Ethan Wragge
Ethan Wragge buried a plethora of three-pointers this week as Creighton knocked off Georgetown and fourth-ranked Villanova. The native of Eden Prairie, Minnesota has been named NetScouts Basketball’s National Player of the Week for games through January 26th.
The 6-foot-7 forward started the week with 27 points (9-14 FG, 9-14 3FG) and tied a school-record with nine three-pointers in a 96-68 stomping of Villanova. Wragge went on to score 12 points (3-6 FG, 3-6 3FG) in a 76-63 win over Georgetown on Saturday.
“Once I get one, they know I’m hunting for two and three,” Wragge told the Associated Press after the Villanova game. “It’s a hard feeling to describe once you get one to go in. You just kind of let it fly and don’t think about it.”
When it comes to breaking down Wragge’s game, it’s fairly simple. He’s a lights-out shooter who leads the country in three-point percentage for players who have attempted over 88 three-pointers this season. Wragge is shooting 50 percent from behind the arc this year while averaging 12.5 points per game.
Perhaps the most surprising stat is that Wragge has taken 160 attempts from the field this year with 154 of them coming from three-point range. That means that 96 percent of his shots are from behind the arc, however, teams have still struggled to stop him this season. At the professional level he could find a role overseas as a knock-down shooter.
Nik Stauskas
Another one of the best shooters in the nation, Michigan’s Nik Stauskas, has been named NetScouts Basketball’s International Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. The sophomore shooting guard from Mississauga, Ontario was key in wins over ranked Iowa and Michigan State.
Stauskas continued his stellar play with 26 points (8-14 FG, 4-9 3FG), five rebounds, and five assists versus Iowa in addition to 19 points (7-12 FG, 5-6 3FG), four assists, and two rebounds on the road against Michigan State.
“Nik Stauskas is the real thing,” Jay Bilas said on College Gameday this week. “He’s an NBA player. He has tons of swagger. Like, he knows he’s good, and he’ll let you know it. I like that.”
The 6-foot-6 shooter has become a versatile scorer as he can still knock down threes while also creating for his own shots. We covered the expansion of his game in last week’s Player of the Week article, but his points are getting harder to buy each game due to denial man-to-man defense by the opponents’ top perimeter defender.
Stauskas continues to impress in each game with new moves and additions to his offensive arsenal. He isn’t an elite defender, but can make a living in the NBA as a well-rounded scorer highlighted by his jump shot. With the way Stauskas has led Michigan to a 7-0 start in Big Ten play, he’s also climbing into the conversation for National Player of the Year honors despite being left off the recent John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list.
Cameron Schott is a Correspondent for NetScouts Basketball. Thanks to concordmonitor.com for the Wragge photo.
