KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its thirteenth Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week, presented by
Shift Group, for the 2023-24 season.
MIAA Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week – Darius Dawson, Missouri Southern
Darius Dawson helped the Lions to their first perfect week of the season. The junior averaged 24.5 points per game, scoring 27 in Southern’s 83-77 win over Lincoln and 22 in a 71-62 victory against Central Missouri. From the field, Dawson made 13-of-23 shots for a percentage of 56.5 percent. At the free throw line, he made 20 shots for 83.3 percent (20-of-24). Along with his 24.5 points per game, Dawson also snagged 7.0 rebounds per game and made 3.0 blocks per contest. Dawson is Missouri Southern's first MIAA Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week since Cam Martin in the 2021-22 season.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Elijah Nnanabu – Fort Hays State
Elijah Nnanabu averaged 20.5 points per game in leading the Tigers to a 2-0 week at home with wins over Newman and Central Oklahoma to remain in second place in the MIAA standings. Nnanabu scored a game-high 23 points in the 66-45 win over the Jets, going 9-of-14 from the field and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. In the close 66-62 win over the Bronchos, he had a team-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and a 5-of-6 effort at the free-throw line. Nnanabu did the majority of his damage in the second half of each contest, scoring 15 of his 23 against Newman and 12 of his 18 against Central Oklahoma.
Deshaun English II – Pittsburg State
Deshaun English II averaged 17.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.5 blocked shots in a pair of home victories for the Gorillas. The Pittsburg, Kan., native posted his ninth and 10th double-doubles of the season to help Pitt State finish the week on a six-game winning streak. English tied the Pitt State all-time record with six blocked shots and he added 14 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in the Gorillas 69-60 win over UCM. He then added 20 points and 13 rebounds in a 75-56 victory over Lincoln. For the week, English shot 63.6 percent from the field (14-of-22). He has posted 22 double-doubles in 50 career games for the Gorillas.
Mitch Mascari – Northwest Missouri
Mitch Mascari knocked in a league-best nine three-pointers and scored a career-high 27 points in a victory at Washburn. Mascari sank 9-of-12 three-point attempts and hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to close the first half in what eventually led to a three-point road win for the Bearcats. Mascari has made at least one 3-pointer in 13 consecutive teams. He leads the MIAA in three-point accuracy at 50.8 percent. (60-of-118).
ALSO NOMINATED
Atavian Butler (Emporia State), Isaac Johnson (Rogers State), Jaden Wells (Central Oklahoma)
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.
As part of this exclusive partnership, all MIAA student-athletes are able to sign up and utilize Shift Group's career training. For more information, please sign up at
theMIAA.com/Shift.
2023-24 MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
WEEK ONE: Jaden Wells, Central Oklahoma
WEEK TWO: Wes Dreamer, Northwest Missouri
WEEK THREE: Alijah Comithier, Emporia State
WEEK FOUR: Bennett Stirtz, Northwest Missouri
WEEK FIVE: Max Alexander, Pittsburg State
WEEK SIX: Jeramy Shaw, Pittsburg State
WEEK SEVEN: Darius Yohe, Emporia State
WEEK EIGHT: Jack Bachelor, Washburn
WEEK NINE: Deshaun English II, Pittsburg State
WEEK TEN: JaRon Thames, Missouri Western
WEEK ELEVEN: Bennett Stirtz, Northwest Missouri
WEEK TWELVE: Deshaun English II, Pittsburg State
WEEK THIRTEEN: Darius Dawson, Missouri Southern