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OGDEN, Utah -- Weber State senior David Patten was selected the Big Sky Conference's Men's Basketball Most Valuable Player on Thursday, and was one of three unanimous picks to the All-Conference first team.
The team, selected by the nine Big Sky Conference basketball coaches, was picked on Thursday morning. For the first time since 1988-89, the Big Sky selected a first team and a second team, as well as honorable mention team. Since 1990, the Big Sky announced one All-Conference team, and honorable mention picks.
Eastern Washington sophomore Rodney Stuckey, and Northern Arizona senior Ruben Boykin Jr., joined Patten as ]unanimous first-team selections. The trio was joined on s tied for last place. Patten averaged 14.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.9 percent from the field. In conference play, Patten averaged 16.3 points, 67.3 rebounds and shot 58.6 percent from the field.
Patten is the fifth Weber State player to be named Big Sky and assists (3.18). Boykin Jr. also led Northern Arizona to a share of the regular-season title, and the No. 2 seed in the Big Sky Championship.
Schroeder, a 6-2 guard from Salmon, Idaho, helped the Bengals qualify for the Big Sky Championship for the first time since 2004. Schroeder ranks second in the league in scoring at 16.8 points per game. He also averaged 5.5 rebounds and 1.48 steals per game. He made 42.4 percent of his 3-point field goals during the regular season, and averaged 2.59 3-pointers per game.
Hasquet, a 6-7 forward from Missoula., Mont., averaged 13.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He came on strong in conference play, netting 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Hasquet recorded six double-doubles during the regular season.
Rounding out the first team was Bazy, a 6-1 guard from Bryan Texas. The 2006 Newcomer of the Year was the second-leading scorer in conference play,averaging 18.4 points per game. In all games, Bazy averaged 16.1 points, 2.54 assists, and 1.14 steals per game. He also shot .822 percent from the free-throw line.
This year's Newcomer of the Year Lucas, a 6-1 guard from Wichita, Kan.,helped Portland State to a fourth-place finish. Dupree averaged 13.1 points and 3.7 assists per game. In conference play, he netted 15.1 points and 2.94 assists per game. The transfer from Xavier is the third Vikings to win Newcomer of the Year. Current Portland Trail Blazers guard Ime Udoka claimed the honor in 2000, and Jason Hartman was Newcomer of the Year in 1998. Lucas was also a second team All-Conference pick.
Rundles, a 6-1 true freshman from Minneapolis, Minn., excelled late in the season for the Grizzlies. He averaged 18.3 points per game over his final four games. Rundles led all Big Sky freshman in scoring (8.2 points per game), assists (2.13), and 3-point field goal percentage (.481). Rundles is the first Grizzly to win Freshman of the Year since Darren Engellant in 1989.
Ellis, a 5-10 senior guard from Detroit, Mich., was a spark plug on the defensive end for the Grizzlies. Ellis helped Montana finish third in the league in scoring defense. He averaged 1.6 steals per game, and often guarded opponents' top scoring guards. Ellis is the first Grizzly to win Defensive Player of the Year.
The second team consisted of Montana's Andrew Strait, Northern Arizona's Stephen Sir, Montana State's Nick Dissly, Weber State's Juan Pablo Silveira and Lucas. Sir leads the nation in 3-point field goals per game, and has a league single-season record of 114 made 3-pointers entering the tournament.
Strait, a first-team pick in 2006, averaged 14.9 points and 6.4 rebounds this season. Dissly, who led MSU to a fifth-place finish, averaged 14.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Silveira averaged 10.9 points per game, and made a league-best 87 percent of his free throws in conference play.
2006-07 Big Sky All-Conference Team
First Team
Player, School Year Height Position Hometown
#*Rodney Stuckey, Eastern Washington So. 6-5 G Kent, Wash.
*David Schroeder, Idaho State Sr. 6-2 G Salmon, Idaho
Jordan Hasquet, Montana So. 6-9 F Missoula, Mont.
Tyrone Bazy, Northern Arizona Sr. 6-1 G Bryan, Texas
#*Ruben Boykin Jr., Northern Arizona Sr. 6-7 F Los Angeles, Calif.
#David Patten, Weber State Sr. 6-8 F Placentia, Calif.
#Unanimous Selection. *Two-Time Selection
Second Team
Player, School Year Height Position Hometown
Andrew Strait, Montana Jr. 6-8 F/C Yakima, Wash.
Nick Dissly, Montana State Sr. 6-4 F Bozeman, Mont.
Stephen Sir, Northern Arizona Sr. 6-6 G Minnetonka, Minn.
Dupree Lucas, Portland State Jr. 6-1 G Wichita, Kan.
Juan Pablo Silveira, Weber State So. 6-3 G Salto, Uruguay
Honorable Mention
Paul Butorac, Sr., F, Eastern Washington; Akbar Abdul-Ahad, Sr., G, Idaho
State; Carlos Taylor, Jr., G, Montana State; Kirk Archibeque, Jr., C,
Northern Colorado; Scott Morrison, Jr., C, Portland State; Arturas Valeika,
Jr., F, Weber State.
Individual Award Winners
Most Valuable Player: David Patten, Weber State
Newcomer of the Year: Dupree Lucas, Portland State
Freshman of the Year: Cameron Rundles, Montana
Defensive Player of the Year: Bryan Ellis, Montana
