TOURNAMENT BEGINS THIS WEEK ? The 2008 WAC Basketball Tournament begins this week, March 11-15, in Las Cruces, N.M. Louisiana Tech faces San Jose State in a first round game on Tuesday night with the quarterfinals being played on Thursday. For the first time ever, Utah State is the number one seed. New Mexico State is hosting its second-straight WAC tournament and is the defending champion.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? New Mexico State senior guard/forward Justin Hawkins has been named the Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball player of the week for Mar. 3-9. This is the second career WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior. This is the final Player of the Week of the season.
Hawkins, a senior from Anaheim, Calif. (Utah), had a career-high 37 points in the 106-71 win over Hawai?i on senior night, March 8 in Las Cruces. Hawkins’ previous best mark was 29 points, which he had recorded twice in his career. He also added 10 rebounds and that gives Hawkins seven double-doubles this season. The 37 points was the most scored by a WAC player this season.
In the final two regular season home games for the Anaheim, Calif., native, Hawkins averaged 27.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He shot 52.4 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the free-throw line. Against San Jose State, March 6, Hawkins had a team-high 18 points. The wins this week helped the Aggies secure a share of the WAC title.
The other nominations were sophomore guard Kyle Gibson, Louisiana Tech; senior guard Marcelus Kemp, Nevada and senior guard Jaycee Carroll, Utah State.
TOURNAMENT ON TELEVISION ? The WAC quarterfinals and semifinals will be available on ESPN FullCourt and in some WAC markets. Randy Rosenbloom (play-by-play) and Bob Donewald (analyst) will provide the commentary for all televised games. The WAC Championship game will be shown exclusively on ESPN2 at 7:00 p.m. MT on Saturday night. All games will also be streamed on the WAC web site www.wacsports.com
SIRIUS RADIO TO CARRY TOURNAMENT GAMES ? Sirius radio will carry all seven games of the 2008 WAC Tournament. All seven games will be heard on channel 143.
MAKING HISTORY ? For the first time in WAC history four teams tied for the regular season WAC title. Utah State, Nevada, New Mexico State and Boise State all ended the regular season with 12-4 records. In 1985-86 and 1982-83 there were three-way ties for the regular season title. By clinching a share of the WAC regular season title, Nevada has won five-straight regular season titles. The last WAC team to do this was Utah when it won either a division title or conference title five straight years (1995-1999).
TOURNAMENT REWIND ? 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. New Mexico State placed two players on the WAC’s all-tournament team as selected by the media in attendance. Justin Hawkins and Elijah Ingram were joined by Nevada’s Marcelus Kemp and Utah State’s Jaycee Carroll and Chaz Spicer. Hawkins was named the tournament MVP after averaging 17.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in the three games. In the title game, he scored a team-high 20 points and shot 9-of-17 from the field.
FIVE EARN ALL-DISTRICT HONORS ? The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced Tuesday its Division I All-District teams. Five players from the WAC were recognized by the NABC including, Marcelus Kemp of Nevada (District 13 First-Team), Jaycee Carroll of Utah State (District 14 Second-Team), Reggie Larry of Boise State (District 13 First-Team), Kevin Bell of Fresno State (District 13 Second-Team) and Justin Hawkins of New Mexico State (District 15 Second-Team). The NABC recognized 150 student-athletes from 15 districts, who are now eligible for selection to the NABC Division I All-American team which will be announced at the end of the season.
ACHIEVING 20 ? With a win over Cal State Bakersfield, Boise State’s 2007-08 team became just the eighth team in school history to win 20 games in a season. The 2007-08 team joined the 1987-88 team (24 wins), the 1988-89 and 2003-04 teams (23 wins), the 1986-87 team (22 wins), the 1992-93 and 1998-99 teams (21 wins) and the 1969-70 team (20 wins).
Utah State’s Stew Morrill has now won at least 20 games 13 times as a collegiate head coach. In his 22 years as a head coach, he has had 21 winning seasons and won at least 17 games 19 times. Entering the 2007-08 campaign, Morrill was one of just 13 active coaches to notch 12 20-win seasons, while his streak of eight-straight 20-win seasons entering the year was tied for the ninth-longest active streak in the nation.
