KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced a new Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week award winner in week 13 of the 2025-26 season. The Mules collected their fourth-straight Athlete of the Week award with Central Missouri’s Lazerek Houston named the back-to-back MIAA Athlete of the Week.
MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Lazerek Houston, Central Missouri
Lazerek Houston has been crowned the MIAA Athlete of the Week for the third time in the past four weeks. The freshman guard helped the Mules to a pair of home victories this past weekend over the Northeastern State RiverHawks and No. 25-ranked Arkansas-Fort Smith. In Central Missouri’s 92-65 win against the RiverHawks last Thursday (Feb. 12), Houston finished with 21 points and a game-high seven assists. He then recorded a game-best 18 points on 7-of-11 from the field (64 percent), including 3-of-5 (60 percent) from beyond the arc, all highlighted by an alley-oop dunk that was a SportsCenter Top-10 play in the Mules’ 80-52 upset over the ranked Lions. Houston totaled 39 points on the week and added nine assists, while shooting 57.7 percent and 50 percent from three-point range.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
Jabryn Anderson, Rogers State
Senior Jabryn Anderson led the Hillcats to a pivotal 75-59 win over Central Oklahoma on Saturday, finishing with a team-leading 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting, including a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc. He also added five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block in Rogers State’s only game of the week.
Royce Williams, Northwest Missouri
Royce Williams averaged 21.0 points, 6.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals as Northwest Missouri went 1-1 in road MIAA play. The senior guard shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field in the two games. He posted a team-high 24 points, dished out five assists, grabbed six rebounds and drained a trio of three-pointers as Northwest won 81-74 at Missouri Southern. Williams then notched 18 points and handed out a career-high eight assists in a 68-67 last-minute loss at Pittsburg State.
Donald Coats, Pittsburg State
Donald Coats was the only MIAA player to average a double-double in week 13 while helping the Gorillas to a 1-1 record while hosting Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri at home. The redshirt junior forward averaged 11.5 points and an MIAA-leading 13.0 rebounds per game while shooting 57.9 percent overall (11-of-19). He also added four assists, three blocks and one steal on the week.
ALSO NOMINATED:
Kendrick Gilbert [Nebraska Kearney], Jack Bachelor [Washburn], Josh Nwankwo [Central Oklahoma], Jahvari Martino [Fort Hays State], Tyrone Wright Jr. [Missouri Southern], Davin Bulter [Missouri Western], Cyrus Shaw [Newman]
WEEK ONE: Jaden Taylor, Missouri Southern
WEEK TWO: Dan Mukuna, Fort Hays State
WEEK THREE: Matthew Willenborg, Central Oklahoma
WEEK FOUR: Landon Short, Pittsburg State
WEEK FIVE: Dillon Claussen, Washburn
WEEK SIX: Jack Bachelor, Washburn
WEEK SEVEN: Brandon Scott, Arkansas-Fort Smith
WEEK EIGHT: Matthew Willenborg, Central Oklahoma
WEEK NINE: Matthew Willenborg, Central Oklahoma
WEEK TEN: Lazerek Houston, Central Missouri
WEEK ELEVEN: Jevon Hill, Central Missouri
WEEK TWELVE: Lazerek Houston, Central Missouri
WEEK THIRTEEN: Lazerek Houston, Central Missouri