Valparaiso University men’s basketball freshman Jahari Williamson (Pickering, Ontario, Canada / Royal Crown Academy) has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.

The honor comes after Williamson posted a career-high 24 points and knocked down five 3s in Friday’s nonconference finale at Elon, the team’s lone game this week. He went 7-of-7 at the free-throw line while also squeezing a personal-best five rebounds and dishing out two assists in his first collegiate start. He outdid his previous season high of 20 that came on Dec. 16 vs. Chicago State.

Williamson’s 24 points marked the most by a Valpo rookie since Javon Freeman-Liberty had 27 on Feb. 5, 2019 at Illinois State. On a day where freshmen accounted for 65 percent of the team’s scoring and freshmen and sophomores combined for 87 percent, Williamson and Cooper Schwieger became the first Valpo freshman tandem in at least three decades to both score 20+ points in the same game.

Williamson becomes the third Beacon to capture an MVC weekly honor this season, joining Isaiah Stafford (Nov. 20, Newcomer of the Week) and Cooper Schwieger (Nov. 27, Freshman of the Week). This year’s team has already tied for the second most Valpo weekly awards in a single season since joining the MVC and needs just one more weekly honor to tie for the program’s most since joining the conference.