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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its fourth 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 – Kaleb Hammeke – Fort Hays State
Kaleb Hammeke had a big week helping Fort Hays State to a 2-0 start in MIAA play with home wins over Northeastern State and Rogers State. Hammeke scored a career-high 36 points in a 96-87 overtime win against the RiverHawks, scoring 24 points in the second half and then another six in overtime. He went 13-of-18 from the field with four three-point field goals and was 6-of-8 at the free-throw line. In the 10-point win against the Hillcats (65-55), Hammeke scored 14 of his team-high 23 points at the free throw line. He went 8-of-8 at the free-throw line inside the final 70 seconds of the game to help hold off any chance of a late RSU rally. For the week, Hammeke averaged 29.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Kaden Evans – Emporia State
Kaden Evans led No. 23-ranked Emporia State to two more wins and a 7-0 record to start the season. Evans scored 19 points with a career high nine rebounds in the Hornets 110-66 win over Saint Mary in White Auditorium. The sophomore guard then scored 14 points with five rebounds as ESU defeated Washburn 74-63 in Topeka. It was the Hornets first win in Lee Arena since Feb. 23, 2011.
 
Deshaun English II – Pittsburg State
Deshaun English II averaged 14.7 points and 14.7 rebounds per game as Pittsburg State posted a 1-2 record in the opening week of MIAA play. The Pittsburg, Kan., native tied a 56-year-old school record with 23 rebounds, to go along with 17 points and three blocked shots, in the Gorillas 66-54 win over Lincoln. English posted another double-double with 10 points and 17 rebounds in a last-second 66-65 loss to Missouri Western. English finished the week with 17 points and four rebounds in a 73-62 loss to No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri.
 
Jaden Wells – Central Oklahoma
Jaden Wells led No. 7-ranked Central Oklahoma to a pair of wins on opening weekend in the MIAA. The sharpshooter third-year sophomore averaged 20.5 points per game and sank eight three-pointers for the week. Wells scored 22 in a win at UCM before posting 19 in a win at Lincoln. He shot 50 percent from the floor overall, 53.3 percent from behind the arc, and 87.5 percent from the free-throw line. Wells also averaged 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game.
 
Diego Bernard – Northwest Missouri
Diego Bernard averaged 19.5 points and shot 56.0 percent from the field in a two Northwest road wins over conference foes. Bernard tied his career high with 25 points in the 72-45 win at MSSU. Bernard went 11-of-17 from the floor against the Lions. He also added four assists, three rebounds, a block and a steal. Bernard then notched a 14-point effort in a 73-62 triumph over PSU. Bernard grabbed four boards to go along with a block, a steal and an assist against the Gorillas.
 
ALSO NOMINATED
Taye Fields (Missouri Western), Joey Saracco (Rogers State), Jack Chapman (Central Missouri), Vinson Sigmon Jr. (Missouri Southern), Ryder Kirsch (Nebraska Kearney), Artese Staleton (Lincoln)
 
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.