ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Texas A&M guard Elston Turner as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 13. The USBWA’s weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and will be handed out each Tuesday through Feb. 19 this season.

Turner

As the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, Turner was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week.

Turner, a 6-5 senior from Sacramento, Calif., became just the third opposing player to score 40 points in Kentucky’s Rupp Arena, leading the Aggies to an 83-71 win over the Wildcats. Turner’s 40-point outburst allowed him to join LSU’s Chris Jackson and Navy’s David Robinson as the only players to reach the 40-point mark at Rupp. Meanwhile, the win lifted the Aggies to a 2-0 start in their first season in the SEC.

On the afternoon, Turner scored 25 points in the first half and finished 14-19 from the field and 6-10 from 3-point range. The 40-point game was also the first by a Texas A&M player since Don Marbury on Jan. 5, 1985. Earlier in the week, Turner scored 15 points in A&M’s SEC debut, a 69-51 win over Arkansas.

This is the fourth season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week. The weekly Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week will be considered for the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list, which will be released at mid-season.

Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson. It is the nation’s oldest award and the only one named after a former player.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership. The winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy presented by Aflac will be presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards on April 15, 2013, at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. TheHenry Iba Coach of the Year Award and the Integris Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award will also be presented at the gala to be held annually the Monday following the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and the Oscar Robertson Trophy, contact executive director Joe Mitch at 314-795-6821.

Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 32nd season, bigger and better in 2012-13. Blue Ribbon – long-known as “The Bible of College Basketball” – gives its readers the most thorough, up-to-date and timely evaluations of every Division I team in the country. For more information about Blue Ribbon Yearbooks, visit blueribbonyearbookonline.com.

2012-13 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week

• Week of Dec. 9: Brandon Paul, Illinois (Big Ten Conference)

• Week of Dec. 16: Doug McDermott, Creighton (Missouri Valley Conference)

• Week of Dec. 23: Victor Rudd, South Florida (Big East Conference)

• Week of Dec. 30: Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA (Pac-12 Conference)

• Week of Jan. 6: Trey Burke, Michigan (Big Ten Conference)

• Week of Jan. 13: Elston Turner, Texas A&M (Southeastern Conference)