Darius Acuff Jr. was named the Oscar Robertson National High-Major Player of the Month for March by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, according to an April 15 announcement.
Acuff’s recognition comes after a strong finish to his college basketball career, where he averaged 29.6 points per game in March and helped lead Arkansas to an SEC Tournament championship and a run to the NCAA Sweet 16.
Throughout February and March, Acuff played in 14 games, averaging 28.4 points and 6.8 assists while shooting over 48 percent from three-point range. He scored at least 20 points in all but one of those games, including five performances with more than 30 points and a standout game with 49 points against Alabama. His postseason included double-doubles against Texas and Vanderbilt during key tournament matchups.
Acuff’s season accolades include winning the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard, being a unanimous first-team All-American by several organizations, and earning both SEC Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year honors—a rare achievement previously matched only by Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (2012) and Alabama’s Brandon Miller (2023). He set Arkansas single-season records for both points (845) and assists (232), ranking ninth on each respective Southeastern Conference list for single-season totals.
He also became just the second player in SEC history—alongside Pete Maravich—to lead the league in both scoring and assists within a season. Nationally, Acuff ranked third in NCAA Division I men’s basketball for scoring average (23.47 points per game) while leading all freshmen except one across major statistical categories.
His performance helped Arkansas secure its second-ever SEC Tournament title—the first since 2000—and achieve its highest win total since the mid-1990s with a trip to this year’s NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
