Here is a list of players the Wildcats have verbal commitments from, with links to highlight videos. I will continue updating as I find more info on each player.

Weber State will hold a Signing Day party Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Stewart Stadium.

Offense

QB Braden Corpus, Borah HS, Boise, Idaho, 6-1, 203

OL Maxwell Curtis, Mountain View HS, Meridian, Idaho, 6-5, 250

OL Joe Hawkins, Vero Beach HS, Vero Beach, Fla., 6-1, 300

• NCSA recruit profile with video
• Aside from getting John L. Smith’s name wrong, this paper had good things to say about Hawkins coming to Weber State:

Vero Beach center Joe Hawkins, a first-team all-area selection, will take an official visit to Weber State University (Utah) this weekend. The Division I-AA school, which is coached by former Michigan State and Louisville coach John L. Williams, already has offered Hawkins.

“I think it would be amazing for him,” Jankowski said. “They have a huge need for center. I didn’t know much about Weber, but they have a pretty impressive program.”

OL Duncan Farnsworth, Milton HS, Lilburn, Ga., 6-6, 285

WR Gamal Fowler, Dayton HS, Dayton, Texas, 5-11, 175

QB Breck Lewis, Spanish Fork HS, Spanish Fork, Utah, 6-1, 195, *Signed with class of 2009, served LDS mission, enrolled

• From his Scout.com profile: “Threw for 2,347 yards and 28 touchdowns (51% completion) and had seven touchdowns rushing. Was named First Team all-Region, First Team all-Valley and Second Team all-State while being named Offensive Player of the Year.”
• Another Scout.com story about his commitment to former WSU coach Ron McBride says Lewis had an offer from future Big Sky rival Southern Utah.

OL Yuvraaj Madra, Folsom HS, Mather, Calif., 6-5, 270

TE Cody McKague, Borah HS, Boise, Idaho, 6-4, 213

OL Austin Mikkelson, Pine View HS, St. George, Utah, 6-4, 297

OL Cameron Young, Barbers Hill HS, Cove, Texas, 6-3, 299

Defense

S Hason Ali, Holy Cross HS, San Antonio, Texas, 6-0, 201

CB Cordero Dixon, Gainesville HS, Gainesville, Fla., 5-9, 175

DE Siamani Harris, Hunter HS, Kearns, Utah, 6-3, 230

LB Marquel Holmes, Trinity Catholic HS, Ocala, Fla., 6-0, 213

CB Davonte Maez, Hunter HS, West Valley City, Utah, 6-1, 165

DL Shane Oliverson, Preston (Idaho) HS, Hyde Park, Utah, 6-4, 245, *Signed with class of 2009, served LDS mission, enrolled

• Oliverson’s brother Casey is a 6-8 basketball player from Sky View who originally committed to Utah State but will play hoops at Dixie State.
• Here’s an interesting story from 2008 about Shane’s family moving across the country to Louisiana while he was in high school, but he stayed behind for his senior year:

The family has another boy, Shane Oliverson, who will be a senior this fall but will remain at Preston High and live with his grandmother. Shane, 6-4 and 240 pounds, is a football star who doesn’t have any offers yet, but has drawn interest from Boise State, Idaho State, Idaho, Utah and, of course, Louisiana Tech.

S Chris Wheeler, Allan Hancock College, Templeton, Calif., 6-0, 175, *Juco transfer, enrolled

DE AJ Wilcox, Syracuse HS, Clearfield, Utah, 6-5, 235

• Here’s a photo of Wilcox, wearing the school’s Titan Award sticker, with info on the requirements.
• Wilcox’s MaxPreps profile
• From the Syracuse website:

SENIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN AJ WILCOX WILL CONTINUE HIS FOOTBALL CAREER AT WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY. DESPITE SUFFERING A SEASON ENDING INJURY PRIOR TO HIS SENIOR SEASON, AJ WAS OFFERED A SCHOLARSHIP EARLY LAST SEASON, WHICH THE WILCATS WILL HONOR THIS FALL. WILCOX PLAYED DEFENSIVE END AND TIGHT END FOR THE TITANS. HE IS ALSO A CURRENT MEMBER OF THE TITANS BASKETBALL TEAM. AJ IS THE SON OF CON AND JERI WILCOX.

The Wildcats will face future WAC member UT-Arlington on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m. MT, in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN3, the World Wide Leader’s online streaming service available to people who have a certain TV or internet provider:

Live streams of all the WatchESPN Networks are available at no additional cost to fans who receive ESPN as part of their TV subscription from Bright House Networks, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOS TV.

