GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University forward Brandon Mitchell and middle blocker Tatum Thornton have been named the Zaxby's Athletes of the Week. Thornton earns this honor for a second time this year.
Mitchell, a junior from Virginia Beach, Virginia, averaged a double-double posting 14.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game for the Tusculum men's basketball team.
He tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds in Tusculum's 74-73 win over Young Harris in the Pioneers' home-opener. Mitchell followed that effort with nine points and eight boards in 20 minutes of play in TU's 81-79 loss to UNC Pembroke. He closed out the week with 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in an 85-80 loss to Lees-McRae.
Of his rebound total, he average eight offensive boards per contest. He also shot 55.2 percent from the floor and went 12-of-16 at the free throw line (75%) for the week.
Mitchell leads the South Atlantic Conference in rebounding averaging 10.4 boards per contest and is third on the team posting 13.8 points per game. He is also the conference's second-leading shot blocker averaging 2.4 rejections per contest.
Thornton, a senior from Ovilla, Texas crushed 18 kills on a .351 hitting percentage and added 10 total blocks as the Pioneers went 2-0 on the weekend with SAC home wins over Anderson and Newberry.
Tusculum downed Anderson for the first time since 2015 and blanked them for the first time in six seasons. Thornton posted six kills and five blocks in a 3-0 victory over the Trojans.
On her senior day against the Wolves, she recorded 12 kills, one off of her career-high, on a .455 clip and a career-high four solo blocks, alongside a block assist.
In her 28 matches this year, she is averaging 1.55 kills and 0.86 blocks per set (13th in SAC) while posting a .251 hitting percentage (14th in SAC).
The Tusculum University Athlete of the Week Award is sponsored by Zaxby's, located at 3280 Andrew Johnson Highway in Greeneville. The Zaxby's Athlete of the Week Award honors one male and one female athlete each week from an in-season sport.
2019-2020 Zaxby's Athletes of the Week
|
Week |
Male Athlete of the Week |
Female Athlete of the Week |
|
Sep. 5-8, 2019 |
Will Cronin (Cross Country) |
Nicole McMillen (Cross Country) |
|
Sep. 9-15, 2019 |
Yago Fernandez (Men's Tennis) |
Rory Church (Women's Tennis) |
|
Sep. 16-22, 2019 |
Jeffery Perez (Men's Golf) |
Gabby Gray (Women's Volleyball) |
|
Sep. 23-29, 2019 |
Henrique Devens (Men's Soccer) |
Carli Pigza (Women's Volleyball) |
|
Sep. 30-Oct. 6, 2019 |
Kyler Hodges (Cross Country) |
Nicole McMillen (Cross Country) |
|
Oct. 7-13, 2019 |
Nikola Vujicic (Men's Soccer) |
Danielle Breen (Women's Soccer) |
|
Oct. 14-20, 2019 |
David Johnson (Football) |
Annie & Caitlin McCullough (Tennis) |
|
Oct. 21-27, 2019 |
Henrique Devens (Men's Soccer) |
Nicole McMillen (Cross Country) |
|
Oct. 28-Nov. 3, 2019 |
Thurlow Wilkins (Football) |
Tatum Thornton (Women's Volleyball) |
|
Nov. 4-10, 2019 |
Trenton Gibson (Men's Basketball) |
Nicole McMillen (Cross Country) |
|
Nov. 11-17, 2019 |
Brandon Mitchell (Men's Basketball) |
Tatum Thornton (Women's Volleyball) |