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OREM — After a 15-1 conference slate — which was rewarded with a No. 1 overall seed in the conference tournament — Utah Valley's men's hoops team brought home a plethora of postseason awards; including Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year.
Dominick Nelson, who came to Utah Valley via the transfer portal from Polk State, was nominated the WAC Player of the Year with a 16.7 point per game average in conference play while shooting nearly 47% from the field.
Nelson scored 10 points or more in every game during the conference slate while reaching the 20-point mark five times to lead the Wolverines.
It is Utah Valley's first Player of the Year award since Fardaws Amiaq in the 2020-21 season and Jake Toolson in 2018-2019. Both players transferred within the next two seasons after the award.
Nelson was also named to multiple national postseason awards for top mid-major player, and most impactful transfer.
Carter Welling came away with the Defensive Player of the Year award after blocking 27 shots and bringing down 50 defensive rebounds.
Welling joined the Wolverines after he and his brother, Hayden Welling, transferred from UC Irvine this past season. Welling graduated from Corner Canyon and served a two year mission before enrolling at UC Irvine. In addition to the 27 blocks, 12.6 points per contest and averaged six rebounds a game.
Head coach Todd Phillips won the Coach of the Year award after leading the Wolverines to a 24-7 year in his second season as head coach. Phillips helped the Wolverines reach the .500 mark last year with a 16-16 record after taking over Mark Madsen who departed for Cal. Phillips rebuilt his roster for the second year in a row after retaining just two players from last years roster.
Phillilps won the Coach of the Year honors three times previously (2013, 2015, 2018) when he was the head man at Salt Lake Community College while leading the Bruins to a National Championship in 2016.
Phillips joined the Wolverines coaching staff in 2019 where he served as an assistant under Madsen for two years then was promoted to associate head coach in 2021 where he served that position for two years before becoming the head coach in 2023.
In addition to the awards; multiple Wolverines were nominated to all-conference teams. Nelson was named to the all-conference first team, sophomore Tanner Toolson was awarded to the second team with Welling who was also named to the all-defensive team, while Jackson Holcombe was apart of the all-freshman team.
Utah Valley completed the first round of the WAC Tournament, defeating Utah Tech 74-57 and clinched a spot in the semifinal that takes place on March 13 against Seattle U.