For more information about whether you have access to ESPN3 broadcasts, see http://espn.go.com/watchespn/about or click here for a list of participating internet providers.

The UT-Arlington Mavericks and the Wildcats have never met in hoops.

Both schools issued releases after the announcement on ESPNU.

From WeberStateSports.com:

Weber State will host the University of Texas-Arlington on Saturday, Feb. 18 in a Sears Bracketbusters game. The Wildcats and Mavericks will tipoff at 6:00 p.m. on Feb. 18 from the Dee Events Center and the game will be televised on ESPN3.

The Wildcats currently sit at 16-4 overall and 8-1 in Big Sky play. Junior Damian Lillard leads the nation in scoring at 24.4 points per game for head coach Randy Rahe’s squad.

The Mavericks are currently 15-5 on the season and 7-0 in the Southland Conference and have won 11 straight games. Their last loss came on Dec. 20 when they lost 73-69 at Utah State. Senior LaMarcus Reed leads the team and is fourth in the conference in scoring at 16.1 points per game. UT-Arlington is coached by Scott Cross who is in his sixth season as head coach. They are currently ranked 19th in the latest Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major poll with Weber State ranked 17th. The Mavericks will join the Western Athletic Conference this summer.

This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. The Wildcats are 1-3 all-time against teams currently in the Southland Conference.

Per the BracketBusters agreement, the teams paired against each other this year must return a regular-season game in either 2012-13, or 2013-14.

The Sears Bracketbusters is in its 10th season and includes 142 schools from across the country, including all nine Big Sky Conference schools competing. A total of 13 games are televised nationally.

From UT-Arlington’s website:

Jan. 30, 2012

Arlington, Texas – UT Arlington will travel to Weber State to take on the Wildcats in the Sears BracketBusters on Feb. 18 at (6 p.m.) on ESPN3. The Mavericks are 15-5 overall and lead the Southland Conference at 7-0. Weber State is 16-4 overall and 8-1 in the Big Sky.

This is the first meeting between UTA and Weber State.

“I’m super excited about having opportunity to showcase our program on ESPN3,” UTA coach Scott Cross said. “I’ve heard a lot of great things about Weber State. I know they’re an extremely fundamentally-sound basketball team. We’re looking forward to showing what we’re made of.”

The 10th annual Sears BracketBusters is a three-day men’s college basketball event pitting potential NCAA Championship hopefuls against each other Feb. 17-19. It will feature 13 nationally televised games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. The NCAA hopefuls were selected from a pool of 142 teams from 16 conferences making it the largest Sears BracketBusters pool in the event’s history.

UTA is No. 19 in this week’s collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, while Weber State checks in at No. 17. The Mavericks are No. 93 in the USA Today Sagarin rankings.

The television matchups were selected by ESPN, while a committee of conference commissioners determined the additional non-televised games. Sears BracketBusters provides the 26 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks before Selection Sunday.

The 142-team field features teams from 16 conferences: 12 each from Colonial Athletic Association, Mid-American Conference and Southland; 11 each from Ohio Valley Conference and Big South; 10 each from Horizon League, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Missouri Valley and Summit League; nine each from America East, Big Sky and Big West; eight from the Western Athletic Association; four from the Southern Conference; three from the MEAC; and two from the West Coast Conference.

As part of the agreement, all 13 of the Sears BracketBusters home teams in televised games, as well as the remaining 58 home squads, will play a return game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the 2013-14 season.

Otis already missed nine games and had only played two games since his return, providing a spark off the bench with 12 points in WSU’s last game. The Wildcats face Sacramento State tonight at 8 p.m. at the Hornets Nest, not far from Otis’ hometown of Oakland.

For the season, Otis has played in nine games, starting seven, and averaged 6.4 points per game and 4.6 rebounds. The transfer from Southern Methodist University pulled down 17 rebounds and scored 13 points, still his WSU career high, in his first game for the Wildcats on Nov. 11.

Otis dislocated his other knee on Dec. 7 against BYU and told me before his return on Jan. 14 against Montana that he was so disheartened by hurting his knee again he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to play basketball again.

Otis had previously had his knee scoped last spring before suiting up for Weber State.

——

Weber State point guard Damian Lillard, the nation’s leading scorer, continues to draw the attention of NBA scouts. Ten scouts are expected to be in attendance tonight, including the general manager of the Sacramento Kings, Geoff Petrie.

