The 2006-2007 All-Mountain West Conference awards were announced on Monday, and to no one’s surprise, BYU forward Keena Young was named the league’s Player of the Year.
The senior ranked fourth in the league in scoring (17.1) and seventh in rebounding (6.2), leading the Cougars to their first outright MWC championship since 1988. It is Young’s first such award.
Rounding out the rest of the first-team was San Diego State guard Brandon Heath, UNLV guard Wendell White, Colorado State forward Jason Smith and Air Force forward Dan Nwaelele.
Heath, who won the 2005-2006 MWC Player of the Year Award, was second in the league in scoring, averaging 19.2 points per game.
Meanwhile, White led the Rebels to a second-place conference finish, averaging 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Colorado State’s Smith was easily the biggest low-post presence in the conference this year, averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds per game.
The Falcon’s senior Nwaelele earned his first-team honors averaging 14.5 points while shooting 53 percent from the field.
The MWC second-team was composed of Wyoming guard Brandon Ewing, UNLV guard Wink Adams, Air Force forward Jacob Burtschi, SDSU forward Mohamed Abukar and BYU center Trent Plaisted.
The third-team consisted of UNLV guard Kevin Kruger, Wyoming guard Brad Jones, BYU guard Lee Cummard, New Mexico guard Tony Danridge and Utah center Luke Nevill.
Utah junior point guard Johnnie Bryant was selected to the honorable mention list. Last season, Nevill and Bryant were both chosen as honorable mentions.
UNLV forward Joel Anthony was named Defensive Player of the Year, while BYU’s Jonathan Tavernari was selected as Freshman of the Year.
BYU’s Dave Rose was chosen as the MWC Coach of the Year in his second season at the helm of the program. The reward was his second consecutive as he led the Cougars to a 23-7 record.
The teams are voted on by the coaches and media of the conference.