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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Mountain West Conference announced its 2005-06 men's basketball awards today. The league's nine men's head coaches along with selected media picked the all-conference teams, as well as the coach, player, freshman and defensive awards.
BYU head coach Dave Rose captured Coach of the Year honors, while Brandon Heath of San Diego State was selected as the Player of the Year. Freshman of the Year honors went to Trent Plaisted of BYU, while Wyoming's Justin Williams was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year.
Regular-season champion San Diego State led the league with three all-conference selections, including unanimous first-team honorees Brandon Heath and Marcus Slaughter. Air Force, BYU, New Mexico and Wyoming also had multiple players chosen with two apiece, while Colorado State, TCU, UNLV and Utah each had one. All institutions were represented on the all-conference teams for the fourth straight season.
Six players were repeat all-conference selections. First-team honorees Heath and Slaughter of San Diego State and Antoine Hood of Air Force were second-team selections last season, while Utah's Bryant Markson and Wyoming's Justin Williams were third-team selections for the second straight year. New Mexico's David Chiotti was a second-team member this year after earning third-team honors in 2004-05.
First-year head coach Dave Rose led BYU to a 20-win season after the Cougars were picked to finish last in the preseason media poll. Rose served as associate head coach for BYU from 2001-05 before assuming head coaching duties prior to the season. Overall, Rose has been with the Cougar basketball program since 1997.
Heath, a 6-4, 198-pound junior from Los Angeles, Calif., led the Aztecs to their first outright conference championship since 1978. The only player to score double figures in every MWC game this season, Heath leads the league with 19.5 points per game. He also led the MWC with 54 made three-pointers in league games (3.38 per game). Heath is the only player to be named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week three times this season and was a first-team NABC all-District 13 selection along with teammate Slaughter. Williams set the all-time single-season league mark with 140 blocked shots (5.19 per game) and also holds the career MWC block record with 221. Ranked second nationally in blocks, he set the MWC single-game record with 11 blocks vs. BYU Feb. 18. He is tied for the league lead with 17 double-doubles on the season.
Plaisted, a 6-11, forward from San Antonio, Texas, led all freshmen in rebounding (8.0 per game), while helping the Cougars to a second-place finish in the conference. He received National Freshman of the Week awards three times during league play (CBS Sportsline.com, ESPN-Dick Vitale, Rivals.com) and MWC Player of the Week honors once.
2005-06 All-Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Team (Selected by media and head coaches)
First-Team All-Mountain West
Name, School Year Position Height/Weight Hometown (Previous School)
Brandon Heath, San Diego State Jr. G 6-4/198 Los Angeles, Calif. (Westchester HS)
Marcus Slaughter, San Diego State Jr. F 6-9/220 Riverside, Calif. (J.W. North HS)
Antoine Hood, Air Force Sr. G 6-4/205 Sugar Land, Texas (Clements HS)
Mark Walters, New Mexico Sr. G 6-2/225 Albuquerque, N.M. (Highland HS)
Jason Smith, Colorado State So. F 7-0/230 Kersey, Colo. (Platte Valley HS)
Second-Team All-Mountain West Name, School Year Position Height/Weight Hometown (Previous School)
Louis Amundson, UNLV Sr. F 6-9/225 Boulder, Colo. (Monarch HS)
Trent Plaisted, BYU Fr. F 6-11/240 San Antonio, Texas (Clark HS)
Jacob Burtschi, Air Force Jr. F 6-6/225 Chickasha, Okla. (Putnam City HS)
Mohamed Abukar, San Diego State Jr. F 6-10/216 San Diego, Calif. (Univ. of Florida)
David Chiotti, New Mexico Jr. F 6-9/240 San Jose, Calif. (St. Francis HS)
Third-Team All-Mountain West Name, School Year Position Height/Weight Hometown (Previous School)
Nile Murry, TCU Sr. G 6-4/202 Houston, Texas (Temple)
Justin Williams, Wyoming Sr. F/C 6-10/225 Chicago, Ill. (Colby CC)
Brandon Ewing, Wyoming Fr. G 6-2/190 Chicago, Ill. (Julian HS)
Bryant Markson, Utah Sr. F 6-7/198 Monrovia, Calif. (Monrovia HS)
Keena Young, BYU Jr. F 6-6/205 Beaumont, Texas (South Plains College)
Honorable Mention
Air Force: Dan Nwaelele (Jr., G)
BYU: Brock Reichner (Sr., G), Rashaun Broadus (Jr., G)
Colorado State: Michael Harrison (Jr., F)
UNLV: Jo'Van Adams (Fr., G)
Utah: Luke Nevill (Fr., C), Johnnie Bryant (So., G)
Player of the Year: Brandon Heath, San Diego State
Defensive Player of the Year: Justin Williams, Wyoming
Freshman of the Year: Trent Plaisted, BYU
Coach of the Year: Dave Rose, BYU
