Mid-Major Madness Player of the Week (Jan 23-29): Western Illinois’ Trenton Massner & Hofstra’s Aaron Estrada

For the week of January 23-29, Mid-Major Madness has selected Western Illinois guard Trenton Massner AND Hofstra guard Aaron Estrada as the Co-Mid-Major Players of the Week with the seniors leading their team’s to a combined five wins.

That is right, co-players this time around. We liked them both so much we went with both.

Massner is having a career year in his second season with the Leathernecks, averaging 18.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 5.3 APG but started off the past week by breaking a program record. Last Monday night, Massner smashed the Western Illinois single-game scoring record with 46 points, two rebounds, and five assists on 75% shooting from 3 to help his team earn a 92-80 win over North Dakota. He scored almost half of his teams points.

Massner followed that up with 23 points, six rebounds, and six assists, plus he hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the closing seconds to down South Dakota.

Here’s a look at how it played out at Western Hall:

On Saturday, the 2021-22 All-Summit Second Team honoree managed a further 30 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists picking up an 81-73 win versus South Dakota State to cement his selection as the Summit League’s Peak Performer of the Week.

Estrada has opened the season averaging 21.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 4.1 APG, sitting as the thirteenth highest scorer in the nation. His week began on Thursday with a career-high 40 points with four rebounds and three assists on 64% from the field to lead an 82-65 comeback win over Elon.

Estrada would travel to TD Arena on Saturday and had another historic performance contributing 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals as the Pride toppled nationally-ranked No. 18 Charleston, 85-81.

In this matchup, the 2021-22 CAA Player of the Year earned his way into Hofstra’s 1,000 point club while shooting 56% from 3 to mark the program’s third-ever win against an AP Top-25 ranked team and notch the second such win for head coach Speedy Claxton.

For his standout production against the Phoenix and Cougars, Estrada collected his third CAA Player of the Week award with the Pride now 8-2 in conference play.

Honorable Mentions:

Drew Pember (UNC Asheville) - The Tennessee transfer put up a school-record 48 points and 12 rebounds for an 88-80 win over Presbyterian and finished the week off with 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists to beat Campbell and earn Big South Player of the Week.

Dame Adelekun (Dartmouth) - Became the first Big Green player since 1987 to score 40+ points with a double-double of 41 points and 10 rebounds in an 83-73 victory against Columbia to win Ivy League Player of the Week.