March 10, 2003
LAS VEGAS - UNLV men's basketball seniors Marcus Banks and Dalron Johnson have been selected to the 2002-03 All-Mountain West Conference teams, which were selected by the league's eight men's head coaches along with a selected media panel and announced by the conference on Monday.
Banks, a 6-2 guard, was selected to the first team and was named co-Defensive Player of the Year with Travis Hansen from BYU, while Johnson, a 6-10 forward, was selected to the second team.
Banks captured Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight season after leading the league with 31 steals in conference play and a 2.21 per game average. In all games, Banks leads the conference and ranks fifth nationally with a 2.82 steals per game average and is one of three players in the country to have recorded eight or more steals in two different games this season. He recorded a league-high nine games with four or more steals this season.
Banks was a second-team selection last year and becomes the first player in MWC history to garner an individual award for the second straight season (Defensive Player of the Year). He leads the league in both overall and conference games in assts (5.50/5.21 apg) and steals (2.82/2.21 spg) and ranks second in scoring (20.5/22.9 ppg). Banks posted six 30-plus scoring games this season and had 15 with 20 or more points. He was selected as one of 15 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy (the USBWA's Player of the Year) and was named to the NABC All-District 15 first team. Banks was also the only player in the league to win the MWC Player of the Week award three times this season.
Johnson was on the All-MWC first team in 2001-02 and was selected to the All-Newcomer team and was named Freshman of the Year in 1999-2000. This season, Johnson is seventh in the MWC in scoring (15.7/16.1 ppg) and tied for fourth in rebounding (6.7 rpg in all games; fourth in conference-only games at 7.1 rpg). He is second in free throw percentage (.856 for all games) and third in blocked shots (1.25 bpg in all games). Johnson was named to the NABC All-District 15 second team.
BYU head coach Steve Cleveland captured Coach of the Year honors, while Ruben Douglas of New Mexico was selected as Player of the Year. Freshman of the Year honors went to Evan Burns of San Diego State.
The following is the complete list of the 2003 All-Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball awards:
2002-03 All-Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Team(selected by head coaches & selected media panel)
First-Team All-Mountain WestMarcus Banks, UNLV, 6-2, 200, Sr., G, Las Vegas, Nev. (Dixie College)Ruben Douglas, New Mexico, 6-5, 200, Sr., G, Altadena, Calif. (Univ. of Arizona)Travis Hansen, BYU, 6-6, 210, Sr., F, Orem, Utah (Utah Valley State College)Uche Nsonwu-Amadi, Wyoming, 6-10, 260, Sr., F/C, Enugu, Nigeria (Indian Hills CC)Donta Richardson, Wyoming, 6-2, 170, Sr., G, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sheridan CC)
Second-Team All-Mountain WestTony Bland, San Diego State, 6-5, 192, Sr., G, Los Angeles, Calif. (Syracuse)Tim Frost, Utah, 6-10, 234, Jr., C, Klamath Falls, Ore. (Portland)Marc Jackson, Utah, 6-1, 185, So., G, Salt Lake City, Utah (Olympus)Britton Johnsen, Utah, 6-9, 213, Sr., F, Murray, Utah (Murray HS)Dalron Johnson, UNLV, 6-10, 215, Sr., Los Angeles, Calif. (Verbum Dei HS)
Third-Team All-Mountain WestRafael Araujo, BYU, 6-11, 260, Jr., C, Sao Pualo, Brazil (Ariz. Western College)Mark Bigelow, BYU, 6-7, 190, Jr., F, Olympia, Wash. (Olympia HS)Nick Jacobson, Utah, 6-4, 198, Jr., G, Fargo, N.D. (Roseville HS, Minn.)Tim Keller, Air Force, G, 6-3, 180, So., G, Austin, Texas (USAFA Prep)Matt Nelson, Colorado State, 7-0, 240, So., C, Morton Grove, Ill. (Niles North)
Honorable Mention: Air Force - Joel Gerlach (Jr., F); BYU - Jared Jensen (So., F); Colorado State - Andy Birley (Sr., G), Brian Greene (Sr., F), Michael Morris (Fr., G); New Mexico - Mark Walters (Fr., G); San Diego State - Evan Burns (Fr., F), Mike Mackell (Sr., F), Deandre Moore (Sr., G); Utah - Trace Caton (Sr., F); Wyoming - Jay Straight (So., G).
Player of the Year - Ruben Douglas, New MexicoFreshmen of the Year - Evan Burns, San Diego StateCo-Defensive Player of the Year - Travis Hansen, BYU and Marcus Banks, UNLVCoach of the Year - Steve Cleveland, BYU
