Army Black Knights Senior Guard Wins Another Patriot League Weekly Award

The Army West Point Black Knights’ top guard has won another Patriot League player of the week award.
Army's Jalen Rucker brings the ball into play during a game versus Fairleigh Dickinson University on November 20, 2024.
Army's Jalen Rucker brings the ball into play during a game versus Fairleigh Dickinson University on November 20, 2024. / Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jalen Rucker keeps setting the pace for the Army West Point Black Knights men’s basketball team and, in doing so, he won another Patriot League men’s basketball player of the week award.

The league announced the award on Monday.

He has won four player of the week awards this season, more than any other Patriot League player. He’s won three of those in the past four weeks. He also won the award last week, making him the first player to win the award in consecutive weeks this season. He’s also won the award seven times in his Army career.

The only other service academy players to win Patriot League awards on the men’s side are from Navy, Austin Benigni and Donovan Draper.

The Black Knights (10-8, 4-2 in Patriot) are tied for second place in the Patriot League after going 2-0 last week, including a game in which Rucker hit the game-winning basket against Lafayette.

He scored 29 points in the game, including a game-winning mid-range buzzer-beater to give Army the 70-68 win over the Leopards.

Along with the game-winning basket, Rucker passed Matt Wilson for sixth place all-time in scoring in program history. He also became the sixth player to reach 1,600 career points in program history.

On Saturday against Boston U., he had another great game as the Black Knights beat the Terriers, 68-62. Rucker finished with a game-high 23 points, including a 57.1% clip from the 3-point line.

He has now scored in double figures in 17 games, including seven games in which he scored at least 20 points.

For the week, Rucker averaged 26.0 points on 66.7 percent (20-of-30) shooting from the field, including 50 percent (7-of-14) from the 3-point line.

Holy Cross guard Max Green was named the Patriot League rookie of the week. Honorable mention selections included American’s Elijah Stephens, Bucknell’s Noah Williamson, Colgate’s Jeff Woodward and Lafayette’s Justin Vander Baan.

The Black Knights face Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., on Wednesday at 6 p.m. eastern as they attempt to win their fifth straight game.

Following that, the Black Knights host their rival, Navy, in a 3:30 p.m. eastern game at Christl Arena on Sunday. It’s part of a doubleheader that will see the Army and Navy women play in the first game. Entering this week the women’s teams are two of four Patriot League teams tied for the lead.


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