Dec. 1, 2008
ST. LOUIS -
One day after being named the most valuable player of the 2008 World Vision Invitational, Illinois State's Osiris Eldridge was named the Missouri Valley Conference's Player of the Week by the league office Monday.
The Redbirds went 3-0 in their hosted tournament with victories over Nicholls (75-65), Winston-Salem State (53-33) and UC-Santa Barbara (87-59). It marked the second regular-season tournament championship for the Redbirds this season, which also won the SMU Tipoff Classic and have started the season with a 7-0 record.
Eldridge averaged 17.7 points per game for the week with 53 total tallies. He shot 58.1 percent from the floor on 18-for-31 shooting, including 10-for-19 on three-pointers (.526). He also averaged seven rebounds per game and dished out 10 assists over the three games.
This marks the second time in Eldridge's career to be named the Valley's Player of the Week. He also won the honor Feb. 26, 2007. It is also the second league honor by the Redbirds this season, as teammate Champ Oguchi was named the conference's newcomer of the week last week.
