2009–10 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season

{{2009–10 WAC men's basketball standings}} The 2009–10 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices on October 17, 2009 and ended with the 2010 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament March 11–13, 2010 at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, NV on the campus of the University of Nevada. Utah State won the regular season championship while New Mexico State won the WAC Tournament.

2009–10 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Number of teams	9
Regular Season
Champion	Utah State
Season MVP	Luke Babbitt
Tournament
Champions	New Mexico State

Pre-season

The WAC conducted a media teleconference on October 20, 2009 and released the media and coaches poll, as well as the preseason All-WAC teams and player of the year.[1]

WAC Media Poll

Rank	Team	Votes
1	Utah State (15)	273
2	Nevada (12)	269
3	New Mexico State (6)	226
4	Idaho	193
5	Boise State	145
6	Louisiana Tech	140
7	Fresno State	130
8	San Jose State (1)	88
9	Hawai'i	66

[2]

Media All-WAC Team

• Luke Babbitt, So. F, Nevada
• Mac Hobson, Sr. G, Idaho
• Armon Johnson, Jr. G, Nevada
• Jared Quayle, Sr. G, Utah State
• Jahmar Young, Jr. G, New Mexico State

Player of the Year

• Luke Babbitt, So. F, Nevada

WAC Coaches Poll

Rank	Team	Votes
1	Utah State (8)	64
2	Nevada (1)	53
3	New Mexico State	50
4	Idaho	42
5	Louisiana Tech	31
6	Fresno State	30
7	Boise State	23
8	San Jose State	19
9	Hawai'i	12

[3]

Coaches All-WAC Team

First Team

• Luke Babbitt, So. F, Nevada
• Mac Hobson, Sr. G, Idaho
• Armon Johnson, Jr. G, Nevada
• Jered Quayle, Sr. G, Utah State
• Jahmar Young, Jr. G, New Mexico State

Second Team

• Roderick Flemings, Sr., F, Hawai‘i
• Paul George, So. G/F, Fresno State
• Kyle Gibson, Sr. G, Louisiana Tech
• Sylvester Seay, Sr. F, Fresno State
• Tai Wesley, Jr. F, Utah State

Player of the Year

• Luke Babbitt, So. F, Nevada

Rankings

Main article: 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Conference games

Players of the Week

Players of the Week

Week	Player	School	Weekly Stats
1 - Nov 16[4]	Roderick Flemings	Hawai'i	18.5 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 2.5 AST, 55.6 FG%
2 - Nov 23[5]	Joey Shaw	Nevada	20.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.5 AST, 61.9 FG%
3 - Nov 30[6]	Ike Okoye	Boise State	17.0 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 2.5 AST, 4.5 BLOCKS, 61.9 FG%
4 - Dec 7[7]	Kyle Gibson	La Tech	27.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.0 AST, 59.3 FG%
5 - Dec 14[8]	Jahmar Young	New Mexico State	24.0 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 3.0 AST, 47.0 FG%
6 - Dec 21[9]	Adrian Oliver	San Jose State	31.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.0 AST, 52.6 FG%
7 - Dec 28[10]	Tai Wesley	Utah State	16.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 4.0 AST, 65.4 FG%
8 - Jan 4[11]	Olu Ashaolu	La Tech	15.5 PPG, 16.5 RPG, 1.5 AST, 52.4 FG%
9 - Jan 11[12]	Luke Babbitt	Nevada	23.0 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 3.0 AST, 58.3 FG%
10 - Jan 18[13]	Jared Quayle	Utah State	14.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 5.7 AST, 55.2 FG%
11 - Jan 25[14]	Adrian Oliver	San Jose State	30.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 5.0 AST, 54.3 FG%
12 - Feb 1[15]	Hamidu Rahman	New Mexico State	22.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 66.7 FG%
13 - Feb 8[16]	Jahmar Young	New Mexico State	25.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 5.0 AST, 61.5 FG%
14 - Feb 15[17]	Armon Johnson	Nevada	23.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 5.5 AST, 50.0 FG%
15 - Feb 22[18]	Roderick Flemings	Hawai'i	32.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.5 AST, 45.1 FG%
16 - Mar 1[19]	Robert Arnold	Boise State	22.0 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 3.0 AST, 75.0 FG%
17 - Mar 7[20]	Tai Wesley	Utah State	22.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 5.5 AST, 82.6 FG%

On January 26 San Jose State's Adrian Oliver was named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association for games ending the week of January 24.[21]

Conference tournament

Main article: 2010 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament

	Quarterfinals, Thursday, March 11					Semifinals, Friday, March 12					Championship, Saturday, March 13
	1	Utah State	84
	8	Boise State	60
						1	Utah State	85
						4	Louisiana Tech	55
	4	Louisiana Tech	74
	5	Fresno State	66
											1	Utah State	63
											3	New Mexico State	69
	3	New Mexico State	90
	6	San Jose State	69
						3	New Mexico State	80
						2	Nevada	79
	2	Nevada	87
	7	Idaho	71

