City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
––

We’re just about halfway through the 2023-24 Division I regular season, conference play getting underway as the calendar flips to 2024. It’s a perfect time to look back and reflect a little bit on what’s happened over the last couple months, both team-wise and individually.

Here’s my thoughts on the Big 5 award races as we near the midpoint of the season:

MBB Player of the Year

1. Erik Reynolds II (Jr. | Saint Joseph’s)
There’s no clear pick in the men’s PoTY field, but conference play will (hopefully) clear things up; as it stands, just about all the men’s teams in the city have something to feel good about heading into 2024, though some more than others. Reynolds, the Hawks’ star junior lead guard, has been excellent through 12 games, averaging 17.4 ppg, 3.1 apg and 2.6 rpg; though his scoring number is doing slightly from a year ago (19.6 ppg), he’s shooting better overall and from the 3-point arc while increasing his assist-to-turnover ratio from 1.17 to 2.06.

2. Khalil Brantley (Jr. | La Salle)
The Explorers are a solid 9-3 entering A-10 play (after a game against Howard on Dec. 30) and Brantley has been a major reason why — most directly with his game-winning 3-pointer in overtime against La Salle in the Big 5 Classic. The electric 6-0 guard from New York is averaging career bests in scoring (16.0 ppg), field goal percentage (40.7%), rebounds (5.2/game) and assists (4.4/game) and his assist/turnover ratio has gone from 1.53:1 as a sophomore to 2.52:1 as a junior.

3. Clark Slajchert (Sr. | Penn)
Slajchert has slid right into the Quakers’ lead role in his third and final year at Penn, averaging 18.8 ppg, 3.2 apg and 3.1 rpg on .484/.434/.774 splits, all but the free-throw number his career best. Slajchert’s also playing a career-high 36.1 mpg as Penn is 8-5, with two tough road games ahead (Houston and Auburn) before Ivy play starts Dec. 6 against Dartmouth. The 6-1 guard from California has five games of 20-or-more points and seven games with three-or-more 3-pointers; he’s now just 121 points away from 1,000 in his career.

4. Eric Dixon (R-Sr. | Villanova)
Call him Mr. Consistency: through the first 13 games of the season, Dixon’s numbers are nearly identical to last season. The 6-8 Abington product is currently averaging 14.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 1.4 apg on .482/.375/.840 splits; last year, he averaged 15.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg and 1.4 apg on .492/.378/.792 splits, taking a couple fewer shots in a couple fewer minutes per game on a deeper Wildcats squad. Interestingly, he’s had more games with 30+ points (two) than he’s had between 20-29 points (one).

5. Hysier Miller (Jr. | Temple)
The Owls have had to lean so heavily on Miller this season, as the Neumann-Goretti product is playing more than 37 mpg and taking nearly 19 shots per game, which is a lot to ask of any one player. He’s not having a great season in terms of shooting efficiency (34.5%) but his 18.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 4.6 apg (with a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio) show the effort he’s putting in on a game-by-game basis as the Owls go through some depth and injury issues.

MBB Rookie of the Year

1. Xzayvier Brown (Saint Joseph’s)
It should have been a sign that Brown was going to have a good freshman year of college when, four years ago as a freshman at Roman Catholic, he was hitting clutch free-throws in a packed atmosphere at the Mosco Classic to lead the Cahillites to a win. Brown has been fearless to start his college career, averaging 11.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 2.8 apg on .525/.489/.684 splits, coming up with massive buckets in the Hawks’ wins over Villanova and Princeton and playing 38 turnover-free minutes at Kentucky as well. 

2. Tyler Perkins (Penn)
Perkins has been everything the Penn staff was hoping for when they raved about the 6-4 guard from VIrginia this preseason. He’s been a start from Game One, averaging 14.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 2.2 apg, showing his three-level scoring ability combined with his well-rounded statistical output, with four games of 20+ points already under his belt. Perkins has played at least 30 minutes in every game Penn’s played against a D-I opponent, with a 24-point, 14-rebound, five-assist effort against Bucknell his most outstanding individual performance thus far — but he also scored 22 in a win over Villanova. 

3. Sam Brown (Penn)
Brown missed Penn’s first four games due to a sprained ankle suffered in the preseason, but the lefty from Lower Merion’s wasted no time getting caught up. After coming off the bench to score a combined 29 points in his first two college games, Brown moved into the starting lineup and has become an invaluable part of the lineup, averaging 12.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 2.0 apg while shooting 46.6% (27-of-58) from deep, no surprise to anybody who watched him play with the Aces; he’s scored in double figures in seven of nine games overall.

