Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

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WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Western Athletic Conference logo.png
Awarded for the most outstanding basketball player in the Western Athletic Conference
Country United States
First awarded 1981
Currently held by Martez Harrison, UMKC

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Western Athletic Conference's 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.

As of 2015, 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 for Player of the Year. Due mainly to major membership turnover from 2010 to 2014, only two current WAC members, New Mexico State and UMKC, 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

Anthony Carter was Co-Player of the Year while at Hawaii.
Quinton Ross won in 2003.
Keith Van Horn is one of only two 3-time winners of the award.
Season Player School Position Class
1980–81 Danny Ainge* BYU Shooting guard Senior
1981–82 Bill Garnett Wyoming Small forward Senior
1982–83 Michael Cage San Diego State Center Junior
1982–83 Devin Durrant BYU Small forward Junior
1982–83 Pace Mannion Utah Shooting guard Senior
1983–84 Michael Cage (2) San Diego State Center Senior
1984–85 Timo Saarelainen BYU Small forward Senior
1985–86 Anthony Watson San Diego State Forward Senior
1986–87 Fennis Dembo Wyoming Small forward Senior
1987–88 Mike Smith BYU Small forward Junior
1988–89 Tim Hardaway UTEP Point guard Senior
1989–90 Mike Mitchell Colorado State Forward Senior
1990–91 Josh Grant Utah Power forward Junior
1991–92 Reggie Slater Wyoming Forward Senior
1992–93 Josh Grant (2) Utah Power forward Senior
1993–94 Greg Brown New Mexico Point guard Senior
1994–95 Keith Van Horn Utah Shooting guard / Small forward Sophomore
1995–96 Keith Van Horn (2) Utah Shooting guard / Small forward Junior
1996–97 Anthony Carter Hawaii Point guard Junior
1996–97 Keith Van Horn (3) Utah Shooting guard / Small forward Senior
1997–98 Lee Nailon Texas Christian Power forward Junior
1997–98 Clayton Shields New Mexico Shooting guard / Small forward Senior
1998–99 Andre Miller Utah Point guard Senior
1998–99 Jeryl Sasser Southern Methodist Shooting guard Sophomore
1999–00 Courtney Alexander Fresno State Shooting guard Senior
2000–01 Melvin Ely Fresno State Center Junior
2001–02 Melvin Ely (2) Fresno State Center Senior
2002–03 Quinton Ross Southern Methodist Power forward Senior
2003–04 Kirk Snyder Nevada Shooting guard / Small forward Junior
2004–05 Nick Fazekas Nevada Power forward / Center Sophomore
2005–06 Nick Fazekas (2) Nevada Power forward / Center Junior
2006–07 Nick Fazekas (3) Nevada Power forward / Center Senior
2007–08 Jaycee Carroll Utah State Shooting guard Senior
2008–09 Gary Wilkinson Utah State Forward Senior
2009–10 Luke Babbitt Nevada Power forward Sophomore
2010–11 Tai Wesley Utah State Power forward Senior
2011–12 Deonte Burton Nevada Point guard Sophomore
2012–13 Kyle Barone Idaho Center Senior
2013–14 Daniel Mullings New Mexico State Shooting guard Junior
2014–15 Martez Harrison[1] UMKC Shooting guard / point guard Sophomore

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
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
Colorado State (1967)[a 1] 1 1990
Hawaiʻi (1979)[a 5] 1 1997
Idaho (2005)[a 6] 1 2013
New Mexico State (2005) 1 2014
TCU (1996)[a 7] 1 1998
UMKC (2013) 1 2015
UTEP (1967)[a 4] 1 1989
Boise State (2001)[a 8] 0
Chicago State (2013) 0
CSU Bakersfield (2013) 0
Denver (2012)[a 3] 0
Grand Canyon (2013) 0
Louisiana Tech (2001)[a 3] 0
San Jose State (1996)[a 3] 0
Seattle (2012) 0
Texas State (2012)[a 3] 0
Texas–Arlington (2012)[a 3] 0
Utah Valley (2013) 0
UTRGV (2013)[a 9] 0
UTSA (2012)[a 3] 0
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 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.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Nevada and Fresno State left for the MW in 2012.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 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 Texas–Arlington joined the Sun Belt after only one year in the WAC.
  4. 4.0 4.1 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.
  5. Hawaiʻi left for the Big West in 2012.
  6. Idaho left the WAC in 2014 for the Big Sky.
  7. TCU left in 2001 for C-USA. It is now in the Big 12.
  8. Boise State left in 2011 for the MW.
  9. 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.
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