Utah Jazz GM Kevin O’Connor came to a Weber State practice last week to watch Lillard as well.

In football, Root Sports’ three regional networks will have first choice of rights to up to 18 games a year. For men’s basketball, it’s 12 regular season games and the Big Sky quarterfinal and semifinal tournament games.

I’ll have more details later, but for now, here’s the release from the league (Weber State fans will also be interested in the final line):

SEATTLE, WA (January 17, 2012) – DIRECTV Sports Networks and the Big Sky Conference have entered into a five-year agreement making DIRECTV Sports Networks and its ROOT SPORTS branded regional sports networks the league’s official TV partner and the home of Big Sky football and basketball. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

DIRECTV Sports Networks owns and operates three regional sports networks branded as ROOT SPORTS™. The three ROOT SPORTS networks reach more than 8.7 million viewers across 18 states, including Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, Utah and Colorado in the Big Sky Conference footprint. Big Sky Conference games will be distributed primarily to the Northwest and Rocky Mountain ROOT SPORTS networks, which are carried by all major distributors in those territories, including Comcast, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Cablevision and many others. In addition, as the national television rights holder for Big Sky athletics, DIRECTV Sports Networks will have the ability to distribute Big Sky games both regionally and nationally.

DIRECTV Sports Networks will produce and televise up to 18 Big Sky Conference football games each season, including the annual Montana-Montana State rivalry game, beginning with the 2012 football season. Under the agreement, it may also broadcast up to 12 regular season conference basketball games as well as Big Sky quarterfinal and semifinal conference men’s basketball tournament games. All events will be produced and distributed in High Definition with new state-of-the-art graphics elements customized for the Big Sky Conference and its teams.

Our agreement with DIRECTV Sports Networks and ROOT SPORTS solidifies our position as a major player in Division I football in the western United States,’’ said Big Sky Conference Commissioner Doug Fullerton. “This is a landmark deal for the Big Sky Conference, as it will increase our exposure regionally and nationally in football and basketball. We are very excited to begin this partnership with DIRECTV Sports Networks. We know our fans will appreciate the high production values, which will be second-to-none.’’

“We are proud to partner with the Big Sky Conference,” said Patrick Crumb, President of DIRECTV Sports Networks. “Our distributors and viewers in the Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions have consistently requested Big Sky match-ups and we are excited to bring these rivalries to a broader audience.”

About DIRECTV Sports Networks: Seattle-based DIRECTV Sports Networks is a wholly owned subsidiary of DIRECTV and operates three regional sports networks branded as ROOT SPORTS™. The three networks (based in Bellevue WA, Denver CO, and Pittsburgh, PA) are distributed in 18 states and hold exclusive regional telecast rights to over two dozen professional and collegiate teams, including the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Penguins, Utah Jazz, Seattle Sounders FC, Portland Timbers, University of Washington, Washington State University, Oregon State University and Gonzaga University. The ROOT SPORTS networks also distribute Big 12, Pac-12, Conference USA and other collegiate football and basketball games.

About the Big Sky Conference: The Big Sky Conference will celebrate its 50th season in 2013-14, and currently consists of nine schools in eight states (Eastern Washington University, Idaho State University, The University of Montana, Montana State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Portland State University and Weber State University). On July 1, 2012, Southern Utah University and the University of North Dakota are scheduled to join as full members, and Cal Poly and UC Davis will join as football affiliate members.

The Big Sky Conference is one of the premier leagues at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision Level. It advanced teams to the Division I National Championship three straight seasons from 2008-2010. Eastern Washington won the national championship in 2010. This season, Montana advanced to the semifinals and finished third in the final poll. Montana State advanced to the quarterfinals and finished seventh in the final poll.

Multiple Big Sky Conference teams have qualified for the FCS postseason thirteen consecutive seasons. In recent seasons, league teams have upset squads from the Big 12 and Pac 12 Conferences, including Sacramento State’s stunning overtime win over Oregon State earlier this season. The Big Sky is also home to the nation’s top scorer in Division I basketball, Weber State’s Damian Lillard.

From the Missoulian:

The last time Damian Lillard faced Montana, freshman Will Cherry tied up the Weber State star to clinch the Grizzlies’ thrilling 66-65 win in the championship of the 2010 Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament on the Wildcats’ home floor.

