PTW does the WAC honors

There are three unanimous choices for our All-WAC First Team:

* Adrian Oliver
* Tai Wesley
* La'Shard Anderson

Take these guys away from their respective teams and, while the wheels wouldn't necessarily come off, their squads would be so much more easier to defend.

Our other two choices:

* Dario Hunt
* Troy Gillenwater

Neither is exactly finishing the regular season on a high note but there are a few games left to turn that direction around. Let's see what the G-Man does tonight although he is apparently still injured.

Here are the other possibilities we considered and they make up the All-WAC Second Team:

* Justin Graham 
* Jeff Ledbetter 
* Olu Ashaolu
* Brockeith Pane
* Bill Amis 

Graham's numbers: 15.5 ppg. (sixth in the league), 5.0 apg., 4.4 rpg., 23 steals and 2/1 assist-to-turnover ratio gave him the greatest case for making the top five.

Ledbetter snuck up on us but his numbers are solid: 15.5 ppg., 47% on treys, 86% on free throws and 3.3 rpg. while second in the WAC in steals.

Ashaolu was generally a double-double and had the least assistance from his teammates in creating operating room.

Pane put up 12.9 ppg., shot 50% and passed for 4.3 apg. and his dribble-drive penetration brought as aspect to his team that no other Aggie could come close to duplicating.

Amis' figures are 14.2 ppg., 7.8 rpg. and 2.2 blocks a contest and he gets the nod over Greg Smith who was too often a no-show or a minimalist contributor. Actually, Zane Johnson (14.7 ppg., 39% shooting on treys) was Amis' closest competition.

Player of the Year: Adrian Oliver, San Jose State

Chris Murray's reasoning influenced this pick: not withstanding the multiple contributions of Tai Wesley, Adrian Oliver simply is the best player.

Coach of the Year: 'The Stache" aka Don Verlin

Hey, what about Don Verlin for Coach of the Year in the WAC? Idaho was picked to finish eighth by both the coaches and media and the Vandals best epitomized the whole being better than the sum of its parts.

It's an impossible task to actually delineate one coach being 'better' than his compatriots (what's the criteria?) but Verlin's group achieved the most with the least (and we're not trying to offer a back-handed compliment).

Of course, Stew Morrill was fine, as usual, at Utah State but he enjoyed four returning starters.

Heck, Hawaii was supposed to be the WAC caboose so Gib Arnold also deserves some love.

Freshman of the year: Deonte Burton

We had early doubts about his stroke but 15.3 points a game (50% overall shooting, 45% on treys), 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals each time out makes him the runaway winner.

We also have some other less-recognized categories:

Marathon Man: Justin Graham at 39.5 minutes game (aided by the large number of OT games by the Spartans)

On the Verge of Breaking Out: Kyle Barone with 13.2 ppg. (63% shooting) and 6.1 rpg. He has the best hands of any big in the conference and needs to use them this summer to both pack down more calories and hoist some iron. 

Provider of the Best Change of Pace: Brady Jardine with his over-the-top athleticness amidst teammates who are much more bound by gravity