SPARTANBURG, S.C. – VMI’s Jake Stephens has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week presented by GEICO for all contests from Feb. 2-8 after helping the Keydets to an overtime road win over league-leading Wofford. The award is selected by the league office.
 
In VMI’s lone game of the week, Stephens shared game-high honors with 22 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double, again sharing game-high honors with nine, in an 84-80 win over the Terriers on Wednesday. The 6-10 junior center from Bunker Hill, West Virginia, was 9-for-12 from the floor (.750) and 2-for-3 from 3-point range, including a make with just 1:43 left in regulation to kickstart an 8-0 VMI run that sent the game to overtime.
 
Stephens hit both of his free-throw attempts on the evening and added four assists and four blocked shots.
 
VMI’s win over Wofford, which entered the game atop the SoCon standings and ranked No. 24 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, was its first over the Terriers since Feb. 10, 2001, and the first over Wofford in Spartanburg since 1998.
 
VMI (10-9, 5-5 SoCon) visits Western Carolina (8-11, 1-9) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before returning home to host Samford (6-9, 2-6) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
Other nominees: Hayden Brown (The Citadel), Damari Monsanto (ETSU), Alex Hunter (Furman), Ross Cummings (Mercer), Isaiah Miller (UNC Greensboro), Jason Rillie (Samford), Malachi Smith (Chattanooga), Cory Hightower (Western Carolina) and Storm Murphy (Wofford).
 
2020-21 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Players of the Week presented by GEICO
Dec. 1     Neftali Alvarez, R-So., G, Mercer
Dec. 8     Myron Gordon, R-Sr., G, Samford
Dec. 15    Myron Gordon, R-Sr., G, Samford
Dec. 22    Malachi Smith, R-So., G, Chattanooga
Jan. 5      Mike Bothwell, Jr., G, Furman
Jan. 12    Hayden Brown, R-Jr., F, The Citadel
Jan. 19    Greg Parham, Sr., G, VMI
Jan. 26    Greg Parham, Sr., G, VMI
Feb. 2      Damari Monsanto, R-Fr., G, ETSU
Feb. 9      Jake Stephens, Jr., C, VMI