“I’ll never forget it, them taking away that championship from us on our court,” Lillard said Friday on the eve of the showdown of Big Sky unbeatens Saturday in Ogden, Utah. “I’ll always hold a grudge for it and I’ll always be ready to compete against them more than any other Big Sky team because of that. I’m sure they feel the same way about us. Every time we play them it’s a brawl. Both teams come into it expecting it.”

Lillard and Chery know each other from being from Oakland. In fact, Cherry went to the same high school as Weber State forward Frank “Mook” Otis, who coincidentally, could make his return from a knee injury as soon as tonight.

Here’s my look at tonight’s game in the Standard-Examiner:

OGDEN — Is it a clash between Wildcats thunder and Grizzly lightning for Big Sky supremacy? The conference’s two longest winning streaks on a collision course in a first-place battle between unbeatens?

Weber State coach Randy Rahe sees tonight’s 7 p.m. showdown with Montana at the Dee Events Center in its simplest element.

“It’s a really good early conference season game,” Rahe said. “That’s what it is.”

Some more thoughts from Rahe after Thursday’s win over Montana State to set up tonight’s showdown of the top two teams in the Big Sky.

On Byron Fulton’s first career double-double and career high rebounds (11 points, 13 rebounds): “I thought Byron was the one guy tonight, right from the start, and I shouldn’t say the only guy, but he had a live body tonight. He was excited to play, I could see it in his attitude in practice. I could see it in shootaround, I saw it in warmups today; Byron loves to play the game. He does some things you shake your head at – he did another one tonight – but he just plays. He doesn’t let anything bother him. Sometimes there’s some crazy stuff going on but I know he’s going to play and he’s not going to get screwed up in the head, that’s for sure. I thought his double-double was huge. The 13 rebounds was absolutely huge tonight and he hit a couple big shots too.”

On only turning the ball over six times: “Five out of our last six games that’s kind of where we’ve been at. We should be a high-assist, low-turnover team. We had a little bit of a hiccup over at Eastern Washington where we turned it over 22, but we got it back the next night and turned it over six then. That’s huge for our team. You get more shots and our guys do a good job of taking care of the basketball.”

Poor shooting against Montana State (28.6 percent first half, 37.5 percent second half, 33.3 percent overall): “We didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight. A lot of that has to do with mentally being locked in. When you’re locked in, the ball goes in. When you’re not quite 100 percent focused, you miss a few open shots. We missed some open shots tonight, shots we’ll normally make.”

Weber State Athletics has partnered with Swire Coca-Cola of Ogden to offer complimentary tickets to all public safety officials and their families to this week’s Weber State men’s basketball home games.

All public safety officials with a valid ID will receive up to four complimentary tickets to Thursday night’s game against Montana State and Saturday’s night game with Montana. Both games begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Dee Events Center. Present a valid ID at the Ticket Office at the Dee Events Center.

Thursday’s game is Mascot Night with local area mascots entertaining the fans throughout the game and at halftime. On Saturday the halftime performance will feature Jean’s Golden Girls, one of the most popular halftime shows of the season. Plus the first 1,000 fans will receive a Weber State hat, courtesy of Petersen, Inc.

“It’s kind of been hard, just sitting out, watching,” Otis said. “I’ve been through a couple of knee surgeries so going through it again, my mind was kind of made up like I was done playing, but just sitting out and watching, I kind of got my passion back, you know what I mean? My dad, he told me, basketball is like crack. He said you can stay away from it for a minute but eventually you’re going to want it again.”

Dealing with yet another injury was depressing.

“It wasn’t even that I wouldn’t (physically) be able to play again, it was just, tired of going through injuries. It just kind of wears on your mind, you know? All that therapy and stuff is hard going through because you can’t do what you once did; can’t jump how you could, can’t run how you could. It was just kind of frustrating.”

Mook said he’s ready to go tonight; the Wildcats hope to get senior forward Kyle Bullinger back soon as well.

“If I get a chance on Thursday, I think I’ll be able to get out there and help my team defensively and a little bit offensively,” Otis said. “Right now I just want to get out there and help my teammates — just give them breathers, because we’re short on players right now. I just want to do whatever I can, whatever coach Rahe asks of me, that’s what I’m going to do.”

***

More from Weber State coach Randy Rahe about tonight’s game:

On being down to eight players before Otis’ and Bullinger’s returns: 

“We have to be smart about how we practice now. We have eight true bodies right now. You can’t come out here two hours a day, three days. If we have to sacrifice a little bit of execution to have more energy we’re willing to do that, because it doesn’t matter how well you execute if you don’t have the energy to go out there and do it; it’s not going to work anyway.”

