PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Boise State forward Reggie Larry has been named the Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball player of the week for November 5-11. This is the first WAC Player of the Week of the 2007-08 season.
Larry, a senior from Newark, N.J. (College of Southern Idaho), scored 20 points with 10 rebounds in the Broncos’ win last week. On Saturday, Larry led Boise State to an overtime win against Utah Valley with his five steals and a block. This is Larry’s second career WAC Player of the Week honor. Larry led all scorers for the Broncos and was tied for second with Matt Nelson with his 10 rebounds. He ended the game shooting 9-for-13 from the field and 1-for-3 from three-point range.
The other nominations were sophomore guard Kyle Gibson, Louisiana Tech; senior guard/forward Justin Hawkins, New Mexico State; and senior guard Jaycee Carroll, Utah State.
NEW MEXICO STATE TO HOST 2008 WAC TOURNAMENT ? Las Cruces and New Mexico State University will host the 2008 WAC Tournament, March 11-15. It will be the second year in a row that the event will be held at the Pan American Center. The tournament features all nine men’s and women’s teams.
WAC ON ESPN ? The WAC has a multi-year contract with ESPN for coverage of WAC football and basketball. The complete television schedule will be available at a later date.
O’REILLY ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS ? For the sixth year in a row, the WAC has partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters, a weekend men’s basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. All nine WAC teams will be a part of this year’s pool of teams. The event will be held February 22-24, and ESPN2 and ESPNU will present 11 games. The match-ups for Bracket Buster Saturday will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences about three weeks before the event.
CARROLL AND KEMP NAMED TO NAISMITH AND WOODEN WATCH LISTS ? Utah State’s Jaycee Carroll and Nevada’s Marcelus Kemp continue to receive national attention this fall and were recently named to the preseason watch list for the 2007-08 Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced. Last week, both were named one of 50 preseason candidates for the 2007-08 John R. Wooden Award.
The Naismith Trophy watch list, which consists of 50 players, was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selector’s, which based its preseason criteria on player performances from last season and expectations for the 2007-08 season. There were 17 seniors and 17 juniors on the preseason list, along with 16 sophomores. The list does not include incoming freshmen, although those student-athletes will be considered in the first vote in January, 2008. The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to college basketball’s player of the year.
KEEPING TRACK OF COACH MORRILL ? With two wins thus far this year, Utah State head coach Stew Morrill is now 215-76 (.739) in his 10th year at USU and is now just 10 wins shy of tying legendary coach E. Lowell Romney (1920-41) for the most wins in school history with 225. Coach Morrill is also just eight games shy of tying H. Cecil Baker (1951-61) for the second-most games coached in USU history with 299.
TOP PLAYERS RETURNING ? The WAC returns three of the five players named to last year’s all-WAC first team, but none from the second team. Marcelus Kemp (G, Nevada), Justin Hawkins (F, NMSU) and Jaycee Carroll (G, Utah State) all return for their senior seasons. Four of the five members of the all-newcomer team also return from last year: Reggie Larry (Sr., F, Boise State), Matt Nelson (Sr., F, Boise State), Hawkins, and Fred Peete (Sr., G, NMSU). Peete is the only returning member from last year’s all-defensive team. Boise State’s Anthony Thomas was last year’s WAC Freshman of the Year.
TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS ? WAC teams could face at least 18 non-conference opponents that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Boise State, Fresno State and New Mexico State are scheduled to play three of those teams, a WAC-high.
Utah State at Weber State, Nov. 10
New Mexico State at Duke, Nov. 12
Florida A&M at New Mexico State, Nov. 14 (Legends Classic)
Washington State at Boise State, Nov. 13
Idaho at Gonzaga, Nov. 13
Idaho at Washington State, Nov. 16
Illinois at Hawai?i, Nov. 16
Nevada at UNLV, Nov. 24
Louisiana Tech at Texas Tech, Dec. 5
Fresno State at UNLV, Dec. 8
Fresno State at Arizona, Dec. 16
San Jose State at Michigan State, Dec. 19
Boise State at Albany, Dec. 22
New Mexico State at Louisville, Dec. 22
Nevada at North Carolina, Dec. 27
Brigham Young at Boise State, Dec. 29
Oral Roberts at Utah State, Dec. 29
Fresno State at Stanford, Dec. 29
HAWKINS REACHES MILESTONE ? Senior guard/forward Justin Hawkins surpassed a major milestone and recorded 1,000 career points when he tied the game at 4-4 at the 18:59 mark at Duke on Nov. 12. Currently, he has 1,014 career points. Only 23 Aggies in school history have accomplished just a feat.
CARROLL CLOSING IN ON SEVERAL SCHOOL RECORDS ? Senior All-American guard Jaycee Carroll is closing in on several Utah State career records, including the school’s all-time scoring mark. Carroll is currently sixth all-time in USU history in scoring with 1,805 points and is 39 points shy of tying Marvin Roberts (1969-71) for fifth-place and 322 points shy of tying Greg Grant’s (1983-86) school record of 2,127 points. Carroll also ranks first all-time in school history in three-point shooting (.455), is second in three-pointers made (266) and three-pointers attempted (585), is fourth in 10-point games (89), games started (100) and minutes per game (33.3), is fifth in free throw percentage (.839) and field goals made (634), sixth in field goals attempted (1,257) and total minutes played (3,398). Carroll also ranks 12th all-time in points per game (17.7) and is 16th in games played (102).
