Mid-Major Madness Men’s Player of the Week Voting: Jan. 5-11

We are officially into the new year and need your help to decide our men’s player of week for Jan. 5-11 by voting in the poll below.

Here are our top five men’s candidates and a recap of their outstanding performances from across week nine of the college basketball season.

Derek Simpson (Saint Joseph’s)

It’s been a roller coaster ride on Hawk Hill this season with a new head coach joining weeks before the season, an up-and-down start to the campaign and the departure of Deuce Jones II. Last week, Simpson helped to bring some stability to a team that was winless in Atlantic 10 play with a pair of career-high performances to lead St. Joe’s back to .500 in conference.

On Jan. 7, Simpson managed his first-ever double-double with 23 points, a career-high 11 assists, four steals and three rebounds as the Hawks came back to defeat Duquesne in overtime. Four days later, he made it back-to-back double-doubles with 19 points, a career-high 13 rebounds and two assists as St. Joe’s edged out Richmond on the road, 67-65.

Tre-Vaughn Minott (Portland State)

Portland State is in the midst of a three-game win streak and is undefeated in the Big Sky Conference thanks to recent developments from the 6-foot-9 Minott, who scored double-digits in all three wins. However, last week, as the Vikings handedly beat Sacramento State at home, 96-69, Minott raised his play to another level.

The South Carolina transfer dropped a career-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field, grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds and swatted four blocks to lead Portland State’s win. His 23 points and 20 rebounds were the first 20-20 in the last 10 years of Vikings’ program history.

DJ Smith (Campbell)

Under first-year head coach John Andrzejek, Campbell has started strongly in CAA play at 3-2 with Smith averaging a team-leading 20.1 PPG to carry the load. Last week, he led the Camels to a third-straight win before finally falling on the road despite a career-high performance from the program’s premier guard.

That third-straight win came against Hampton, 86-72, as Smith dropped 26 points and went 12-for-13 at the free throw line in addition to managing two rebounds, two assists and two steals. On Jan. 10, the Camels fell to Elon at the Schar Center, 83-82, even though Smith finished with a career-high 32 points on 8-of-16 from the field, 7-for-11 from three and 9-for-10 at the charity stripe.

Treyson Anderson (North Dakota State)

North Dakota State is a perfect 5-0 in the Summit League for the first time since the 2020-21 season, and Anderson’s sophomore leap has been a major reason why. Last week, he led the Bison to a pair of wins on the road with two 20+ point performances, including a new career high in scoring.

During a Jan. 8 visit to Kansas City, Anderson dropped a career-best 23 points, going 7-for-13 from the field and 7-for-8 at the line, while grabbing eight rebounds and blocking two shots. He followed it up just one shy of his career-high, managing 22 points, three rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots as North Dakota State defeated Omaha, 78-76.

Michael McNair (Boston University)

Its been a tough season for Boston University with a 7-11 record overall and winless in the Patriot League prior to last week, but behind McNair’s standout performances, that changed. The Terriers secured their first two wins in conference play, and the program surpassed the century mark for the first time in over 35 years.

McNair started the week by dropping a career-high 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting in addition to five rebounds and two assists in an 83-67 win over Lafayette. This past weekend, Boston University ousted Army, 100-91, which was the Terriers’ highest scoring total since 1989. McNair contributed a game-high 28 points as well as five rebounds and five assists.

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