UNLV forward Christian Wood motions that he’s eating up the Wyoming defense Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 | 10:15 a.m.
The Rebel Room
Conference Tournament Week
Four men's conference basketball tournaments take over three Las Vegas arenas this week, including the Mountain West tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center. Las Vegas Sun sports writers Ray Brewer and Taylor Bern discuss UNLV's outlook as the No. 7 seed.
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UNLV has the Mountain West's Freshman of the Year for the second time in three years, sophomore Christian Wood, the only player to average a double-double in league play, was named to the second team and freshman Goodluck Okonoboh was put on the All-Defensive team, the Mountain West announced today.
There were two postseason ballots released this season because the media released one Sunday after learning that coaches had removed it from the postseason voting process. However, the ballot released today, which was voted on by the league's 11 head coaches, is the official one. Coaches couldn't vote for their own players.
Boise State's Derrick Marks, James Webb III and Leon Rice took the Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively. The Broncos are ranked in the Associated Press poll for the first time in program history and open the Mountain West tournament Thursday as the No. 1 seed.
Wood was a first-team selection by the media but was bumped out by San Diego State's JJ O'Brien by the coaches. In league play, Wood ranked second in rebounds and blocks, fifth in points and field-goal percentage, sixth in free-throw percentage and 10th in minutes played.
Freshman Rashad Vaughn was the frontrunner for Freshman of the Year when his season ended Feb. 10 because of a knee injury against Fresno State. What he had accomplished before then — 18.3 points, five rebounds and 1.8 assists per game — was enough for the coaches to give him the award. He's the second Rebel and second Findlay Prep product to win the award in three years (Anthony Bennett), though it had a strange twist.
Vaughn didn't make any of the three all-league teams but won the award over Utah State freshman David Collette, who was a third-team honoree. The media poll had the same quirk in reverse, with Vaughn snatching the final third-team spot and Collette getting Freshman of the Year.
Okonoboh was a rim protector and defensive force all season, and if he continues to progress, he'll be considered a frontrunner for the overall Defensive Player of the Year next season. Here are the full awards, first the official All-Mountain West teams and then the media's ballot. You can see what the Sun and Review-Journal submitted here:
ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST
San Diego State forward J.J. O'Brien gets ready to shoot over UNLV forward Goodluck Okonoboh during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game won 53-47 by San Diego State Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
First Team
G — Derrick Marks, Sr, Boise State
F — J.J. Avila, Sr, Colorado State
G — Marvelle Harris, Jr, Fresno State
F — Larry Nance Jr., Sr, Wyoming
F — JJ O’Brien, Sr, San Diego State
Second Team
F — James Webb III, So, Boise State
G — Daniel Bejarano, Sr, Colorado State
F — Winston Shepard, Jr, San Diego State
F — Christian Wood, So, UNLV
G/F — Jalen Moore, So, Utah State
Third Team
F — AJ West, Jr, UNR
G — Hugh Greenwood, Sr, New Mexico
G — Aqeel Quinn, Sr, San Diego State
F — David Collette, Fr, Utah State
G — Josh Adams, Jr, Wyoming
Boise State forward James Webb III (23) has his shot blocked by UNLV forward Goodluck Okonoboh (11) on Wednesday, February, 18. 2015. L.E. Baskow
All-Defensive Team*
• Webb
• Harris
• O'Brien
• Skylar Spencer, Jr, San Diego State
• Goodluck Okonoboh, Fr, UNLV
• Nance
*There was a tie in the voting, so there are two defensive players of the year and six members of the all-defensive team.
Honorable Mention — Marek Olesinski, Sr, Air Force; Stanton Kidd, Sr, Colorado State; Rashad Vaughn, Fr, UNLV; Chris Smith, Jr, Utah State
Player of the Year: Marks
Coach of the Year: Leon Rice
Freshman of the Year: Vaughn
Sixth Man of the Year: John Gillon, Colorado State
Newcomer of the Year: Webb
Defensive Player of the Year: Spencer and Nance
MEDIA BALLOT
First Team
G — Derrick Marks, Sr, Boise State
F — Larry Nance Jr., Sr, Wyoming
F — J.J. Avila, Sr, Colorado State
F — Christian Wood, So, UNLV
G — Marvelle Harris, Jr, Fresno State
UNLV's Patrick McCaw puts up a reverse layup as Utah State's Jalen Moore defends during an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, in Logan, Utah.
Second Team
F — James Webb III, So, Boise State
G/F — Jalen Moore, So, Utah State
F — AJ West, Jr, UNR
F — Winston Shepard, Jr, San Diego State
F — JJ O’Brien, Sr, San Diego State
Third Team
G — Daniel Bejarano, Sr, Colorado State
G — Hugh Greenwood, Sr, New Mexico
G — Josh Adams, Jr, Wyoming
G — Aqeel Quinn, Sr, San Diego State
G — Rashad Vaughn, Fr, UNLV
Honorable Mention — David Collette, Fr, Utah State; Pat McCaw, Fr, UNLV; Deshawn Delaney, Sr, New Mexico; Stanton Kidd, Sr, Colorado State; Rashad Muhammad, So, San Jose State; Chris Smith, Jr, Utah State; Marek Olesinski, Sr, Air Force
Player of the Year: Marks
Coach of the Year: Leon Rice
Freshman of the Year: Collette
Sixth Man of the Year: John Gillon, Colorado State
Newcomer of the Year: Webb
Defensive Player of the Year: Skylar Spencer, Jr, San Diego State
Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.
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