DOUBLE THREAT ? New Mexico State senior guard/forward Justin Hawkins continues to direct the Aggies in 2007-08 after opening the year with a double-double at Ohio. He had 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Hawkins followed that performance with a 16-point and 11-rebound showing against No. 13/10 Duke.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO RETURN TO RENO IN 2009 ? Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson announced that the WAC Board of Directors awarded the 2009 and 2010 WAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments to the University of Nevada and the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. The tournaments will be held in the 11,485-seat Lawlor Events Center, located on the campus of the University of Nevada.
The WAC tournaments were last held in Reno in 2006. The 2007 tournaments were held in Las Cruces, New Mexico at New Mexico State University, as will the 2008 tournaments before returning to Reno in 2009.
WARRIORS LOOK TO REBOUND AGAINST ILLINI ? Hawai?i looks to bounce back from its season-opening loss last weekend by hosting Illinois of the Big Ten Conference, Friday, Nov. 16. Tip-off is 8:05 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. The teams have played four previous times with Illinois winning each game. Three of those meetings have occurred in Honolulu, most recently during the 1995-96 season when the Fighting Illini defeated UH, 82-80, in triple overtime in a Rainbow Classic consolation round game. UH is 10-15 all-time against members of the Big Ten Conference.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT ? The WAC has a 65-89 (.422) record in its teams’ 83 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including the two last season by Nevada (1-1) and New Mexico State (0-1). In 1998, Utah advanced to the NCAA title game before losing to Kentucky, 78-69, in San Antonio. It was the farthest a WAC team has ever advanced. Last year marked the 23rd time in the last 24 years that at least two teams made the NCAA Tournament. A WAC team has advanced to at least the second round in 12 of the past 13 NCAA tournaments.
CLEANING THE GLASS ? In the first game of the season at Ohio, the Aggies hit the boards and out rebounded the Bobcats, 45-38. NMSU also had the advantage in offensive rebounds, 17-12. Senior Justin Hawkins led all players with 11 rebounds. Senior Martin Iti had a game-high four offensive boards while Hawkins and senior Hatila Passos added three each.
FREQUENT FLIER MILES ? San Jose State makes its second appearance in the state of Tennessee by playing in the First Shot Exempt Tournament. The Spartans debuted in the Volunteer state on January 26, 1988, defeating Memphis State (82-67) coached by Larry Finch and featuring goggled-guard Elliot Perry in the old Mid-South Coliseum.
NEW MEXICO STATE WINS 2007 WAC TOURNAMENT ? In just its second year in the WAC and two years after posting a 6-24 record, New Mexico State won the 2007 WAC Tournament held in Las Cruces, N.M. The Aggies beat Utah State in the finals, 72-70. It was Utah State’s second straight finals appearance. New Mexico State opened the 2007 tournament by beating Louisiana Tech in the quarterfinals, 77-70, and Boise State in the semifinals, 88-69. The 2008 tournament will also be hosted by New Mexico State and will be held March 11-15, 2008.
ATTENDANCE ? The 2007 men’s tournament was attended by 49,650 fans during the five sessions (9,930/session). The title game drew 11,948 to the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M. It was the highest attended tournament since 1998 in Las Vegas.
NEVADA TOP TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS ? Over the last four seasons, Nevada is 106-27 (.797), the best record of any WAC team during that time. In conference games, Nevada has won 56 games, the most in that same time period. The top three teams in wins (both overall and WAC) over the last four seasons:
Overall Record (Pct.) WAC Record (Pct.)
1. Nevada 106-27 (.797) 1. Nevada 56-12 (.824)
2. Utah State 95-33 (.742) 2. Fresno State 37-31 (.544)
3. Hawai?i 72-49 (.595) 3. Hawai?i 36-32 (.529)
TEAM LEADERS ? The WAC had six schools with players who led their team in two of three statistical categories (points-rebounds-assists) in 2006-07.
Coby Karl, Sr., G, Boise State (14.8 ppg, 4.0 apg)
Matt Lojeski, Sr., G, Hawai?i (16.9 ppg, 4.5 apg)
Nick Fazekas, Sr., F, Nevada (20.4 ppg, 11.1 rpg)
Justin Hawkins, Jr., G/F, New Mexico State (15.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
Carlton Spencer, Sr., G, San Jose State (14.3 ppg, 3.5 apg)
Jaycee Carroll, Jr., G, Utah State (21.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
NON-CONFERENCE MARK ? The WAC was 73-55 (.570) in non-conference games in 2006-07, including a 69-55 (.556) mark against Division I teams. In 2005-06, the WAC was 63-52 (.548) in non-conference games (57-52 against Division I teams). The WAC’s best record ever against non-conference opponents came during the 1974-75 season when it was 73-22 (.768).