DENVER UTEP guard/forward Omar Thomas has been named the Western Athletic Conference mens basketball player of the week for December 22-28.
Thomas, a junior from Philadelphia (Panola College), was named the MVP of the Sierra Providence SunClassic after helping the Miners beat Mississippi Valley State and Rutgers over the weekend. He began the week with 12 points and six rebounds in a victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last Monday. On Saturday, he scored 24 points and had five rebounds while making 12-of-15 free throws against Mississippi Valley State. Against Rutgers in the championship game, he scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and pulled down nine boards. For the week, he averaged 18.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and hit 65.4 percent of his shots from the floor. It was Thomas first ever WAC Player of the Week award and first for a Miner since March 5, 2001.
The other nominations were junior forward Jason Ellis, Boise State; freshman forward/center Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech; junior guard Kirk Snyder, Nevada; junior forward Michael Harris, Rice; and senior guard Jason Parker, Tulsa.
-WAC-