Players of the Week

Hotshot freshman and Indiana recruit recently named to the 2014 USA Junior National Select team leads third group of Student Sports National Player of the Week honorees in 2014. These honorees are chosen based on performances from games played from Jan. 13-Jan. 18 and they are based on the same regional breakdowns as our regional Top 20 team rankings.

RELATED: Updated FAB 50 National Rankings

Student Sports National
Players of the Week

East
Zach Gould (Riverside, Ellwood City, Pa.)

Talk about a turnaround performance. Gould led Riverside to an 84-67 win last week over Neshannock (Pa.) to reverse an earlier 36-point loss to the same team.

Gould, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, connected on seven 3-point shots and poured in 45 points. His output also was helped by him making 14-of-14 from the free throw line.

So far this season, Gould is averaging 22.1 points per game.

Southeast
Brandon Campbell (Fletcher, Charlotte, N.C.)

We didn’t start out this week looking for huge outings in avenging wins, but found another good one from Campbell.

The 6-foot-4 senior swingman helped his team bounce back from a loss in its previous game and from a loss earlier in the season to Comenius of Fort Mill (S.C.) by rolling up 40 points for the Falcons in a 80-79 win over Comenius, which won earlier 91-58.

Campbell, who is averaging 31.8 points per game on the season, also had 10 rebounds, six steals and six assists. He scored 26 points in his other outing during the week.

Midwest
James Blackmon Jr.(Marion, Ind.)

Since pumping in 54 points in his first game at Marion this season after his transfer from Bishop Luers of Fort Wayne, Blackmon Jr. has continued his prolific scoring.

Blackmon Jr., a 6-foot-3 guard averaging a whopping 35.7 points per game, racked up 40 last week in a 98-64 triumph against Logansport. He then hit for 32 to lead Marion past Mississinewa, 80-46.

Blackmon Jr. is now playing at Marion for his father, head coach and 1983 McDonald’s All-American James Blackmon Sr. In fact, the previous school record holder with 52 points for a single game was James Sr.

James Jr. will play next at Indiana and was recently selected to play for the USA Junior National Select team at the 2014 Nike Hoop Summit.

Southwest
Michael Daum (Kimball, Neb.)

This 6-foot-9 senior center with outside shooting skills is the leading reported scorer in Nebraska so far this season with 26 points per game.

Daum, who signed with South Dakota State, had 37 points and 17 rebounds last week in a 65-53 victory against Bridgeport that matched two of the top small school squads in the state. He then came back to score 41 points with 14 rebounds and made 6-of-11 on 3-pointers as Kimball blew out Gordon/Rushville 73-55.

Both of Daum’s parents played collegiately at the University of Wyoming – father, Mitch, in football and mother Michele in basketball.

West
Marcus Shaver (St. Mary’s, Phoenix, Ariz.)

Longtime West Coast hoops’ guru Frank Burlison of BurlisonOnBasketball.com wrote recently that Shaver might be the best freshman point guard in the West. The youngster certainly has been looking that good – even better – in recent weeks.

The 6-foot-1 Shaver notched an even 100 points in three games last week and was chosen as the Arizona Republic’s Player of the Week. He also improved his scoring average to 24.9 ppg.

The week began with 31 points, three assists and three steals in a 74-42 win over Maryvale of Phoenix. Up next came a 42-point, eight-assist, four-steal line as St. Mary’s topped Tolleson 80-62. It ended with 27 points, four assists and six steals in a 54-46 win against Brophy Prep.