LOUDONVILLE, NY – Fresh off Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors Monday, Siena Basketball standout Justice Shoats added national recognition Tuesday. Shoats has been honored as one of just five Division I players nationally by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association as an Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week.
 
Shoats joins JaKobe Coles (Grand Canyon), Tyson Dunn (Buffalo), Ty Johnson (UC Davis), and Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton) as one of the five honorees nationally for the Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week for the week ending Nov. 10.
 
Beginning last season, the USBWA expanded its National Player of the Week program, which has been affiliated with the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Year Trophy since the 2009-10 season, to include five Division I honorees weekly. Previously, the USBWA recognized just one player each week. Each Tuesday during the regular season, designated USBWA board members select five standouts from the 32 Division I Conference Players of the Week to be recognized.
 
Shoats came off the bench to lead Siena to a pair of exhilarating overtime victories last week to tip off the Gerry McNamara Era in exciting fashion. The Division II Lock Haven transfer averaged 27.0 points, 3.0 assists, and 3.0 steals, while shooting 51% from the field in wins over Brown and Bryant.
 
On Opening Night Monday, Shoats poured in a game-high 23 points while adding four steals in his Siena debut vs. Ivy League finalist Brown. The Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania product also dished out the go-ahead assist on the decisive basket in overtime, and finished things off with the game-ending defensive stop.
 
Shoats scored 22 of his collegiate career-high tying 31 points in the second half and overtime in a road triumph at perennial America East contender Bryant Friday night. The junior guard capped the victory with the game-winning free throws with 16.9 seconds remaining, and also recorded five assists, none bigger than on three-pointers on back-to-back possessions late which drew the Saints even and forced overtime.
 
Shoats and the Saints seek a 3-0 start when they return home to host American tonight at 7 p.m. at MVP Arena.