Mid-Major Madness Player of the Week (Dec. 26-Jan. 1): James Bishop IV

For the week of Dec. 26 - Jan. 1, Mid-Major Madness has selected George Washington guard James Bishop IV as the Mid-Major Player of the Week following a standout performance from the senior to open Atlantic-10 conference play.

While the Colonials started the season off strongly picking up wins over Howard, South Carolina and Coppin State, Chris Caputo’s squad entered a Saturday afternoon matchup with Loyola-Chicago on the back of three consecutive losses at the Diamond Head Classic.

Looking to rebound after a few subpar performances, Bishop - who’s averaging 21.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 5.0 APG as a top-10 scorer in the nation - saw the Colonials to a 97-87 victory over the Ramblers with 40 points and seven assists.

Furthermore, Bishop scored 29 of the 40 in the second half alone to fend off a late push from Loyola-Chicago and set GW at 1-0 to start A-10 play.

This 40-point outburst marked the second time this season that Bishop managed 40+ points, which he last did on November 14 at Hofstra with a career-high 44 points. He is the second Division I player to post 40 points twice this season.

For starting off conference play with such a bang, the LSU transfer and 2021-22 All-Conference selection secured Atlantic-10 Player of the Week honors while showing continued improvement week-by-week in what’s been a career-year for Bishop thus far.

This George Washington program has been somewhat hectic between several coaching changes over the past few seasons but with Caputo now at the helm and Bishop putting on some stellar showings, can the Colonials find stability in the A-10 once again?

Honorable Mentions:

Brice Williams (Charlotte) - Managed back-to-back career-highs with 31-point performances against Middle Tennessee (31 points, four rebounds and two assists) and Louisiana Tech (31 points and six rebounds) for the 49ers’ first two wins in conference play and to earn C-USA Player of the Week.