West Virginia freshman Miles Sadler wasted no time making his mark, and the Big 12 noticed.
Sadler was named the conference’s Freshman of the Week in the first Monster Energy Big 12 Men’s Basketball weekly awards of the 2026-27 season, joining BYU’s Robert Wright III, who took home Player of the Week honors.
Sadler put together a strong opening stretch in West Virginia’s 2-0 week, averaging 20.5 points and 7.5 assists across his first two games as a Mountaineer. His college debut came against Niagara, where he posted 16 points, nine assists and three steals.
Only two other players in the last 15 seasons have matched those numbers in a Division I debut. He followed that up with 25 points and six assists against Stetson.
The Brampton, Ontario native shot 56.7 percent from the field for the week and finished with a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Wright III earned the top weekly conference honor after a blistering start of his own. He averaged 27.0 points while shooting 66.7 percent from the field, 62.5 percent from three and 92.9 percent from the free throw line in wins over Ohio State and Omaha.
In BYU’s 94-83 victory over Ohio State, he scored 35 points and added five assists, becoming the fifth NCAA Division I men’s basketball player with 35 points, five assists and one or fewer turnovers in a season opener since 1996. It was also the third 30-point game of the Delaware native’s career.
He then added 19 points in 24 minutes in the Cougars’ 108-67 win over Omaha.
The rest of the Big 12 Starting Five featured Arizona’s Ivan Kharchenkov, Arizona State’s Paulius Murauskas and UCF’s Dior Johnson.
Kharchenkov turned in a career-high 38 points and 10 rebounds in a double-double against then-No. 22 UCLA, then added another double-double in a win over Cal Poly.
Murauskas helped Arizona State open 2-0 by scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds against East Tennessee State before pouring in a career-best 33 points against Northern Colorado. Johnson, the nation’s current scoring leader, scored 41 points in UCF’s overtime win over Florida Gulf Coast and followed that with 28 points in a victory over Yale.
The weekly honors were announced Nov. 9.
In Other News...
Rich Rodriguez Just Put West Virginia's Defensive Concerns In Focus
Rich Rodriguez used his 10th coaches show of the 2026 season to put a spotlight on where West Virginia stands after the loss to Texas Tech, and the picture was not limited to the scoreboard. He talked through injury updates for Amare Grayson and Jacob Bradford, looked ahead to Kansas, and spent time on the defensive issues that have been nagging the Mountaineers, especially the way deep passes have exposed them. Rodriguez also pointed to the broader challenge of keeping a roster steady in a season shaped by turnover, saying the answer has to include simplification.
The defensive conversation carried beyond scheme and into mindset, which is where the concern gets sharper for West Virginia. Rodriguez said the team has to clean up the mental side as much as the physical execution, even as he noted progress from Taron Francis and Keon Hutchins. With mid-season assistant coach firings becoming a talking point across college football, Rodriguez also addressed the reality of constant change around the sport, but for the Mountaineers the immediate question is whether the defense can settle in quickly enough to give them a chance against Kansas. [Read more 🡒]
Zac Alley Sends A Clear Message As WVU Defense Faces Heat
West Virginias defense has spent enough time under the microscope that every rough series seems to spark a fresh wave of outside noise, and defensive coordinator Zac Alley is making it clear how he wants his players to handle it. Alley said he takes responsibility for the units performance, but he also wants his group to stay locked in on the people inside the building rather than letting social media shape how they see themselves.
There was at least a small sign of progress against Texas Tech, when the Mountaineers settled in after a shaky start and turned in a better second half with multiple stops. For a defense that has been trying to steady itself through a difficult stretch, the message from Alley is as much about mindset as it is about scheme, and the next step is proving those adjustments can hold up when the pressure builds again. [Read more 🡒]
Dana Holgorsen's WVU Turning Point Looks Worse Than Ever
Dana Holgorsens coaching path has taken another sharp turn, and it naturally sends the conversation back to Morgantown, where his West Virginia run once looked like it might settle into something lasting. His time with the Mountaineers had enough highs to keep hope alive, but the 2018 season became a clear reminder of how difficult it was to sustain momentum there, especially when expectations and results started drifting apart.
Now, after being fired as offensive coordinator at Nebraska by Matt Rhule, Holgorsens career arc looks even more complicated in hindsight. The West Virginia chapter already carried plenty of debate about where things started to go wrong and why the success never fully held, and his latest exit only adds another layer to that discussion for Mountaineers fans who remember how promising it all once seemed. [Read more 🡒]