Dec. 26, 2011
LOGAN, Utah - Utah State men's basketball player Preston Medlin has been named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending Sunday, Dec. 25, an award that is voted on by a state-wide media panel.
It is the second time in his career that Medlin has received USU student-athlete of the week honors.
Medlin, a 6-4 sophomore shooting guard from Carrollton, Texas (Hebron HS) was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 Athletes In Action Classic hosted by Utah State as he helped the Aggies win the tournament championship with victories against UT Arlington (73-69), Saint Peter's (72-47) and Kent State (81-62).
Against UT Arlington, Medlin scored a career-high 27 points as he was 8-of-12 from the field, 6-of-9 from three-point range and 5-for-6 at the free throw line. He also had a career-high eight assists and tied his career-high with two steals against the Mavericks. Against Kent State, Medlin scored 20 points as he was 6-of-8 from the field, 3-of-4 from three-point range and 5-for-7 at the free throw line. He also had five rebounds, three assists and a career-high tying two steals against the Golden Flashes.
For the week, Medlin averaged 16.3 points, 5.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, while shooting an amazing 65.2 percent from the field (15-23), 64.3 percent from three-point range (9-14) and 76.9 percent at the free throw line (10-13).
On the season, Medlin ranks first in the Western Athletic Conference in three-point shooting (.500), sixth in overall shooting (.500), sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.67), seventh in scoring (14.3), ninth in assists (3.46), and 13th in free throw shooting (.733).
Utah State returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 31 when it plays at No. 14/15 Mississippi State (12-1) at 1 p.m. (MT).
Nominees from other sports for USU Student-Athlete of the Week included:
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Senior forward Maddy Plunkett (Albury, Australia) led Utah State to a pair of wins last week as it defeated Northern Arizona (70-51) at home and Boise State (64-52) on the road. Against the Lumberjacks, Plunkett scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, to go along with nine rebounds, two assists and a steal. Against the Broncos, she scored a career-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and added nine rebounds. For the week, Plunkett averaged 15.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 66.7 percent from the field (12-18) and 66.7 percent from three-point range (6-9).
2011-12 Utah State Athlete of the Week Winners
Aug. 29 - Shantel Flanary, Soccer
Sept. 5 - Chuckie Keeton, Football
Sept. 12 - Robert Turbin, Football
Sept. 19 - Brian McKenna, Cross Country
Sept. 26 - Marcus Fritz, Men's Tennis
Oct. 3 - Robert Turbin, Football
Oct. 10 - Chuckie Keeton, Football
Oct. 17 - Liz McArthur, Volleyball
Oct. 24 - Jennifer Flynn, Soccer
Oct. 31 - Brian McKenna, Cross Country
Nov. 7 - Molli Merrill, Soccer
Nov. 14 - Brockeith Pane, Men's Basketball
Nov. 21 - Robert Turbin, Football
Nov. 28 - Bobby Wagner, Football
Dec. 5 - Adam Kennedy, Football
Dec. 12 - Preston Medlin, Men's Basketball
Dec. 19 - Michael Smith, Football
Dec. 26 - Preston Medlin, Men's Basketball