Head coaches

Greg Graham, Boise State (fired on March 12, 2010)[22] Steve Cleveland, Fresno State Bob Nash, Hawai'i (fired on March 8, 2010)[23] Don Verlin, Idaho Kerry Rupp, Louisiana Tech

David Carter, Nevada Marvin Menzies, New Mexico State George Nessman, San Jose State Stew Morrill, Utah State

Post season

NCAA Tournament

First Round

(12) New Mexico State vs. (5) Michigan State L 70–67

(12) Utah State vs. (5) Texas A&M L 69–53

NIT

First Round

(6) Nevada @ (3) Wichita State W 74–70

Second Round

(6) Nevada @ (2) Rhode Island L 85–83

CollegeInsider.com Tournament

First Round

Louisiana Tech vs. Southern Mississippi W 66–57

Quarterfinals

Louisiana Tech @ Missouri State L 69–40

2010 NBA Draft

PG

Point guard

SG

Shooting guard

SF

Small forward

PF

Power forward

C

Center

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	School/club team
1	10	Paul George	SF	United States	Indiana Pacers	Fresno State (So.)
1	16	Luke Babbitt	SF	United States	Minnesota Timberwolves (from Charlotte via Denver,^[c] traded to Portland)^[B]	Nevada (So.)
2	34	Armon Johnson	PG	United States	Portland Trail Blazers (from Golden State)^[k]	Nevada (Jr.)
2	51	Magnum Rolle	PF/C	Bahamas	Oklahoma City Thunder (from Portland via Dallas and Minnesota,^[d] traded to Indiana)^[L]	Louisiana Tech (Sr.)

Pre-draft trades

Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.

• ^c On June 25, 2009, Minnesota acquired Charlotte's first-round pick from Denver in exchange for the draft rights to Ty Lawson.[24] Previously, Denver acquired a first-round pick on June 25, 2008 from Charlotte in exchange for the 20th pick in the 2008 Draft.[25]
• ^{d 1 2 3} On June 23, 2010, Oklahoma City acquired Daequan Cook and the 18th pick in the 2010 Draft from Miami in exchange for the 32nd pick in the 2010 Draft.[26] Previously, Oklahoma City acquired Etan Thomas and two second-round picks on July 27, 2009 from Minnesota in exchange for Damien Wilkins and Chucky Atkins.[27] Previously, Minnesota acquired a second-round pick and cash considerations on June 25, 2009 from Dallas in exchange for the draft rights to Nick Calathes.[28] Previously, Dallas acquired a second-round pick, the 24th and 56th picks in the 2009 Draft on June 24, 2009 from Portland in exchange for the 22nd pick in the 2009 Draft.[29]
• ^{k 1 2} On June 22, 2010, Milwaukee acquired Corey Maggette and the 44th pick in the 2010 Draft from Golden State in exchange for Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric.[30] Previously, Golden State acquired the 44th pick in the 2010 Draft and cash considerations on June 21, 2010 from Portland in exchange for the 34th pick in the 2010 Draft.[31] Previously, Portland acquired 2009 and 2010 second-round picks from Chicago in a three-team trade on June 26, 2008.[32][33]

Draft-day trades

The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft.[34][35][36]

• ^B Portland acquired Ryan Gomes and the draft rights to 16th pick Luke Babbitt from Minnesota in exchange for Martell Webster.[37]
• ^{L 1 2} Indiana acquired the draft rights to 51st pick Magnum Rolle from Oklahoma City in exchange for the draft rights to 57th pick Ryan Reid.[38]

Highlights and notes

Awards and honors

All-Americans

All WAC teams

[39]

First team Luke Babbitt, Nevada Jahmar Young, New Mexico State Adrian Oliver, San Jose State Jared Quayle, Utah State Tai Wesley, Utah State

Second team Paul George, Fresno State Kyle Gibson, Louisiana Tech Magnum Rolle, Louisiana Tech Armon Johnson, Nevada Jonathan Gibson, New Mexico State

Honorable mention Daequon Montreal, Boise State Sylvester Seay, Fresno State Roderick Flemings, Hawai'i Mac Hopson, Idaho Wendell McKines, New Mexico State

All–defensive team Marvin Jefferson, Idaho Kyle Gibson, Louisiana Tech Magnum Rolle, Louisiana Tech Dario Hunt, Nevada Pooh Williams, Utah State

All–newcomer team Daequon Montreal, Boise State Greg Smith, Fresno State DeAndre Brown, Louisiana Tech Nate Bendall, Utah State Brian Green, Utah State

Player of the year Luke Babbitt, Nevada Freshman of the year Greg Smith, Fresno State Don Haskins coach of the year Stew Morrill, Utah State

All-Academic

USBWA All-District team

References

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