The college basketball regular season is officially behind us. That's the bad news. The good news? The best postseason in all of sports is upon us as conference tournaments and March Madness take center stage.
Before we look ahead, though, we must look back one final time and recap the action of the past week in our final Best of the Week story of the 2023-24 season. This space has highlighted dunks, drama and hopefully some occasional levity, so as we part with this column until next year, I hope I can smash all of those into one final package below.
Let's get to it!
Player of the Week: Zach Edey continues dominance
It's only fitting that the best player in college basketball this season gets the final nod as our Player of the Week. Zach Edey dominated all season in an encore from his National Player of the Year campaign a year ago, and that was once again the case this week as he scored 28 and 25 points in wins over Illinois and Wisconsin, respectively, while grabbing a combined 22 rebounds. We've become conditioned to Edey dominating this season, but he deserves some shine for how consistent -- and dominant -- he has been the last two seasons. That dominance has this Purdue team pacing to be the No. 1 overall seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Shot of the Week: Freddy Hicks hits game-winner
Arkansas State advanced into the Sun Belt Tournament's title game in thrilling fashion Sunday after Freddy Hicks drove home the dagger in the form of a buzzer-beating shot to help the Wolves win 67-65. Hicks finished with 19 points and missed just one shot all game, including the contested jumper for the win.
"We went into that timeout, and [Freddy] looked me in the eye -- he grabbed me, actually -- and said, 'Coach, give me the ball, I'm going to go win the basketball game,'" said Arkansas State coach Bryan Hodgson. "He said it about three times. I said, 'I got ya, I got ya.' We ran the play to give Freddy a keep. He hit a tough shot right after telling us that was what he was going to do."
Dunk of the Week: Jaylin Williams hammers it home
Sometimes no description is necessary. Auburn's social media account said it best to recap this amazing dunk from Jaylin Williams over the weekend.
OMG, indeed.
Best of the rest
Drake dances its way to the NCAAs
Drake punched its ticket to the 2024 NCAA Tournament by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Sunday over Indiana State, and it did so with a heavy heart for the DeVries family. Darian DeVries is Drake's coach and Tucker DeVries its star player, and both were brought to tears after the win. From Sports Illustrated:
The emotions were hitting hard for the DeVries family, a collision of joy and sadness. Winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in thrilling fashion over the Indiana State Sycamores and clinching an NCAA bid was a moment to rejoice, but also a moment to remember who wasn't there for the first time.
Easton DeVries, son of Jared and Jamie, cousin of Tucker, nephew of Darian, died July 28 at age 19 after a lifetime congenital heart condition. He had always been here in St. Louis at Arch Madness—this was a DeVries family thing, a rite of March. When Darian was an assistant coach with the Creighton Bluejays, Easton; his brother, Jaylen; and Tucker ran around the arena in Bluejays jerseys. Then when Darian became the head coach at Drake and Tucker became the Bulldogs' best player, the jerseys changed.
Drake delivers Dillingham to masses
Speaking of Drake, the rapper -- not the team! -- made his way back into the college hoops news over the weekend after heading back to Lexington, Kentucky. Drake had a concert at Rupp Arena, during which he hyped up freshman star Rob Dillingham just before John Calipari gave Drake a special shoutout on social media.
Mr. High Knees gets a tribute
A social media account named "High Knees Ref," devoted to highlighting the antics of referee Jeffrey Anderson, has grown to more than 14,000 followers and gone viral at various points this season highlighting Anderson and his high knees routine in games. The account is something of an inside joke and provides enjoyment within the college basketball community, but Dayton brought it out of the niche and paid it a special tribute this weekend with a hype video for the man himself. It's glorious.