NetScouts Basketball has named junior center Brittney Griner of Baylor as our Women's National Player of the Week ending February 14, 2012. The 6'8 Griner led Baylor to wins over Oklahoma and Texas A&M, the two second-place teams in the Big 12 race. She led all scorers in both games while helping the Lady Bears remain undefeated at 25-0 overall and 12-0 in conference play as they extended their league lead to four games. Griner averaged 24.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.0 blocks while shooting .516 (16-of-31) from the floor and .941 (16-of-17) from the free throw line. With her 48 points last week, Griner moved to No. 11 on the Big 12′s career scoring chart. She has 2,068 points and ranks No. 1 on the league's blocks list with 527.
Jeff Withey of Kansas is our Men's Player of the Week. Withey, a 7'0 junior center, was vital in the Jayhawks' victories against #8-ranked Baylor and Oklahoma State. Against Baylor, Withey scored 25 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots. Three days later, Withey was very active all over the floor not only providing steady offensive production but by clearing the glass and being a defensive force. In the 81-66 win over Oklahoma State he scored 18 points, brought down 20 rebounds and blocked seven shots. For the week Withey averaged 21.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and five blocks while shooting 63% from the field..
Albany's Gerardo Suero is our International Player of the Week. The 6'4 junior from the Dominican Republic averaged 25.3 points, six rebounds and four assists in a 1-2 week for the Great Danes. In a tough loss (81-78) to Boston University he scored 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds while shooting a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Suero followed that up with a 20-point game in a loss at New Hampshire (69-64) and a 28-point, five rebound, six assist, three steal performance in the win at Maine (76-68). Suero shot 20-of-23 from the free throw line for the week and is currently 5th in the nation in scoring at 22.0 per game.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball.. NetScouts Basketball can be followed on twitter @netscouts.