Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
The Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Western Athletic Conference's (WAC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1980–81 season. Keith Van Horn of Utah and Nick Fazekas of Nevada are the only players to have won the award three times. Three other players—Michael Cage, Josh Grant and Melvin Ely—have won the award twice. Danny Ainge, the first ever WAC Player of the Year, was also the John R. Wooden Award winner in 1980–81.
| WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Given for | the most outstanding basketball player in the Western Athletic Conference |
| Country | United States |
| History | |
| First award | 1981 |
| Most recent | Milan Acquaah, California Baptist |
Utah has the most all-time winners with seven. There have been four ties in the award's history, most notably in 1982–83 when there was a three-way tie. Due mainly to major membership turnover from 2010 to 2014, only three current WAC members—California Baptist, New Mexico State, and Utah Valley—have had a winner.
Key
| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| * | Awarded a national Player of the Year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the WAC Player of the Year award at that point |
Winners
Danny Ainge of BYU won in 1981 while also winning the Wooden Award
Quinton Ross won in 2003.
Keith Van Horn is one of only two 3-time winners of the award.
Pascal Siakam won as a sophomore in 2016.
Winners by school
| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Utah (1962)[a 1] | 7 | 1983†, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997†, 1999† |
| Nevada (2000)[a 2] | 6 | 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 |
| BYU (1962)[a 1] | 4 | 1981, 1983†, 1985, 1988 |
| New Mexico State (2005) | 4 | 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| Fresno State (1992)[a 2] | 3 | 2000, 2001, 2002 |
| San Diego State (1978)[a 1] | 3 | 1983†, 1984, 1986 |
| Utah State (2005)[a 3] | 3 | 2008, 2009, 2011 |
| Wyoming (1962)[a 1] | 3 | 1982, 1987, 1992 |
| New Mexico (1962)[a 1] | 2 | 1994, 1998† |
| SMU (1996)[a 4] | 2 | 1999†, 2003 |
| California Baptist (2018) | 1 | 2020 |
| Colorado State (1967)[a 1] | 1 | 1990 |
| Hawaiʻi (1979)[a 5] | 1 | 1997 |
| Idaho (2005)[a 6] | 1 | 2013 |
| Kansas City (2013)[a 7] | 1 | 2015 |
| TCU (1996)[a 8] | 1 | 1998† |
| Utah Valley (2013) | 1 | 2019 |
| UTEP (1967)[a 4] | 1 | 1989 |
| Boise State (2001)[a 9] | 0 | — |
| Chicago State (2013) | 0 | — |
| CSU Bakersfield (2013)[a 10] | 0 | — |
| Denver (2012)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| Dixie State (2020) | 0 | — |
| Grand Canyon (2013) | 0 | — |
| Louisiana Tech (2001)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| San Jose State (1996)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| Seattle (2012) | 0 | — |
| Tarleton State (2020) | 0 | — |
| Texas State (2012)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| UT Arlington (2012)[a 3] | 0 | — |
| UTRGV (2013)[a 11] | 0 | — |
| UTSA (2012)[a 3] | 0 | — |
Footnotes
- BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah and Wyoming all left in 1999 to become charter members of the Mountain West Conference (MW). Of these schools:
- BYU is now in the West Coast Conference.
- Utah is now in the Pac-12.
- Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, and Wyoming remain in the MW.
- Nevada and Fresno State left for the MW in 2012.
- Seven schools left the WAC for other conferences in 2013:
- Denver joined The Summit League after only one year in the WAC.
- Louisiana Tech and UTSA joined Conference USA (C-USA), the latter after spending only one year in the WAC.
- San Jose State and Utah State joined the MW.
- Texas State and UT Arlington joined the Sun Belt after only one year in the WAC.
- SMU and UTEP both left in 2005 to join C-USA. SMU joined the American Athletic Conference in 2013, while UTEP remains in C-USA.
- Hawaiʻi left for the Big West in 2012.
- Idaho left the WAC in 2014 for the Big Sky.
- The University of Missouri–Kansas City, which left the WAC after the 2019–20 season to rejoin its former conference home of the Summit League, changed its athletic brand to "Kansas City" after the 2018–19 season.
- TCU left in 2001 for C-USA. It is now in the Big 12.
- Boise State left in 2011 for the MW.
- CSU Bakersfield left for the Big West in 2020.
- The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) entered into full operation in 2015 with the merger of the University of Texas–Pan American (UTPA), which had joined the WAC in 2013, and the University of Texas at Brownsville. Because UTRGV directly inherited the UTPA athletic program. it is credited with all UTPA historic records, and maintains UTPA's WAC membership.
References
- "WAC Men's Basketball Postseason Honors Announced" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
- "WAC Announces Men's Basketball Award Winners" (Press release). Western Athletc Conference. March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
- "2018 WAC Men's Basketball Postseason Honors Announced" (Press release). West Athletic Conference. March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- "2019 WAC Men's Basketball Postseason Honors Announced". Western Athletic Conference. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
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