Mountain West awards: Boise State cleans up, with five Broncos receiving recognition
Winning an outright regular-season conference championship comes with its perks.
In the Mountain West media awards released Monday, Boise State had more people recognized than any other team, with four players and coach Leon Rice being honored.
Rice and forward Tyson Degenhart were voted Mountain West Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively, by a select panel of journalists from each of the league’s 11 markets.
Forward Abu Kigab and guard Marcus Shaver Jr. were each named second-team All-Mountain West, while Degenhart and guard Emmanuel Akot picked up honorable mention accolades.
Rice, who received eight of 11 votes for his second coach of the year honor, led the Broncos to the team’s first conference title since 2014-15, and the first outright conference championship in any league since 1987-88.
Boise State enters the Mountain West Tournament with an overall record of 24-7, which is tied for the third-most wins in school history. The Broncos’ 15-3 record during conference play is the most league wins in program history and the highest conference winning percentage, at 83.3%.
Degenhart was the unanimous selection for freshman of the year after starting 25 of the Broncos’ 31 games and averaging 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds. He shot 50% (113-of-226) from the floor during the regular season, including a clip of 41.7% (40-of-96) from 3-point range. He was awarded the Mountain West Freshman of the Week nine times, which is more than the rest of the league’s freshmen combined.
Kigab, who received one vote for player of the year, started every game for the Broncos and averaged a team-best 14.7 points per game on 50.8% shooting (156-of-307). He also averaged 5.9 rebounds per game, ranked second on the team in assists (2.3 apg) and led the Broncos in steals (1.2 spg).
Shaver established himself as the Broncos’ closer, sinking 3-pointers against Utah State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State that either won the game or forced overtime. The redshirt senior averaged 13.9 points per game, scoring in double figures a team-best 25 times this season. He also ranked third on the team in assists (2.1 apg) and second in steals (1.2 spg).
Despite missing a stretch of four games during conference play with a knee injury, Akot averaged 10.3 points and a team-leading 2.9 assists per game. His 49 3-pointers ranked second on the team, and he scored in double figures 14 times, including a pair of 20-point games. Akot also was named to the Charleston Classic All-Tournament Team earlier this season.
Boise State opens the conference tournament at 1 p.m. Mountain time Thursday (CBS Sports Network) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The Broncos will face the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 8 Nevada and No. 9 New Mexico.
2021-22 All-Mountain West Media Team
FIRST TEAM
F David Roddy, Jr., Colorado State (161 points)
C Orlando Robinson, Jr., Fresno State (132)
G Bryce Hamilton, Sr., UNLV (131)
F Graham Ike, So., Wyoming (131)
G Hunter Maldonado, Sr., Wyoming (128)
SECOND TEAM
G Matt Bradley, Sr., San Diego State (119)
F Abu Kigab, Sr., Boise State (104)
F Justin Bean, Sr., Utah State (83)
G Marcus Shaver Jr., Sr., Boise State (77)
G Isaiah Stevens, Jr., Colorado State (69)
THIRD TEAM
G Grant Sherfield, Jr., Nevada (65)
G Jamal Mashburn Jr., So., New Mexico (37)
F Nathan Mensah, Sr., San Diego State (22)
G Jaelen House, Jr., New Mexico (21)
G Desmond Cambridge, Sr., Nevada (12)
HONORABLE MENTION
A.J. Walker, Air Force (9); Brandon Horvath, Utah State (8); Emmanuel Akot, Boise State (6); Tyson Degenhart, Boise State (2); Omari Moore, San Jose State (2); Anthony Holland, Fresno State (1).
Player of the Year: David Roddy, Colorado State (8)
Coach of the Year: Leon Rice, Boise State (8)
Defensive Player of the Year: Nathan Mensah, San Diego State (9)
Newcomer of the Year: Matt Bradley, San Diego State (11)
Freshman of the Year: Tyson Degenhart, Boise State (11)
Sixth Man of the Year: Donovan Williams, UNLV (6)
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 12:21 PM.
