FRISCO, Texas – Nicholls forward Diante Smith has been named the Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week as announced Monday by the conference office. Smith takes home players of the week honors for the second time this season due to his late game heroics.
Men's Player of the Week: Diante Smith, Nicholls – F – Sr. – Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (Choctawhatchee)
Diante Smith averaged 24.5 points and came through with clutch shot after clutch shot, leading Nicholls to a pair of overtime victories on the road. Smith scored 20 points at UIW capped by consecutive putbacks in OT and the go-ahead bucket with 1:44 remaining in the eventual 78-74 victory. On Saturday against A&M-Commerce, he hit the game-tying three-pointer with 30 seconds to go to force overtime, then delivered another three with a second left to send the game into double OT. Smith finished with a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double while making 5 of 8 from behind the arc.
2023-24 Southland Men's Basketball Players of the Week
| Date |
Player of the Week |
| Nov. 13 |
Jamal West Jr., Nicholls |
| Nov. 20 |
Adam Hamilton, Lamar |
| Nov. 27 |
Jordan Johnson, New Orleans |
| Dec. 4 |
Shahada Wells, McNeese |
| Dec. 11 |
Dayne Prim, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
| Dec. 18 |
DJ Richards, McNeese |
| Jan. 2 |
Shahada Wells, McNeese |
| Jan. 8 |
Diante Smith, Nicholls |
| Jan. 15 |
Jordan Johnson, New Orleans |
| Jan. 22 |
Garry Clark, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
| Jan. 29 |
Diante Smith, Nicholls |
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.