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Oklahoma G Payton Verhulst Named SEC Player of the Week

The Sooners' senior guard hit a buzzer-beater to force overtime and finished with a 29-point triple double in OU's loss to Duke last week.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma guard Payton Verhulst
Oklahoma guard Payton Verhulst / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Oklahoma’s Payton Verhulst became the first SEC player since at least 1999 to post a triple-double last week. Now she’s the SEC Co-Player of the Week.

Verhulst, a former transfer from Louisville, had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against then-No. 13 Duke in OU’s lone contest of the week, a 109-99 loss in Henderson, NV.

Her triple-double was the fourth in OU history and first since Courtney Paris in 2006. In NCAA history, Verhulst’s 29 points were the second-most in a triple-double against a top-25 team since 1999, trailing only Caitlin Clark’s 30 against Ohio State in March 2023. Her exploits included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as time expired to send the top-15 matchup to overtime.

It’s the first weekly conference honor of Verhulst’s career in any of the three conferences she has played (ACC, Big 12, SEC).

Verhulst is the second Sooner to claim SEC Player of the Week honors as center Raegan Beers was the SEC, AP and USBWA accolades for week one this season.

LSU’s Aneesah Morrow shared this week’s honor with Verhulst, averaging 18.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in a couple of LSU wins last week. Texas’ Justice Carlton and South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards were named SEC Co-Freshmen of the Week.

The No. 11-ranked Sooners take on No. 22 Louisville, Verhulst’s former school, on Wednesday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2 in the SEC/ACC Challenge in Louisville.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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