Jeremiah Wilkinson's stock continues to rise, and he added to his hardware case Monday when the Cal freshman was named the ACC Rookie of the Week alongside Duke star Cooper Flagg.
Wilkinson made his first two starts last week as the Bears hosted Florida State and Miami, and the Georgia native was crucial to Cal's success in both games. He averaged 24 points in the two wins that helped the Bears run their winning streak to three games.
That included setting a new career high with 30 points against Miami in a 98-94 overtime win over the Hurricanes on Saturday at Haas Pavilion.
Wilkinson, who is averaging 13 points per game this season stepped into the starting lineup for leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic, who was dealing with an illness ahead of the game with the Seminoles last week and now his working through a hip injury that forced him to miss the game against Miami.
The lone signee for the Bears in this year's recruiting class has been a revelation as a freshman but had yet to crack the starting lineup as the primary spark off the bench for Cal through the first 18 games of the season.
His ability to create shots for himself and his teammates has been on display as well as his knack for getting to the free-throw line. Wilkinson is second only to Stojakovic (115) with 72 free-throw attempts this season.
He's connected on 79% of those attempts in 20 games.
Wilkinson previously shared the award with Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman back on Dec. 2 following a standout 25-point performance in a win over Mercyhurst as the freshman stepped into the spotlight with a few players out for the Bears.
Since then he has continued to shine as a reserve before stepping into a big role last week in his first two starts.
His play as of late has helped the Bears string together a few more wins in conference play and they now sit at one game under .500 in league play.
"It feels good," Wilkinson said about the recent surge for Cal. "That doesn't mean we stop here though. We gotta keep winning, keep moving up in the ACC, and winning is always the goal."
Cal (11-9, 4-5 ACC) will be back on the floor to face SMU on the road in Dallas Wednesday night before returning to Berkeley for a home games against Syracuse and NC State beginning Saturday.