Nevada finished the regular season with a 20-10 overall record, marking its fifth-consecutive year with at least 20 victories. It is the 10th 20-win season in school history.
MEDIA SAAVY? The WAC Preseason Media Poll is identical to the postseason all-WAC team. Kevin Bell, Fresno State; Jaycee Carroll, Utah State; Justin Hawkins, Jr., New Mexico State; Reggie Larry, Boise State and Marcelus Kemp, Nevada were all named to both the preseason media poll and the postseason all-WAC team.
COACH MORRILL BREAKS RECORD ? Jan. 17 and Jan. 19 were without a doubt two of the most historic days in Aggie Basketball history as Stew Morrill became the school’s all-time winningest coach on Jan. 17 and senior guard Jaycee Carroll became the school’s all-time scoring leader on Jan. 19. Morrill passed E. Lowell Romney’s (1920-41) 225 career wins, while Carroll passed Greg Grant’s (1983-86) 2,127 career points.
STEADY IMPROVEMENT ? San Jose State notched its fourth non-conference road win of the season at Santa Clara. The last time a San Jose State team won four non-conference road games in a season was 1975-76 when the Spartans defeated Idaho, Portland State, Santa Clara and California en route to a 17-10 overall record.
CARROLL BECOMES USU’S ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER ? Senior All-American guard Jaycee Carroll became Utah State’s all-time leading scorer on Jan. 19, 2007 at home against Idaho as he made a three-pointer from the left wing with 13:35 to play in the first-half to eclipse Greg Grant’s (1983-86) record of 2,127 points. Carroll now has 2,339 career points and is one of just three players in school history to score 2,000 points along with Grant and Wayne Estes (1963-65) who scored 2,001 career points.
WAC STRIKES A DEAL WITH GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT ? Athletic director Dr. Steve Cobb announced that the University of Alaska Anchorage Athletic Department has signed a scheduling agreement with the Western Athletic Conference for the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.
Under the 5-year deal, the WAC will send one men’s team per year to the prestigious college basketball tournament, starting with the 31st annual Shootout in 2008.
WAC ON ESPN ? The WAC has a multi-year contract with ESPN for coverage of WAC football and basketball. On Jan. 26, New Mexico State defeated Utah State on ESPN2. On Feb. 9, Nevada defeated Hawai?i 88-68 on ESPN2.
PACKING THE STANDS ? After a season-high 11,343 fans against Nevada, Fresno State continues to lead the WAC in home attendance, nearly 1,400 more fans per game than the No. 2 program in the league, Utah State. The Save Mart Center has seen an average of 10,520 fans per game through 16 home games. The Aggies average 9,086 per contest. Last season, the Dogs ranked No. 33 in the NCAA in attendance average at more than 11,000 fans per game.
During its last seven home games, Utah State has played in front of a sold-out Dee Glen Smith Spectrum crowd of 10,270, marking the first time in the 37-year history of the building that USU has had seven- straight sellouts. On the season, USU is averaging 9,086 fans which ranks second in the WAC and is the highest average in school history.
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.
TEAM LEADERS ? The WAC has six schools with players who lead their team in two of three statistical categories (points-rebounds-assists). Idaho’s Jordan Brooks is the only player to lead in all three categories.
Reggie Larry, Sr., F, Boise State (18.9 ppg, 9.2 rpg)
Kevin Bell, Sr., G, Fresno State (18.5 ppg, 5.9 apg)
Matt Gibson, Sr., G, Hawai?i (17.0 ppg, 5.0 apg)
Jordan Brooks, Jr., F, Idaho (12.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.8 apg)
Kyle Gibson, So., G, Louisiana Tech (16.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
Justin Hawkins, Sr., G/F, New Mexico State (17.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
SUPER SENIORS ? The WAC seniors are leading the way offensively this season. Eight of the top 10 leading scorers in the league are seniors. Utah State’s Jaycee Carroll leads the way, averaging 22.7 ppg. The guard is one of only two players in the WAC averaging over 20.0 ppg along with Nevada’s Marcelus Kemp (20.1 ppg). Boise State’s senior duo of Reggie Larry (18.9 ppg) and Matt Nelson (15.8 ppg) are third and eighth, respectively in the league in scoring. There is just one underclassman in the top 10 in scoring, Louisiana Tech’s Kyle Gibson (16.6), which is good enough for seventh in the WAC. New Mexico State’s Justin Hawkins is the only junior in the top 10. He is fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 17.7 ppg.
