Jahmir Young named Big Ten Player of the Week for second time in January

Jahmir Young has been nothing short of exceptional during the first half of Maryland’s 2023-24 season, and for the second time this season, the star guard was named the Big Ten Player of the Week.

He becomes the first Terp to earn the honor twice in the same month since Anthony Cowan did so back in 2020.

Young averaged 20 points, 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in wins against Michigan and then-tenth-ranked Illinois this past week, leading Maryland basketball into arguably its best stretch of the season. Young enters Monday ranked third in the conference in scoring (22.3) in Big Ten games and tied for 27^th nationally through the season (19.9) after proving to be the catalyst in year two for Kevin Willard.

Young did more than just score for Maryland after his emphatic block in transition in the closing minutes of Sunday’s game cemented the upset.

This block by Jahmir Young 👀 unreal block to add to his 28 points in Champaign pic.twitter.com/VbWGXs4Q53

— Inside the Black & Gold (@Insideblackgold) January 14, 2024

The question for Maryland all season has been who else can step up alongside Jahmir Young as Donta Scott and Julian Reese have traded supporting roles through the bulk of the season. Freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith was able to provide a one-two punch in the backcourt alongside Young in Sunday’s upset against Illinois.

“We have three main sets that we run that we turn [Jahmir Young] into a two guard and get him running off some down screens. And even for him, he likes it because he gets the ball coming off screen with some speed, with some space. He’s really good and he’s worked hard on his floater and Deshawn’s an excellent passer. I have a lot of confidence in the fact that he’s going to make the right read. He’s going to make the pass to the inside. He’s going to read the defense. He did it twice [Sunday] and made two huge passes when we were running our action for Jahmir on the baseline. And, it does, it gives, although Jahmir plays 39 minutes, it does give him a chance to get off the ball a little bit and let him come off some downscreens.”

Maryland will return to action on Wednesday night on the road once again as they face Northwestern in a 9 PM tip.

Jahmir Young named Big Ten Player of the Week for second time in January

Ahmed Ghafir