WBB Player of the Year

1. Lucy Olsen (Jr. | Villanova)
We figured Olsen was in for a bump in production with Maddy Siegrist off to the pros, but we certainly didn’t see this coming. The 5-9 Spring-Ford product has become one of the best scorers in the country, her 23.4 ppg currently fifth amongst all Division I women, and she’s doing it on an efficient .444/.328/.794 from the floor plus 4.1 rpg, 3.5 apg and 1.8 spg. Playing both guard spots, she’s been able to get into the lane and to the bucket seemingly at will, and has a terrific ability to score in a variety of ways in the mid-range. She went off for a career-best 40-point explosion against Temple, with three other games of 30-or-more; only St. John’s has managed to keep her to single digits, with nine points. 

2. Talya Brugler (Jr. | Saint Joseph’s)
Our preseason pick for Big 5 Player of the Year has been outshadowed a little bit by Olsen, but she’s been plugging along at a high level for a Hawks squad that’s off to its best start (11-1) in decades. The 6-1 forward from Nazareth (Pa.) is averaging 15.8 ppg and 3.8 rpg, both down a little bit from last year, but that’s because she’s got much more firepower around her; she’s as efficient as ever working out of the high post, and her overall analytics numbers both offensively and defensively are the best of her career, according to College Basketball Reference. Now past 1,000 points for her career, she’ll continue climbing up the Hawks’ record books.

3. Stina Almqvist (16.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.5 apg)
Certainly the front-runner for Big 5 Most Improved Player, Almqvist went from playing about 11-12 minutes per game her first two seasons at Penn to leading the Quakers in scoring (16.3 ppg) while adding 6.2 rpg and 2.5 apg. The 6-0 wing/forward is at her best around the bucket and in the mid-range, and she’s been post-bucketing her opponents to death. Though she’s cooled off somewhat since an especially-hot start (21.2 ppg through five games), she’s got eight games of double-digit scoring and two double-doubles so far.

4. Laura Ziegler (13.3 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 2.3 apg)
Ziegler’s teamed with Brugler to form a formidable frontcourt duo, and she’s been even more assertive in her second year on Hawk Hill. The 6-2 post from Denmark is averaging 13.3 ppg, 9.8 rpg and 2.3 apg, all improvements over a year ago, though she hasn’t been as efficient (38.4 FG%, down from 41.6 last year). She’s got five double-doubles already this season (three shy of last year), including a 19-point, 16-rebound effort against Rider and a 21-point, 13-rebound, 4-block outing against Temple.

5. Aleah Nelson (11.2 ppg, 5.0 apg, 3.0 rpg)
Nelson has really shifted her focus towards being a point guard this season, her assist-to-turnover ratio going from 1.75-to-1 last year (128 assists, 73 turnovers) to 2.73-to-1 (60 assists, 22 turnovers) as Temple tries to balance out its attack. The Owls’ fifth-year point guard is averaging 11.2 ppg, 5.0 apg and 3.0 rpg on the season, and her 1.5 steals per game are double what they were a year ago (and would be a new career best if she keeps it up).

WBB Rookie of the Year
1. Mataya Gayle (Penn)
Penn’s starting point guard all season, Gayle has showed that she earned the role by averaging 14.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.5 apg and 1.8 spg. The 5-7 point guard out of Georgia has a season-high 25 points coming in a win at Siena, and she’s scored in double figures in the Quakers’ last six games heading into winter break, including 23 points against Marquette. A talented ball-handler who can get to the rim, Gayle’s got enough of a jumper to keep defenders honest but really excels around the bucket.

2. Nicole Melious (La Salle)
It’s been some rough goings early on for La Salle (3-8) but the Explorers have a scoring guard to build around in Melious, who’s the team’s leading scorer (10.7 ppg) amongst players who’ve played in more than four games. The points leader amongst all NYC high school ballplayers is shooting 35.8% from deep (24-of-67) and has six double-digit outings, topped by a 22-point performance against American.

3. Maddie Webber (Villanova)
The Wildcats have been looking for additional offensive options and it looks like they’ve got one in Webber; the South Fayette (Pa.) alum is averaging 6.7 ppg and 2.7 rpg through 10 games, missing a couple in November/December due to injury. She’s already got four double-digit scoring outings, including 16 points against Penn, and though her outside shot isn’t hitting at a high clip yet (29.4%), it’s looked smooth and reliable and we expect that number to rise.