Grant Stubblefield and his Omaha Men's Basketball teammates knew they would be adding a game-changing player to its lineup at some point this season.

The Mavericks just had to wait until Paul Djobet was able to suit up for games.

"We knew what we were getting with Paul before he was even eligible. He was killing us in practice, so we knew he was going to be a big piece," said Stubblefield, Omaha's starting point guard. "He's a hard worker and we're going to lean on him a lot."

The 6-foot-7 Djobet, who primarily came off the bench for Miami the previous two seasons, joined the Mavericks in the fall.

Djobet's first game as a Maverick came just before Christmas. In that overtime win at Lamar, the guard immediately showed his offensive prowess, scoring 16 of his 22 points before halftime.

He hasn't slowed down since. He's scored 22 or more points in seven of the 11 games he's played as a Maverick and also has recorded four double-doubles.

He's had double-doubles in each of the past three games, and he was named the Summit League player of the week on Tuesday.

"We knew he had talent. We knew he could do a lot of different things. He can score at all three levels," head coach Chris Crutchfield said. "He's got a mid-range and he can shoot the three. In this league, those kind of guys are hard to guard."

Such was the case in last Saturday's game at Denver when he turned in game-deciding plays in crunch time.

Omaha trailed that night by 13 in the second half, but Djobet scored 18 of his career-high 27 points after halftime. In the final two minutes, he had three-point plays on consecutive possessions, turning a one-point Omaha lead into a 77-70 advantage. The Mavericks went on to win by two.

"I'm just trying to play my role and do what the team and the coaching staff expects me to do," Djobet said. "But most important is to get wins."

The more games he plays, Crutchfield said, the more comfortable Djobet is with Omaha's offensive system. With his size, Djobet is able to post up smaller guards and take advantage of his touch inside of 15 feet.

"He's at a point now that he understands how we're going to use him," Crutchfield said.

Djobet spent the fall semester learning Omaha's style of play and building bonds with his new teammates.

"It's like a brotherhood. We all hang out outside the court," said Djobet, who is from France but played his high school ball in Georgia and Florida. "I feel once you have chemistry off the court it comes naturally on the court."

Omaha was on Djobet's radar well before he transferred. When he's not on the court, he said one thing he likes is watching basketball. And last season he followed the Mavericks' run to the NCAA tournament.

That squad was guided by Summit League player of the year Marquel Sutton, who took advantage of his size and was moved around to different spots by the coaching staff to create offensive opportunities.

Crutchfield believes Djobet is playing himself into the conversation as a Summit player of the year candidate. In conference games, Djobet is second in the league in scoring, third in rebounding while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 80 percent from the foul line.

Djobet and the Mavericks, who are fourth in the Summit standings, will be tested on the road this week. They play at the league's top two teams, North Dakota and North Dakota State.

"We're focused on playing better defense for 40 minutes, getting better on that end of the floor," Djobet said.