Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Awarded for the most outstanding basketball player in the Western Athletic Conference
Country United States
First awarded 1981
Currently held by Tai Wesley, Utah State

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 2011, 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. Among present WAC members, five schools have had no winners: Boise State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State and San Jose State.

Contents

Key

† Co-Players of the Year
* Awarded a national Player of the Year award:
the Naismith College Player of the Year or the John R. Wooden Award
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Season Player School Position Class
1980–81 Ainge, DannyDanny Ainge* BYU Shooting guard Senior
1981–82 Garnett, BillBill Garnett Wyoming Small forward Senior
1982–83† Cage, MichaelMichael Cage San Diego State Center Junior
1982–83† Durrant, DevinDevin Durrant BYU Small forward Junior
1982–83† Mannion, PacePace Mannion Utah Shooting guard Senior
1983–84 Cage, MichaelMichael Cage (2) San Diego State Center Senior
1984–85 Saarelainen, TimoTimo Saarelainen BYU Power forward Senior
1985–86 Watson, AnthonyAnthony Watson San Diego State Forward Senior
1986–87 Dembo, FennisFennis Dembo Wyoming Small forward Senior
1987–88 Smith, MikeMike Smith BYU Small forward Junior
1988–89 Hardaway, TimTim Hardaway UTEP Point guard Senior
1989–90 Mitchell, MikeMike Mitchell Colorado State Forward Senior
1990–91 Grant, JoshJosh Grant Utah Power forward Junior
1991–92 Slater, ReggieReggie Slater Wyoming Forward Senior
1992–93 Grant, JoshJosh Grant (2) Utah Power forward Senior
1993–94 Brown, GregGreg Brown New Mexico Point guard Senior
1994–95 Van Horn, KeithKeith Van Horn Utah Shooting guard / Small forward Sophomore
1995–96 Van Horn, KeithKeith Van Horn (2) Utah Shooting guard / Small forward Junior
1996–97† Carter, AnthonyAnthony Carter Hawaii Point guard Junior
1996–97† Van Horn, KeithKeith Van Horn (3) Utah Shooting guard / Small forward Senior
1997–98† Nailon, LeeLee Nailon Texas Christian Power forward Junior
1997–98† Shields, ClaytonClayton Shields New Mexico Shooting guard / Small forward Senior
1998–99† Miller, AndreAndre Miller Utah Point guard Senior
1998–99† Sasser, JerylJeryl Sasser Southern Methodist Shooting guard Sophomore
1999–00 Alexander, CourtneyCourtney Alexander Fresno State Shooting guard Senior
2000–01 Ely, MelvinMelvin Ely Fresno State Center Junior
2001–02 Ely, MelvinMelvin Ely (2) Fresno State Center Senior
2002–03 Ross, QuintonQuinton Ross Southern Methodist Power forward Senior
2003–04 Snyder, KirkKirk Snyder Nevada Shooting guard / Small forward Junior
2004–05 Fazekas, NickNick Fazekas Nevada Power forward / Center Sophomore
2005–06 Fazekas, NickNick Fazekas (2) Nevada Power forward / Center Junior
2006–07 Fazekas, NickNick Fazekas (3) Nevada Power forward / Center Senior
2007–08 Carroll, JayceeJaycee Carroll Utah State Shooting guard Senior
2008–09 Wilkinson, GaryGary Wilkinson Utah State Forward Senior
2009–10 Babbitt, LukeLuke Babbitt Nevada Power forward Sophomore
2010–11 Wesley, TaiTai Wesley Utah State Power forward Senior

Winners by school

School (year joined) Winners Years
Utah (1962)[a] 7 1983†, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997†, 1999†
Nevada (2000) 5 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010
BYU (1962)[a] 4 1981, 1983†, 1985, 1988
Fresno State (1992) 3 2000, 2001, 2002
San Diego State (1978)[a] 3 1983†, 1984, 1986
Utah State (2005) 3 2008, 2009, 2011
Wyoming (1962)[a] 3 1982, 1987, 1992
New Mexico (1962)[a] 2 1994, 1998†
Southern Methodist (1996)[b] 2 1999†, 2003
Colorado State (1967)[a] 1 1990
Hawaii (1979) 1 1997
Texas Christian (1996)[c] 1 1998†
UTEP (1967)[b] 1 1989
Boise State (2001) 0 —
Idaho (2005) 0 —
Louisiana Tech (2001) 0 —
New Mexico State (2005) 0 —
San Jose State (1996) 0 —

Footnotes

Teams
Championships & awards