Collinsworth, Rydalch named WCC players of the year

PROVO — BYU point guard Kyle Collinsworth and BYU wing Lexi Eaton Rydalch were announced as the West Coast Conference men's and women's basketball players of the year, the WCC announced Tuesday.

Collinsworth earned the award after setting the an NCAA record for the most triple-doubles in a career and season as a senior All-American. The former Provo High star became the second BYU player to win the award in three seasons, joining BYU all-time leading scorer Tyler Haws in 2014.

A finalist for the Bob Cousy Award given to the country's top point guard, Collinsworth averaged 15.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game, finishing his career as BYU's all-time leader in assists (660) and rebounds (1,001).

In addition to Collinsworth, BYU's Chase Fischer was also named to the all-WCC First Team. Nick Emery was tabbed for the all-WCC Freshman Team and also took home second-team honors.

In addition, Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett was named the coach of the year; Gonzaga's Eric McClellan the defensive player of the year; and SMC's Joe Rahon the newcomer of the year.

On the women's side, BYU cleaned up the nominations, earning three of the four awards presented by the conference. In addition to Rydalch, Kalani Purcell took home WCC Newcomer of the Year honors, and coach Jeff Judkins was tabbed the league's coach of the year after leading the Cougars to their first-ever WCC regular-season title and first outright conference championship since 2009 (MWC).

San Diego post Maya Hood took home league defensive player of the year honors, the only non-BYU player to take home one of the four major postseason awards.

Rydalch averaged 24.6 points per game as a fifth-year senior in 2014, ranking first in the WCC and fifth in the nation in scoring. The WCC's all-time scoring leader also finished second with 2.4 3-pointers per game and eighth with 3.2 assists.

Purcell averaged a double-double at 13.4 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, and also finished tops in the conference with 5.4 assists per game. The New Zealand native joined BYU after two seasons at Hutchinson Community College (Kansas), where she was a junior college All-American and posted the women's basketball program's first triple-double.

Judkins guided the Cougars to a 24-5 overall record, including a 16-2 mark in conference play, clinching the school's first WCC title with two games remaining. The season was Judkins' seventh straight year with 20 or more wins, giving him 10 in his career at BYU.

Rydalch and Purcell were each named to the all-WCC First Team, and Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher earned all-WCC Second-Team honors. BYU point guard Kylie Maeda was tabbed an all-WCC Honorable Mention.

BYU men's basketball opens the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas at 2 p.m. Saturday against Santa Clara. The women's team opens the postseason tournament at 1 p.m. Friday at The Orleans Arena.

Related topics