NEVADA TOP TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS ? Over the last four seasons dating back to 2004-05, Nevada has turned in a 101-28 record, the best record of any WAC team during that time (.783 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 55 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 101-28 (.783) 1. Nevada 55-11 (.833)
2. Utah State 93-38 (.710) 2. New Mexico St. 33-15 (.688)
3. Hawai?i 62-55 (.530) 3. Utah State 32-16 (.667)
UTAH STATE’S CARROLL RE-WRITING RECORD BOOKS ? Senior guard Jaycee Carroll continues to put his name at the top of Utah State’s records book as he is now the school’s all-time leader in points scored (2,463), three-pointers made (357), three-pointers attempted (767), field goals attempted (1,650), 10-point games (118), games started (129), games played (131) and total minutes played (4,480). Overall, Carroll currently holds nine school records, which is the most in school history. With two regular season games still to play for Carroll, he will likely break the school’s all-time record for field goals made which would give him 10 school records.
FOX CLIMBING ? Fourth-year head coach Mark Fox is the first coach in school history to lead his squad to three consecutive 20-win and NCAA Tournament seasons. He holds a 101-28 career record in his four seasons at the helm of the Wolf Pack program (.783 winning percentage) and is already fourth in all-time wins at Nevada. His 81 wins after his first three seasons were tied with Gonzaga’s Mark Few for the most victories in Division I history by a coach through three seasons (81-18 record in his first three seasons).
WAC STRUGGLES IN O’REILLY’S BRACKETBUSTERS ? New Mexico State was one of three teams in the WAC to earn a victory in the O’Reilly ESNPU BracketBuster, as the league finished 3-6. The Aggies defeated Long Beach State, 80-48, in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBuster, Feb. 23 in Las Cruces. Freshman forward Herb Pope had a game-high 14 points to pace the balanced Aggie offense. Utah State started the BracketBusters off with a 72-59 win over UC Santa Barbara, while Fresno State defeated Cal Poly in Fresno. On ESPNU, Nevada fell to Southern Illinois in Carbondale, while Siena knocked off Boise State, 93-70 on ESPN360.com.
Boise State Broncos (22-8, 12-4 WAC)
Head coach Greg Graham earned his first Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year honor after leading Boise State to a 22-8 record and a share of the WAC regular season title with a 12-4 record ... he is just the third different Bronco coach to win coach of the year honors, joining Bobby Dye (Big Sky Coach of the Year 1993, 1988, 1987) and Bus Connor (1976) ... the Broncos are the fourth seed in the WAC Tournament and will face fifth-seeded Hawai?i in the quarterfinals on Thursday ... last season as the sixth seed the Broncos ipset third-seeded Fresno State in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion New Mexico State in the semifinals.
Fresno State Bulldogs (13-18, 5-11 WAC)
Senior Kevin Bell became the first Bulldog since Damon Jackson in 2002-03 to be honored on the all-WAC first team, and joins a list of former Bulldog greats including Melvin Ely, Chris Jeffries, Courtney Alexander and Chris Herron ... Bell led the Bulldogs in scoring at 18.5 points and handed out 183 assists this season ... he ranks 20th in Bulldog history in scoring (1,153 points) and second in assists (594) ... he needs five assists to become the all-time leader in assists ... the seventh-seeded Bulldogs will take on second-seeded Nevada in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament ... last season, third-seeded Fresno State lost in the quarterfinals to sixth-seeded Boise State, 77-73.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors (11-18, 7-9 WAC)
Matt Gibson was named to the all-WAC second team and the all-defensive team ... he leads the team in scoring (17.0 ppg), assists (5.0 apg) and steals (1.9 spg). His 1.9 steals per game is tops in the WAC, while he ranks sixth in scoring and third in assists ... he has scored in double-digits in all but one of the 24 games he has played, including a string of 22 straight ... the Rainbow Warriors are the fifth seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament, taking on fourth-seeded Boise State ... this is the second-straight season that Hawai?i has been the fifth seed ... last season, the fifth-seeded Warriors lost in the quarterfinals to fourth-seeded Utah State.
