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College basketball moves fast.
The first week of the season is complete, and, if you blink, it’ll be conference season already. It all happens so quickly; you can lose sight of some of the best performances of the year if you’re not paying close enough attention.
With that in mind, we’ve partnered with Urban Edge Network to highlight the best players in HBCU Division I men’s and women’s basketball each week.
There will obviously be plenty of contenders to sort through each week, and Week 1 was no exception. But, when the dust settled on the opening week of the season, one man and one woman stood above the competition.
Here are the inaugural HBCU Men’s and Women’s Player of the Week.
Men’s Player of the Week: Brian Moore Jr., Norfolk State
The raw scoring numbers were impressive enough for Brian Moore Jr.
He scored 18 points in a 96-41 season-opening win over Penn State-Wilkes Barre. He then had 26 points in a 104-60 win against Virginia-Lynchburg in the Spartans’ second game. And he capped the week with 17 more in a convincing 83-69 win over James Madison.
But it’s the efficiency that Moore exhibited that truly made him the best of the week. His shooting splits look fake after one week of play. He’s shooting 77.8% from the field, and he’s nailed all six of his 3-point attempts and all 13 of his free throws. Through three total games, Moore has missed just six shots from the field and free-throw line combined while averaging over 20 points.
There are nine players in all of Division I that have played three games so far and averaged 20 points. None of the other eight have even shot 65% from the floor. He hasn’t just been the most efficient scorer in the MEAC so far; he’s arguably been the most efficient high-volume scorer in the country. And the efficiency combined with the volume make him a worthy choice for the HBCU Men’s Player of the Week.
Women’s Player of the Week: Diamond Johnson, Norfolk State
It’s a Spartan sweep this week.
If this was a team of the week article, Norfolk State would be the front-runner for its outstanding start. The Spartans opened with a convincing 70-49 win against William & Mary, then beat Longwood 71-62. But the biggest victory was the last, as Norfolk State traveled to Missouri and stunned the Tigers 57-54 for the first win over an SEC opponent in the history of the program.
While the Spartans had contributions up and down the roster in their opening week, Diamond Johnson was the standout, combining consistent and clutch scoring with some playmaking to be an offensive force.
Johnson started the week with her worst scoring game – 11 points against William & Mary – but she also put her playmaking on display with a season-high six assists. She had 32 points against Longwood on 10-of-19 shooting, including 6 of 8 on 3-point attempts. Then, in the upset win over Missouri, Johnson led all scorers with 17 points.
She saved a lot of her points for when the Spartans needed them most, hitting four of her six attempts for nine of Norfolk State’s 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Johnson’s lone 3 of the game gave Norfolk State a 54-53 lead with 4:32 remaining. Missouri would tie the game with a free throw before Kierra Wheeler sank a go-ahead jumper for the Spartans with 43 seconds remaining.
Norfolk State had a historic opening week, and Johnson was the offensive catalyst for it, proving she is more than deserving of the first HBCU Women’s Player of the Week award.
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