College players of the week named by TSWA - Feb. 17 — Tennessee Sports Writers Association

NASHVILLE – Tusculum University’s Bryce Jackson garnered TSWA Men’s Basketball Player of the Week honors, averaging a South Atlantic Conference-best 27.5 points with 5.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds in two games for the Pioneers, as announced Tuesday by the organization.

In an 88-74 win over Mars Hill, he scored a season-high 29 points to go with five rebounds and six assists, hitting 8-of-14 from the floor with three 3-pointers and 10-for-10 at the line. He followed that with 26 points in an 89-73 victory over Newberry College, connecting on 10-of-11 from the charity stripe to go with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes was voted TSWA Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, registering 30.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds in two games for the Commodores.

The sophomore scored 34 points in an 86-70 win over No. 4 Texas, which marked her fourth straight 30-point performance. Blakes is the first SEC player this century to score 30-plus points in four straight games. It marked her ninth game this season with 30-plus points, which leads all NCAA Division I players.

Blakes scored 27 points on only eight shots in a loss at Georgia. The guard made 19-of-20 from the free throw line, the second-most made free throws in a single game in school history. She also handed out six assists.

Blakes extended her double-digit scoring streak to 46 games, which is the longest active streak in the SEC and third-longest in the nation. The guard currently leads the nation in scoring at 26.3 points per game.

SOFTBALL: UT Martin’s Avary Makarewicz and Chattanooga’s Taylor Long were named Tennessee Sports Writers Association Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.

Makarewicz batted .615 (8-for-13) with two doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs. The senior tallied two hits with a homer and three RBIs versus St. Louis and collected two hits with two runs scored against Valparaiso. She added four hits, three runs scored, five RBIs and two doubles in two games versus Mississippi Valley.

Long posted a 2-0 mark in two outings at the Chattanooga Challenge. She struck out eight, giving up two runs in 4.1 innings versus Bellarmine. She made it into the fifth inning with a no-hitter and gave up just three hits against Ohio, striking out 11 for the second time this season in a complete game.

BASEBALL: Cumberland University’s Cohl Proctor and Tennessee’s Tegan Kuhns were named Tennessee Sports Writers Association Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.

Proctor posted a .579 (11-for-19) batting average with seven runs scored, three home runs and 12 RBIs in five games for the Phoenix. He tallied five extra-base hits and 23 total bases in the five contests.

He collected three hits and four RBIs at UT Southern and registered three hits with a double and two RBIs in the second of three games against St. Francis [IL]. He went 4-for-4 with two home runs and six RBIs in the series finale.

Kuhns tossed 6.2 scoreless innings in his first career start in a victory against Nicholls State. The sophomore righthander allowed two hits and one walk while striking out eight to earn his first win of the year. Kuhns retired the first eight batters of the game and set the Colonels down in order in three of his six innings of work.

2026 TSWA SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Feb. 10 | Shay Hollingsworth, Trevecca Nazarene (Player); Maya Johnson, Belmont (Pitcher)
Feb 17 | Avary Makarewicz, UT Martin (Player); Taylor Long, Chattanooga (Pitcher)

2026 TSWA BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Feb 17 | Cohl Proctor, Cumberland University (Player); Tegan Kuhns, Tennessee (Pitcher)