Lamar State forward Roman Vaughn is NJCAA Division I Player of the Week

[LamarStatesports]

Lamar State College-Port Arthur forward Roman Vaughn has been selected as the NJCAA’s Division I Player of the Week.

The 6’-3” sophomore from Port Arthur is the only Region XIV player to earn that honor this season.

Over the past three games, Vaughn averaged 24 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per contest.

He shot 62 percent from the field and 63 percent at the charity stripe.

Vaughn’s best effort came this past Saturday at home against Angelina College, when he scored 24 points and added six rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Lamar State head coach Matt Cross said Vaughn deserved the recognition for his dedication and work ethic.

“I could not be more proud of Roman,” Cross said. “He came to us a year ago as a walk-on and worked his way to being a starter this year and one of the top offensive players in the conference. Roman works tirelessly on his game, and this award really is just a culmination of all his hard work. He is such a great kid and really deserving of the selection. He certainly has caught the attention of a lot of senior college coaches, and I believe he has a bright future on the next level”

Vaughn played football and basketball at Monsignor Kelly High School in Beaumont, where he was a 5A first team All-State selection and a finalist for the 2009 James Gamble “Mr. Inside” Award.

He caught on with Lamar State after an open tryout in the fall of 2009 and played in 30 games, scoring in double figures in 14 of those contests, including three double-doubles.

Vaughn averaged 8.5 points per game as a freshman, finishing eighth in the conference in field goal accuracy at 55.6 percent.

“This kid should be playing wide receiver at the NCAA Division I level, but he did not qualify out of high school. So, he decided to come here and play the sport he loves the most.” Cross said. “I am so grateful he made that decision.”

Vaughn will play his final home game as a Seahawk this Saturday, when Lamar State closes the regular season against Tyler Junior College at 1 p.m. in the Carl Parker Center.