Idaho Vandals (8-20, 5-11 WAC)
Junior guard Jordan Brooks earned second team all-WAC and all-Newcomer team honors ... Brooks is Idaho’s first all-conference honoree since Dandrick Jones during the 2004-05 season when the Vandals were playing in the Big West ... he is the first Vandal to be selected as a top newcomer since Orlando Lightfoot won the Big Sky Conference Top Newcomer award during the 1991-92 season ... for the first time since joining the WAC during the 2005-06 season, the Vandals will not be either the eight or nine seed ... in 2005-06 Idaho was the eighth and was ninth last season ... this season as the sixth seed, the Vandals face New Mexico State.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (6-23, 3-13 WAC)
For only the second time this season, Louisiana Tech won back-to-back games ... the Bulldogs head into the WAC Tournament with a two-game winning streak ... Louisiana Tech will take on eighth-seeded San Jose State in the first round ... this is the first time that Louisiana Tech will play in the first round since the 2004 tournament when the Bulldogs as the seventh seed took on 10th-seeded San Jose State ... sophomore Kyle Gibson is the only underclassmen ranked in the top 10 in scoring, averaging 16.6 points per game which is good for seventh place.
Nevada Wolf Pack (20-10, 12-4 WAC)
The Wolf Pack will travel to Las Cruces, N.M., this week for the 2008 WAC Tournament ... as the No. 2 seed, Nevada will take on seventh-seeded Fresno State in the quarterfinals on March 13 ... last season, Nevada was the first seed and was upset by fourth-seeded Utah State in the semifinals ... Nevada has won the WAC Tournament in 2006 in Reno and 2004 in Fresno ... the Wolf Pack are 10-5 in the WAC Tournament ... senior Marcelus Kemp was named to the all-WAC first team, while freshman Armon Johnson was named WAC Freshman of the Year ... Johnson was the first Nevada Freshman of the Year since Ramon Sessions earned the honor during the 2004-05 season.
New Mexico State Aggies (19-13, 12-4 WAC)
The New Mexico State men’s basketball team claimed a share of the WAC title after the Aggies concluded the regular season with a pair of wins ... NMSU defeated San Jose State, 88-65, March 6 and Hawai’i, 106-71, March 8 ... senior guard/forward Justin Hawkins led the way with 18 points versus San Jose State ... on senior night, Hawkins had a career-high 37 points along with 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year against Hawai’i ... senior center Martin Iti recorded his first double-double of the year with 10 points and 13 rebounds ... the Aggies had five players in double-figures in both games ... this week, the Aggies look to defend their WAC Tournament title.
San Jose State Spartans (12-18, 4-12 WAC)
San Jose State is 1-10 in WAC Tournament games ... the only win was in 2002 over Rice (58-57) in Tulsa ... of the eight possible opponents, the Spartans have not played Boise State, Fresno State and New Mexico State in a WAC Tournament contest ... San Jose State has two conference championships to its credit ... the Spartans won the 1980 PCAA and 1996 Big West Conference tournaments ... in both cases, San Jose State won a game in each tournament over Utah State ... the 1996 overtime win over the Aggies was the Big West Conference tournament’s championship game.
Utah State Aggies (23-9, 12-4 WAC)
Jaycee Carroll became the fourth player in school history to earn player of the year honors joining Dean Hunger (1980), Greg Grant (1986) and Eric Franson (1995) who were each recognized as the Big West Conference’s top player ... Gary Wilkinson also earned second team honors ... USU has now had 15 first-team all-conference selections over the last nine years and it is the ninth-straight year that USU has had at least one first-team all-league selection ... overall, USU has had 27 first-team all-conference selections in the last 30 years as it was a member of the Big West Conference/Pacific Coast Athletic Association for 27 seasons from 1979-2005 before joining the WAC.