[2022-2023 MIAA Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its fifth MIAA Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week, presented by Shift Group, for the 2022-23 season.
 
MIAA Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week – Diego Bernard – Northwest Missouri
Diego Bernard was off the charts efficient in leading Northwest Missouri to a pair of home conference victories. Bernard shot 70.0 percent from the floor (92.3 percent from the line) and averaged 21.0 points per game along with 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals. The Bearcats senior guard went 7-of-11 from the field and tallied 19 points in an 84-74 win over Nebraska-Kearney. He drained all four of his free throw attempts handed our four assists and nabbed four steals against the Lopers. Bernard then buried 7-of-9 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws as he posted 23 points in a 64-49 win against Fort Hays State.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Artese Staleton – Lincoln
Artese Stapleton hit the game-winning jumper with 0.08 remaining to give the Blue Tigers their first road win over Central Missouri since 2016-17. Right before that play, Stapleton made an assist on the three-pointer that tied the game at 72, then had the defensive rebound that set up his game-winning basket. Stapleton led all scorers with 24 points and had seven rebounds as well as five assists.
 
Joey Saracco – Rogers State
Joey Saracco led the Hillcats to two victories at home this week, shooting 68.8 percent from the field and averaging 20.5 points per game with 8.5 rebounds per game. In the 75-68 upset win over No. 16-ranked ESU, Saracco posted his second-straight double-double of the year dropping 19 points and 11 rebounds with three assists. He led the Hillcats to a 17-point comeback with 22 points and six rebounds as well as two blocks and two steals.
 
Christian Bundy – Missouri Southern
Christian Bundy helped the Lions to a 2-0 week as he averaged a double-double, posting 12.5 points and 12 rebounds per game, while shooting 47.0 percent from the field and averaging 1.5 steals per game. In Edmond, Bundy helped the Lions secure a 56-50 win against the previously unbeaten Bronchos as he scored nine points and pulled down 14 rebounds. In the game with Newman, Bundy added 16 points and ten rebounds.
 
ALSO NOMINATED
Owen Long (Emporia State), Kaleb Hammeke (Fort Hays State), Camryn Givens (Central Oklahoma), Mikel Henderson (Central Missouri)
 
ABOUT SHIFT GROUP
Shift Group is a training and recruiting platform placing talented, retired collegiate and professional athletes in high caliber Software Sales positions. Athletes spend their lives engaging in team-based activities where they are rewarded for performance-based outcomes. Competitive drive, work ethic, and the desire to win are innate qualities of those performing at elite levels. Athletes at this level must have discipline, resilience, and grit. These are the intangible parts of any elite athlete’s identity. When combined with confidence, curiosity, and coachability, these traits separate great athletes – and great salespeople. Salesmanship can be taught. It requires the right attitude, habits, and skills – learned, practiced, and repeated in the right environment in order to be mastered. Once an athlete finishes Shift Group training, they get access to hiring managers at Startups, Fortune 500’s, and other organizations building out sales teams across the globe – with the Shift Group team coaching them through every step of the process.