For those who contend the victors should get the spoils, the Mountain West’s all-conference teams and special awards are in line with the thinking.
Conference champion Brigham Young was right on with Dave Rose selected as coach of the year, senior forward Keena Young chosen player of the year and Jonathan Tavernari named freshman of the year.
Young snapped the two-year hold on player of the year honors by Brandon Heath of San Diego State, but both were picked for the first team.
The Cougars, the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament that gets underway today at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, gained three selections among the top 15 players selected. Center Trent Plaisted was selected to the second team and guard Lee Cummard to the third team.
The top part of the conference standings was reflected in rounding out the first team, with Air Force’s Dan Nwaelele and UNLV’s Wendell White. Colorado State junior center Jason Smith rounds out the first team.
“I’ll try for three in a row,” said Smith, who was the league’s 2005 freshman of the year and all-MWC first team as a sophomore. “First team is quite an accomplishment. It lets you know the hard work in practice pays off.”
Plaisted was joined on the second team by Air Force’s Jacob Burtschi, Wyoming’s Brandon Ewing, San Diego State’s Mohamed Abukar and UNLV’s Wink Adams.
Different world
Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik said the plight of New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay and Utah coach Ray Giacoletti could happen to anyone. McKay and Giacoletti are coaching their teams in the tournament, but neither is returning next season.
“Unfortunately this is a business of ‘what have you done for me lately?”‘ Bzdelik said. “I haven’t done much lately myself. Let’s hope I’m not a third casualty.”
McKay and Giacoletti said it was business as usual in preparing for the tournament. New Mexico faces TCU tonight in the first round, while Utah takes on UNLV in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Three and counting
Conference commissioner Craig Thompson continued to hype the idea the MWC could get four teams in the NCAA Tournament. After talking with several selection committee members, Thompson remained positive about BYU, UNLV and Air Force getting in. But he also added that San Diego State is generating interest. The Aztecs have beaten BYU, UNLV and Air Force down the stretch in conference play.
“If we talk about the NCAA Tournament, we better be playing on Saturday,” San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said of the championship game. “We’ve won 21 games. It’s not bad, but there are a lot of teams out there. We’re not focusing so much on the NCAA as the Mountain West Tournament.”
Footnotes
For the first time, all games of this week’s men’s and women’s basketball tournament in Las Vegas will be available live on-demand through an exclusive special broadband pay-per-view offer. CSTV Networks Inc., The Mtn., Versus and the conference jointly announced the plan. The viewing can be purchased on www.TheMWC.com. … CSU guard Tyler Smith, who missed Saturday’s season finale, returned to practice Monday after suffering flulike symptoms.
Staff writer Natalie Meisler contributed to this report.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
