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12 December 2025  5 min read

W/EABL Players of the Week (10 Dec 2025)

You can have your say on this week’s selections and give a shout-out to the players you think deserve one on the Academy League channels.

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How it works

Each week, a standout player plus four other worthy selections will be put forward to make the Player and Team Of The Week in both the EABL and WEABL, paying attention to the following criteria:

• Efficiency
• Stats
• Team and opposition strength
• Periods of influence in the game
• Being on a winning team (exceptional performances from players on losing teams will be considered for TOTW)

Players of the Week

A triple-double and a huge stat line in a monster comeback form this week's Academy POTW honours, with City of London Academy - Southwark's Toby Gass and Copleston High School's Kaiya Bateman both picking up awards.

Gass provided a massive 33 points, a game-high, and 22 more than his nearest team-mate, as CoLA roared back from a 20-point third quarter deficit to beat Itchen College 74-72.

The fightback involved a 24-9 final frame, with Gass providing seven of those points to go with his 14 total rebounds and three blocks. His haul came on 63% shooting (14/22 FGs), further proving his worth on a great afternoon for the young forward.

"I'm very happy I was able to execute my role well in the game," said Gass.

"It was a difficult start to the game but I'm very proud of how resilient the team was to fight back to help get another good result."

City of London Academy - Southwark Head Coach Jay Williams added: "Itchen were really tough and dominated us in the first half. I’m really happy for the boys as they stayed focused throughout the game, even being down 20, they stayed resilient and got the win.

"We played hard and played together and got some great shooting from our captain Toby Gass.

"There is lots to work on to get to where we want to be as a team but we are heading in the right direction."

The WEABL award goes to Copleston's Kaiya Bateman after she notched a triple-double in the 76-43 victory over Oaklands.

Bateman led her side with 10 assists, and a joint team-high four steals, adding a more than useful 14 points and 13 boards for a well-rounded stat line.

Bateman provided five points and two assists inside the opening 4:30 of what proved to be a 20-9 opening quarter for the Copleston, setting the platform for the hosts to lead from tip to buzzer.

"I'm really flattered to win this award, but it’s a team game and this was a reflection of everyone’s contribution to the win against a good Oaklands team," said Bateman.

"It’s a great league this year with loads of great players, and every week six or seven different girls could win this award."

Copleston Head Coach Nick Drane added: "Kaiya continues to develop and show her progress in all competitions. She’s a hard working and talented young lady with a bright future."

EABL Team of the Week

Toby Gass - City of London Academy - Southwark (33pts, 14reb, 3blk, 38eff)

Gavin Mitchell - Oaklands College (26pts, 17reb, 2ast, 5stl, 39eff)

Demi Babalola - Manchester Magic (18pts, 14reb, 6ast, 2blk, 27eff)

Zach Trezvant - Myerscough College (20pts, 2reb, 2ast, 19eff)

Zavier Gleadell-Smith - Charnwood College Riders (16pts, 14reb, 2stl, 2blk, 28eff)

Gass anchors this week's five, and is joined by a quartet of talented forwards for an all-frontcourt line up.

Gavin Mitchell continues to produce some huge stat lines, with this week's outing against Copleston proving to be no exception.

Demi Babalola also grabbed a solid double-double, adding six assist to his 18/14 effort as Manchester edged past Charnwood. 

Zach Trezvant's stats don't jump out quite as much as some of this week's selections but his 20 points came on 9/10 FGs, and were put together in just 16:56 of action, as Myerscough swept away SGS College.

The final spot goes to Charnwood's Zavier Gleadell-Smith. The young forward was on the wrong end of the final score against Magic but can have no complaints about his own levels of play as his double-double was easily the main contribution to the host's cause in the five-point defeat.

Honourable mentions

Isaac Carty-Peters - Copleston High School (29pts, 5reb, 2ast, 3stl, 22eff)
Dylan Gladstone - Oaklands Wolves (17pts, 13reb, 17eff)
Ethan Round - Itchen College (23pts, 5reb, 3stl, 13eff)
Tristan Curran - Charnwood College Riders (18pts, 9reb, 6ast, 18eff)
Harry Sheehan - Myerscough College (15pts, 4ast, 5stl, 17eff)

WEABL Team of the Week

Kaiya Bateman - Copleston High School (14pts, 13reb, 10ast, 4stl, 28eff)

Grace Nzeakor - Charnwood College Riders (23pts, 10reb, 4ast, 4stl, 30eff)

Maisie Keyes - Copleston High School (15pts, 15reb, 6ast, 4stl, 27eff)

Eva-Grace Yebila - City of London Academy - Southwark (16pts, 14reb, 20eff)

Aida Badiane - BMet City of Birmingham Rockets (13pts, 10reb, 2ast, 4stl, 16eff)

POTW Bateman is joined by team-mate Maisie Keyes as the duo, alongside honourable mentions Angel Whyte and Holly Ensoll, who gave Oaklands too much to handle in Wednesday's 76-43 victory.

Grace Nzeakor was unfortunate to miss out on POTW honours after her impressive showing in Charnwood's victory over BMet, who they themselves sent Aida Badiane to this week's team for her encouraging 13/10 double-double from the increasingly-competitive Rockets.

That just leaves Eva-Grace Yebila to round out this week's picks, providing a 16-point, 14-rebound double-double in a sub-20 minute cameo off the CoLA bench.

Honourable mentions

Ruby Donnelly - Charnwood College Riders (12pts, 5reb, 4ast, 2stl, 16eff)
Angel Whyte - Copleston High School (25pts, 6reb, 4ast, 2stl, 23eff)
Holly Ensoll - Copleston High School (11pts, 12reb, 2stl, 4blk, 17eff)

Main image credit - Richard Leach