Mid-Major Madness Player of the Week (Jan 16-22): Loyola Marymount guard Cam Shelton

For the week of Jan. 16 - 22, Mid-Major Madness has selected Loyola Marymount guard Cam Shelton as the Mid-Major Player of the Week after an elite performance against nationally ranked No. 6 Gonzaga to snap the Bulldogs 75-game home unbeaten run.

Having transferred in from Northern Arizona after the 2020-21 season, Shelton was a two-time All-Big Sky selection. Now, in year two with the Lions, he’s averaging a team leading 18.9 PPG and 4.5 APG while playing 35.3 minutes per game.

On Thursday night with the Lions sitting 3-3 in West Coast Conference play, coming off a win against San Diego, Shelton managed 27 points, nine rebounds, and two assists while shooting 50% from 3 and tying a career-high of 11 field goals to help take down Gonzaga on the road.

Additionally, Shelton’s go-ahead layup with about 14.7 seconds remaining earned Loyola Marymount the 68-67 win, which marked the Lions first victory against a ranked opponent since 1961 and the program’s first win over Gonzaga since 2010.

For his standout showing against a national powerhouse in the Bulldogs, Shelton was honored as the WCC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week with LMU notching a 14-7 record, 4-3 in conference play, and now sitting fourth in the WCC standings.

It’s been a while since Loyola Marymount’s last NCAA Tournament bid with the program finding lots of success in the late 1980’s on three consecutive appearances from 1988-90.

However, under head coach Stan Johnson and his cast of well-developed talent, the Lions have a real chance at NCAA Tournament prestige coming from a conference that arguably deserved a fourth bid last year.

Honorable Mentions:

Max Fiedler (Rice) - The 6-foot-10 forward opened the week with a 24 point, 13 rebound, 11 assist triple-double for a win over UTSA and finished out with 18 points, four rebounds, and four assists to defeat North Texas and earn Conference USA Player of the Week.

DeAndre Williams (Memphis) - Managing 29 points and 15 rebounds for a double-double in a win versus Wichita State before 26 points, eight rebounds, and three assists to help defeat Cincinnati, the former Evansville transfer was awarded AAC Player of the Week.

Ben Sheppard (Belmont) - Averaged 23 points, six rebounds, and 3.5 assists in back-to-back wins over Murray State and Bradley while shooting 74% from three-point range and hitting the game-winning shot for a 78-76 victory over the Braves.