points and seven rebounds from Banks, who connected on the game-winning free throws with five seconds remaining. Martin and Co. followed that up by beating Florida State, 103-95, with Banks contributing 18 points and two assists to help mount a second-half comeback.
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Drew Fielder – Boise State
On November 3, Boise State lost to a Division II program, despite being one of the nation’s premier DII programs in Hawaii Pacific. Today, the Broncos are a KenPom top 50 team with an 8-3 overall record and are competing against some of the best mid-major programs in the country. For what? Due to the emergence of Georgetown and Boise transfer, Idaho native Fielder.
Last week, he led Boise State to two wins, starting with 23 points, three rebounds and two steals to beat Duquesne, 86-64. Against Saint Mary’s, the No. 1 ranked team in MMM’s The Other Top 25 rankings coming into the week, Fielder was phenomenal and finished with 22 points and six rebounds to upset the Gaels, 68-67. This is Saint Mary’s only loss to a mid-major program so far this season.
Alonzo Dodd – Appalachian State
Dustin Kerns’ Appalachian State closed out November with three straight losses, but has since been able to bounce back with three straight wins to open December, including a few last week. Dodd was a big reason why and played a key role as the Mountaineers rolled to a 67-55 victory over East Carolina with the East Texas A&M transfer adding 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
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Against High Point on Sunday, a KenPom top 100 team and one of the Big South’s most storied programs, Dodd led the way in an 86-78 overtime victory. He finished with a game and career-high 25 points on 5-of-9 shooting and had seven rebounds and seven assists to earn a massive victory for Appalachian State.
