Mountain West approves cost-cutting measures; two Broncos in top 100 NBA Draft prospects
The Mountain West Board of Directors approved several cost-cutting measures for the 2020-21 academic year during its annual spring meeting, including canceling conference tournaments in baseball, men’s and women’s tennis and women’s soccer.
“The focus of this effort has been to protect opportunities for student-athletes and to maintain the intercollegiate athletics offerings at each member institution, which are so integral to the fabric of the respective campuses,” Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement released Monday evening. “These unprecedented times demand creative solutions and great work has been done at the institutional level and collectively as a conference.”
The board, which held its meeting in a virtual format, also voted to allow men’s basketball teams to scheduled a second non-Division I team and reduce conference baseball and softball series from three days to two.
On Monday, the Mountain West also removed its indefinite suspension of in-person team athletic activities, which was in place since March 26, and voted to allow voluntary in-person workouts for all sports, beginning immediately.
Other cost-cutting measures approved on Monday:
▪ Reducing men’s and women’s indoor track and field meets and men’s and women’s golf tournaments from three days to two, and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field from four to three days.
▪ Reducing the conference office operating budget by 18% and diminishing staff travel.
▪ Moving in-person coaches meetings and the conference’s 2020 spring and fall and 2021 spring meetings to virtual events.
▪ Adjusting in-person football and basketball media days to virtual events.
▪ Utilizing a 16-match modified double-round robin schedule in women’s volleyball.
▪ Hosting swimming championship and diving championship at separate venues on Mountain West campuses over three days.
▪ Freezing officiating fees in all sports.
Alston, Jessup in NBA Draft top 100
ESPN updated its top 100 players available in the NBA Draft on Friday, and two Boise State players made the list.
Recently graduated senior guard Justinian Jessup was ranked No. 92, and redshirt junior guard Derrick Alston Jr. came in at No. 95.
Jessup finished his career at Boise State as the Mountain West’s and the Broncos’ all-time leader in career 3-pointers with 325. As a senior, he set the program’s single-season record with 98 made triples.
He is No. 2 in Boise State history with 121 career starts, and Jessup is No. 8 with 1,583 career points. He’s the first player in program history to record at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 250 assists, 150 steals and 50 blocked shots.
This winter, Alston became the 31st player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points, and the 554 points he scored in 2019-20 rank No. 11 on Boise State’s single-season scoring list. He led the team in scoring (17.3 ppg) and assists (98) and was second in rebounding (167 total, 5.2 rpg).
On March 30, Alston announced that he was declaring for the NBA Draft but would sign with an NBPA certified agent, which will allow him to retain his NCAA eligibility if he withdraws from the draft.
During a conference call with reporters on May 22, Boise State men’s basketball coach Leon Rice said Alston recently returned to Boise, but he did not have an update on his status.
On May 13, the NCAA extended its June 3 deadline for early entrants to withdraw from the draft and said a new deadline would be set when a more concrete pre-draft schedule is available.
On May 1, the NBA postponed the draft lottery, which was scheduled for May 19, and the scouting combine, which was supposed to be held May 21-24. The NBA Draft remains scheduled for June 25 in Brooklyn.
San Diego State’s Malachi Flynn (No. 38) was the highest-ranked player from the Mountain West on ESPN’s list of top 100 draft prospects. He was followed by Utah State’s Sam Merrill at No. 67, and Nevada’s Jalen Harris at No. 86.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 10:03 PM.
