After leading the Troy Trojans to two decisive wins, Victor Valdes has been named Sun Belt Player of the Week, according to an announcement from the conference on Tuesday.
Valdes averaged 18 points, 8.5 assists, and 2.5 steals in victories over Southern Miss and Arkansas State. His standout performance came against Arkansas State, where he posted his first career double-double with 17 points, 14 assists, six rebounds, three steals, and three blocks. This achievement marks only the second double-double in the Sun Belt this season involving points and assists and is the first to occur during conference play. His 14 assists tie for third-most by a Troy player since the 2005-06 season and are among just 15 Division I games this year where a player reached at least 14 assists.
“Victor is very deserving of winning Player of the Week,” head coach Scott Cross said. “Victor will be a huge part of any success that we have down the road, and I am very glad that he received this very deserving recognition this week!”
Cross further commented on Valdes’s recent game: “To have 17 points and 14 assists is absolutely amazing. However, the thing that had me the most fired up after watching the film was the way that he defended and rebounded. This was his most well-rounded basketball game, and it shows what he’s capable of in the future!”
In last Wednesday’s matchup against Southern Miss, Valdes scored 19 points and recorded a game-high plus-minus of 24.
Currently leading Troy in scoring with an average of 15.9 points per game, Valdes also ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference for assists at 4.9 per game.
This is Valdes’s first time earning Sun Belt Player of the Week honors. He is also the second Troy player to receive this award during the current season; Cooper Campbell previously won earlier in the year.
Troy will continue its conference schedule with two upcoming road games: facing Old Dominion on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT followed by Georgia Southern on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
