Hustling is usually a thankless job, which is why this award is even sweeter for Pierce Hornung.
"Mr. Hustle" is the heart and soul of the CSU Rams; he fights, claws, dives, wrestles and flies everywhere for loose balls, rebounding with a reckless abandon that gives him an attitude many opponents can't hang with.
He put that extraordinary effort on display this week, leading his Rams to a 4-0 record and the Continental Tire Las Vegas Championship.
To start the week, Hornung did nearly everything in the victory over North Florida; he scored 13, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out three dimes, had two blocks and steal. Two nights later, he was part of the inside presence that ruled the visiting Roadrunners in the paint.
Hornung was huge Saturday night against Portland, scoring a career-high 24 points with a game-high 11 rebounds, pushing the Rams to the tournament's championship game.
In that championship game, Hornung played one of the best games of his collegiate life, scoring a team-high 18 points on 86.7 percent shooting and ripping 10 rebounds from the sky in CSU's blowout win over Virginia Tech Sunday.
Over the four games he averaged 16.3 points on 71.4 percent shooting with nine rebounds per contest, it was enough to win him MVP of the tournament and Mountain West Conference Player of the Week.
This is Hornung's first Player of the Week honor, and the team's third of the season after center Colton Iverson won two of the first three weeks of the season.
The phenomenal play last week pushed his averages into double-double territory, as he's putting up 10.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this year.
It looks like Hornung has finally bounced back from the concussion-like symptoms he was suffering from, and Mr. Hustle is back on his grind.
Watch out, Mountain West Conference foes, Mr. Hustle will see you soon.
Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist. You can follow Rich on twitter or facebook for all your CSU Rams news and opinion.
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