INDIANAPOLIS – With league play officially underway, Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week honors were awarded on Monday. 
 
A trio of teams have started 2-0 in the Great Midwest schedule, Hillsdale, Lake Erie and Walsh. Surprisingly, No. 9 Findlay is not quite in the mix after the Oilers were handed their first loss of 2018-19 by Cedarville.
 
Cedarville’s marquee victory placed the Yellow Jackets in a solid group of teams at 1-1 including UF, defending conference tourney champ Ohio Dominican and Malone. Kentucky Wesleyan, polled last in the preseason coaches balloting, won its league opener. 
 
Hillsdale won both games on the road at Cedarville and Tiffin while Lake Erie, No. 7 seed and conference tourney finalist last season, convincingly beat Alderson Broaddus and Davis & Elkins at home. 
 
Walsh upended ODU in an overtime finish before almost scoring 100 vs. Ohio Valley. 
 
Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week
JT Shumate
Walsh
Forward
Freshman
Newark, OH (Newark HS)
 
At 6-7, 205, the measurables of Shumate are strikingly similar to last year’s do-it-all first team all-conference forward Chandler Vaudrin, the nation’s triple-doubles leader. Vaudrin transferred to Winthrop, but Shumate’s skill set is tantalizing as his clone. 
 
Shumate has burst on to the scene as a freshman while helping the Cavaliers and head coach Jeff Young’s program to a share of the lead in the conference standings early on. 
 
The rookie forward averaged 24.5 points per game in a pair of WU wins while knocking down 19-of-29 shots from the field (.655). 
 
He was dialed in from deep, hitting 8-for-14 tries from three-point territory, and chipped in 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals, per contest.
 
Shumate scored 23 of his 25 points in regulation against Ohio Dominican on Nov. 29, including the game-tying layup with seven seconds left to force OT. He made 10-of-18 shots from the field and added six boards, three blocked shots and a pair of steals. 

He continued to sizzle from the field, missing just two of his 11 shot attempts against Ohio Valley. Shumate was perfect from deep while going 5-for-5 and he filled out the box score with seven rebounds, two assists, two more blocks and a theft. 
 
Shumate is currently sixth in the Great Midwest in scoring (17.6 ppg), second in blocks (2.0), tied for eighth in rebounding (8.0) and 11th in field goal percentage (.505).