Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
 | |
| Awarded for | the most outstanding basketball player in the Western Athletic Conference |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| History | |
| First award | 1981 |
| Most recent | Jemerrio Jones, New Mexico State |
The Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Western Athletic Conference's (WAC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1980–81 season. Keith Van Horn of Utah and Nick Fazekas of Nevada are the only players to have won the award three times. Three other players—Michael Cage, Josh Grant and Melvin Ely—have won the award twice. Danny Ainge, the first ever WAC Player of the Year, was also the John R. Wooden Award winner in 1980–81.
Utah has the most all-time winners with seven. There have been four ties in the award's history, most notably in 1982–83 when there was a three-way tie. Due mainly to major membership turnover from 2010 to 2014, only two current WAC members, New Mexico State and UMKC, have had a winner.
Key
| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| * | Awarded a national Player of the Year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the WAC Player of the Year award at that point |
Winners
Winners by school
| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Utah (1962)[a 1] | 7 | 1983†, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997†, 1999† |
| Nevada (2000)[a 2] | 6 | 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 |
| BYU (1962)[a 1] | 4 | 1981, 1983†, 1985, 1988 |
| New Mexico State (2005) | 4 | 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| Fresno State (1992)[a 2] | 3 | 2000, 2001, 2002 |
| San Diego State (1978)[a 1] | 3 | 1983†, 1984, 1986 |
| Utah State (2005)[a 3] | 3 | 2008, 2009, 2011 |
| Wyoming (1962)[a 1] | 3 | 1982, 1987, 1992 |
| New Mexico (1962)[a 1] | 2 | 1994, 1998† |
| SMU (1996)[a 4] | 2 | 1999†, 2003 |
| Colorado State (1967)[a 1] | 1 | 1990 |
| Hawaiʻi (1979)[a 5] | 1 | 1997 |
| Idaho (2005)[a 6] | 1 | 2013 |
| TCU (1996)[a 7] | 1 | 1998† |
| UMKC (2013) | 1 | 2015 |
| UTEP (1967)[a 4] | 1 | 1989 |
| Boise State (2001)[a 8] | 0 | — |
| Chicago State (2013) | 0 | — |
| Cal State Bakersfield (2013)[a 9] | 0 | — |
| California Baptist (2018)[a 10] | 0 | — |
| Denver (2012)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| Grand Canyon (2013) | 0 | — |
| Louisiana Tech (2001)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| San Jose State (1996)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| Seattle (2012) | 0 | — |
| Texas State (2012)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| Texas–Arlington (2012)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| Utah Valley (2013) | 0 | — |
| UTRGV (2013)[a 11] | 0 | — |
| UTSA (2012)[a 3] | 0 | — |
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah and Wyoming all left in 1999 to become charter members of the Mountain West Conference (MW). Of these schools:
- BYU is now in the West Coast Conference.
- Utah is now in the Pac-12.
- Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, and Wyoming remain in the MW.
- ^ a b Nevada and Fresno State left for the MW in 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Seven schools left the WAC for other conferences in 2013:
- Denver joined The Summit League after only one year in the WAC.
- Louisiana Tech and UTSA joined Conference USA (C-USA), the latter after spending only one year in the WAC.
- San Jose State and Utah State joined the MW.
- Texas State and Texas–Arlington joined the Sun Belt after only one year in the WAC.
- ^ a b SMU and UTEP both left in 2005 to join C-USA. SMU joined the American Athletic Conference in 2013, while UTEP remains in C-USA.
- ^ Hawaiʻi left for the Big West in 2012.
- ^ Idaho left the WAC in 2014 for the Big Sky.
- ^ TCU left in 2001 for C-USA. It is now in the Big 12.
- ^ Boise State left in 2011 for the MW.
- ^ Cal State Bakersfield has announced it will leave for the Big West in 2020.
- ^ California Baptist joins the WAC effective with the 2018–19 season.
- ^ The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) entered into full operation in 2015 with the merger of the University of Texas–Pan American (UTPA), which had joined the WAC in 2013, and the University of Texas at Brownsville. Because UTRGV directly inherited the UTPA athletic program. it is credited with all UTPA historic records, and maintains UTPA's WAC membership.
References
- ^ "WAC Men's Basketball Postseason Honors Announced" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
- ^ "WAC Announces Men's Basketball Award Winners" (Press release). Western Athletc Conference. March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
- ^ "2018 WAC Men's Basketball Postseason Honors Announced" (Press release). West Athletic Conference. March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2018.