2020 Mountain West Basketball Preseason Awards
Mountain West hosting its media days.
Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire
Who is projected to win the league?
Mountain West media days are here and the league and media made projections about order of finish, best players, newcomers and more.
College basketball is finally here and will be starting on Nov. 25, which is just two weeks away. The media and teams are converging virtually to conduct interviews with coaches over the next few days.
The order of finis had three teams earning first-place votes in San Diego State, Boise State, and Utah State. It is the Aztecs who are projected to win the conference with 14 of the 20 first-place votes.
๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต@Aztec_MBB is the preseason favorite with @BroncoSportsMBB and @USUBasketball also receiving first place votes!#MWMBB | #AtThePeak pic.twitter.com/5XvhCB1sWk
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 11, 2020
It is mildly surprising to see Utah State land a few first-place votes despite losing Sam Merrill to the NBA Draft but they do return key players like Justin Bean and Neemias Queta.
Last year, it was Utah State that won the Mountain West tournament over San Diego State and those two teams, along with Boise State, should be in the mix for the conference title.
One underdog that could surprise is UNLV. The Rebels are heading into the second year of the T.J. Otzelberger as the Rebels have an all-conference player in Bryce Hamilton and were awarded the freshman of the year in Nick Blake and newcomer in David Jenkins, Jr.
One team that will likely overachieve its placing is Wyoming and maybe even Fresno State which are eighth and ninth in the preseason poll. Conversely, New Mexico which lost so many players off of last year’s teams and had discipline issues might not meet or even exceed its eighth-place projections.
Mountain West Basketball Makes Changes To Conference Schedule
1. San Diego State (14), 211
2. Boise State (4), 188
3. Utah State (2), 177
4. UNLV, 160
5. Colorado State, 141
6. Nevada, 114
7. New Mexico, 106
8. Fresno State, 93
9. Wyoming, 59
10. Air Force, 39
11. San Josรฉ State, 32
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
The Mountain West hands out player of the year, newcomer and freshman. Plus, the usual all-conference team.
The all-league team featured one player from each team and all five come from teams projected to finish in the top five.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐น๐น-๐ ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ช๐ฒ๐๐#MWMBB | #AtThePeak pic.twitter.com/DwgXCgtycq
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 11, 2020
Preseason Player of the Year:ย Derrick Alston Jr., Sr., G, Boise State
Just the beginning @deejuusz #BleedBlue
๐ https://t.co/921VLZLvUT pic.twitter.com/ZlwoylXmHP
— Boise State MBB (@BroncoSportsMBB) November 11, 2020
Preseason Newcomer of the Year:ย David Jenkins, Jr., Jr., G, UNLV
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ
David Jenkins, Jr.@TheRunninRebels #MWMBB | #AtThePeak | #BEaREBEL pic.twitter.com/1e6zUsYTeS
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 11, 2020
Preseason Freshman of the Year:ย Nick Blake, G, UNLV
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ
Nick Blake@TheRunninRebels #MWMBB | #AtThePeak | #BEaREBEL pic.twitter.com/YDs0Tu10Jm
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 11, 2020