“What you’re hoping for is that will pay off with high energy on Thursday night.”

On whether anything Lillard does now ever surprises him: 

“I hate to say it doesn’t surprise me.

“I am never going to take him for granted. He works so hard at everything he does to have performances like that. There’s certain things out there that surprise me: He played 40 minutes the second night of a road trip and he didn’t look like his energy slipped that much. It was the same thing with Scotty (Bamforth). They played with a pretty high level of energy and that tells you what kind of condition those guys are in. (Lillard) works hard for everything and so whatever he does out there, he’s earned it. No matter what kind of performance, he’s earned it.”

On Bamforth and Lillard getting in sync in Big Sky Conference play: 

“They play off each other really well. They both get a lot of attention and they do things for each other out there. The whole team does. It’s not just those two guys, it’s not a two-man deal, but they do play well off each other and everybody else pitches in. Everybody else is sharing the ball, moving the ball and doing what they can do. Everybody is playing their roles really well and that’s what you’ve got to have.”

On dealing with injuries, including losing James Hajek (dislocated knee) for four to six weeks just as Otis and Bullinger are ready to return:

“The way we handle injuries is we can’t worry about them. We move forward. We don’t sit around thinking if we can just get by until this certain time, that’s our team. It’s been our team for the last nine games and we’re just moving forward and trying to get better. I’ll tell you this — it’s easier to add than it is to subtract and we’re hoping by next week we can have these guys full speed ahead and that will be easier for us to add than subtract. Obviously we want them back as soon as we can. Bull and Mook are capable of really helping out our team and maybe they’ll give us that extra boost we need down the road.”

On younger players stepping in and getting experience:

“We’ve been able to get Gelaun (Wheelwright) some time. Mike Brown’s gotten a little bit of time, some time they wouldn’t have gotten obviously if we’d stayed the same. They’ve had opportunities to get better and they have. James Hajek had a great opportunity and he took full advantage in terms of getting better. Now we get (Bullinger and Otis) back and we’re still going to use those guys. Now they’re more able to play well. It can help your team, kind of reboost your team and you’ve got to have as many guys healthy as you can to do well. Hopefully that’s the way it works out.”

More national hype for Dynamite Damian: You know about Weber State point guard Damian Lillard being named a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award given annually to the top point guard in college basketball. You know he’s the reigning Big Sky player of the week, USBWA Oscar Robertson national player of the week and the country’s leading scorer. You know he could move into third place on Weber State’s all-time scoring list tonight and you know there are NBA scouts watching him at every game.

More national sports writers are taking notice.

The Sporting News said this about Lillard’s 38-point performance last week at Portland State:

It’s possible no one will put up a better box score line than Weber’s 6-3 junior guard, Damian Lillard, achieved against Portland State in his most recent game: 12-of-23 field goals, 8-of-14 3-pointers, 6-of-6 free throws, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, 1 turnover … 38 points.

ESPN.com’s Myron Medcalf is “searching for (this year’s) Jimmer” (Medcalf’s not the first) and he thinks Damian is one of the top three candidates:

College basketball needs a Jimmer, especially after college football wraps up Monday night and the sports world turns its attention toward the better sport.

You know a likeable stat-machine with a cool backstory (catchy name optional) who doesn’t hail from a traditional powerhouse. Well, a few players from off-the-radar, yet successful programs have put up some impressive numbers thus far. If they could only change their names …

Creighton’s Doug McDermott and Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan are on the list and then there’s Damian:

America’s leading scorer had impressed NBA scouts by scoring 19.7 ppg for Weber State last season. And then, a foot injury changed everything by sidelining him for the bulk of the season. But Lillard (26.3 ppg) bounced back with strenuous rehab that he documented through a video diary. Today, top NBA minds list Lillard as a first-round prospect for the 2012 NBA draft. The Wildcats are 12-3 and 4-0 in the Big Sky. Come Big Sky tourney time, Lillard’s hype will explode.

Darin Mahoney is a key cog in the Wildcats machine. But he’s not @The_Mahoner on Twitter, as this Q&A with the Big Sky Conference reveals. You knew that already, right?

Right?

Q: We’ve seen your twitter account @The_Mahoner, and noticed someone tweets during your basketball games for you. What type of responses have you gotten from this, and can you tell us if anyone has asked if it’s actually you sending Tweets from the bench?

