Blake Butler of No. 25 EMCC selected NJCAA and MACCC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week

Highlighted by a spectacular 45-point performance against Northwest Mississippi a week ago, Blake Butler of 25th-ranked East Mississippi Community College has been selected the NJCAA Division I and the MACCC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. The separate announcements were made this week by the National Junior College Athletic Association and the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference offices.

Blake Butler of No. 25 EMCC selected NJCAA and MACCC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
November 22, 2022

SCOOBA – Highlighted by a spectacular 45-point performance against Northwest Mississippi a week ago, Blake Butler of 25th-ranked East Mississippi Community College has been selected the NJCAA Division I and the MACCC Men's Basketball Player of the Week. The separate announcements were made this week by the National Junior College Athletic Association and the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference offices.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Butler averaged 30.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists across the Lions' 2-0 week that consisted of road wins over a pair of MACCC foes during non-conference action. For the week, he shot 58.1 percent (25-43 FGs) from the field, including 42.1 percent (8-19 treys) from three-point range, to help EMCC remain unbeaten (6-0) on the year and break into this week's NJCAA Division I Top 25.

Butler opened the week by hitting 18-of-30 (60%) field goals, including 7-of-16 (44%) treys, and 2-of-3 (67%) free throws, along with adding five rebounds, two assists and a steal, in the Lions' 104-75 road win over the Northwest Rangers on Nov. 14. The two-time, all-conference performer then closed out his outstanding week by totaling 16 points, on 7-of-13 field goal shooting, seven rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and a steal during EMCC's 57-47 road victory over the Meridian Eagles on Nov. 17.

For the season, Butler is ranked 11th nationally and third in the MACCC with his team-best scoring average of 22.2 points per game through EMCC's first six contests. In addition to shooting 49.5 percent overall from the field, 31.7 percent from beyond the three-point arc and 63.2 percent from the charity stripe, he is also averaging 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest on the year.

This is Butler's second MACCC Player of the Week recognition, having previously earned the honor a year ago while helping lead the Lions to their second conference tournament championship in four years. During EMCC's successful three-day run through the 2022 MACCC Men's Basketball Tournament with wins over Northwest Mississippi (69-55), 16th-ranked and tournament host Pearl River (57-51) and No. 23 Northeast Mississippi (60-58), Butler averaged a team-leading 17.7 points as well as 8.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 blocked shots and 1.0 steals. He also connected on 56 percent (19-34 FGs) of his field goal attempts, including 10-of-18 (56%) three-point accuracy, during league tournament action last season.

A season ago, Butler was tabbed 2021-22 NJCAA All-Region 23 and All-MACCC First Team after averaging 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists an outing. As a freshman in 2020-21, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound guard garnered second-team, all-conference honors with per-game averages of 12.1 points and 4.4 rebounds. 

Coach Billy Begley's 6-0 EMCC Lions are slated to return to action on Nov. 28 by playing host to the Piney Woods School in a 6 p.m. tipoff at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus. The reigning conference tournament champions are then scheduled to finish out the calendar year with road outings against Hinds (Dec. 5), Jones (Dec. 8) and Shelton State (Dec. 12).