A: I don’t have twitter so I’ll get updates from teammates about what The Mahoner is saying and they think it’s pretty funny. A few people have asked my friends how I tweet during the game.

Big game tonight for Weber State against Montana State (7 p.m., Dee Events Center).

The Wildcats are hoping to get some reinforcements this week with the returns of forwards Kyle Bullinger (elbow injury) and Frank “Mook” Otis (knee injury).

Both have practiced this week and Weber State coach Randy Rahe said Mook may see some time as soon as tonight, while Bullinger might be able to play Saturday against Montana. With sophomore center James Hajek now out four to six weeks with a dislocated kneecap and WSU’s bench down to eight, WSU needs all the help it can get.

The Bobcats are also shorthanded, with the Gidal Kaiser of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reporting that junior guard Jamie Stewart is officially off the team:

Stewart played in 12 games this season, with seven starts, and averaged 9.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and one steal. He played nine minutes in the Big Sky Conference opener against Eastern Washington Dec. 28 in Bozeman (an 82-66 MSU loss), Stewart’s lowest amount of court time all season. The junior has not played in a game or been a part of practice since.

From Stewart:

“I made some poor decisions, I made some poor choices over the year and I’m reaping the consequences right now,” Stewart said Tuesday night. “I wish my team success in the future. They’re my brothers and I wish them well. I look forward to spring practice.”

Stewart did not elaborate, but implied he will attempt to return to the team before next season.

Gidal Kaiser’s preview of tonight’s game: Is it possible to stop Damian Lillard? Montana State is going to try.

Jonathan Reed (@bigskybball) of the Big Sky Basketball blog breaks down tonight’s game (and predicts a Weber State win).

And in case you missed the other links I’ve hidden in this blog, here’s my preview in today’s Standard-Examiner.

If Weber State wins, it could set up a battle of Big Sky unbeatens on Saturday night against Montana. The Sporting News listed it as one of two “little-guy tilts” to watch this week.

Reed ranked the Big Sky last week for the Rush the Court website here, and no surprise, he had Weber State at No. 1 and Montana, No. 2.

So, if Weber State takes care of Montana State and Montana handles Northern Arizona tonight, there’s a showdown coming …

Stay tuned.

All he did last week was average 34 points, six rebounds and five assists while the Wildcats picked up two Big Sky Conference wins on the road, and he continues to lead the country in scoring, averaging 26.3 points per game.

Today, Weber State’s dynamo point guard picked up another honor, and this time, he’s going national, earning the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Oscar Robertson national player of the week award.

Lillard was also recently named to the Bob Cousy Award watchlist for top point guard in the country,  and with the USBWA honor, he will also be added to the watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, given annually to the top player in college basketball.

Here’s the full release on Lillard’s weekly award from the USBWA:

ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected Weber State guard Damian Lillard as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 8. The USBWA’s weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and will be handed out each Tuesday through Feb. 21 this season.

As the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, Lillard was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week.

Lillard, a 6-3 junior from Oakland, Calif., averaged 34 points, six rebounds and five assists for the week. He scored 30 points with seven rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot in the Wildcats’ 79-71 win over Eastern Washington on Thursday. During the game, he scored his 1,500th career point.

Lillard followed that with 38 points, five assists and five rebounds an 88-81 victory over Portland State. Lillard scored 23 points in the first half, including a half-court 3-point shot at the buzzer to cut Portland State’s lead to 51-44. In the two games last week, he shot 47.5 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from 3-point range, and 94.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Lillard leads the nation in scoring with an average of 26.3 points per game and has been selected as the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week four times this season.

This is the third season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week. The weekly Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week is added to the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list, which will be released at mid-season.

Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson. It is the nation’s oldest award and the only one named after a former player.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA. The winner of the 2012 Oscar Robertson Trophy will be announced and presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the USBWA’s annual awards breakfast on Fri., March 30 in New Orleans, site of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Final Four.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season.

Smith added quarterbacks coach Justin Rascati, who played for him at Louisville before transferring to James Madison, where he won an FCS championship in 2004. Most relevant to Weber State fans: Rascati’s James Madison Dukes beat Montana in that title game.

Former Eastern Washington defensive end Jason Belford will join Smith’s staff as the defensive line coach.

The biggest question remaining is who will be the Wildcats defensive coordinator.

Smith has made other hires but is waiting for background checks and university paperwork to be signed off.

Next week will be a significant recruiting weekend for the Wildcats, so Smith would like to have his staff in place before then.

Jason Belford highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz_Vu-FQ_p8