Men's Basketball 10/7/2026 9:16:00 AM

Kiss Named Mountain West Preseason Freshman Of The Year; Jones, Storr Earn Preseason All-MW Honors

Runnin' Rebels have three players recognized by the league's media; UNLV men's basketball picked fourth in preseason poll.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV men's basketball freshman Jackson Kiss has been named the Mountain West Preseason Freshman of the Year, while sophomore Tyrin Jones and fifth-year guard AJ Storr were selected to the 2026-27 Preseason All-Mountain West Team, the league announced Wednesday at the Old Trapper Mountain West Basketball Media Day at the Palms Casino Resort.

The preseason awards and predicted order of finish were voted on by selected media members covering the conference.

Kiss, a 6-foot-8-inch forward from Auckland, New Zealand, enters his first season with the Runnin' Rebels after playing at Utah Prep Academy. A four-star recruit, he averaged 9.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in 14 contests during the 2025-26 Nike EYBL Scholastic League season.

Kiss also competed internationally for New Zealand at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup, helping his country to a fourth-place finish, and played on the Nike EYBL circuit with Vegas Elite before joining the Runnin' Rebels.

He becomes the latest Runnin' Rebel to earn the Mountain West's preseason freshman honor. Dedan Thomas Jr. was selected as the league's Preseason Freshman of the Year prior to the 2023-24 season and went on to earn MW Co-Freshman of the Year honors.

Jones, a Las Vegas native, earned his first Preseason All-Mountain West selection after an impressive freshman season for the Runnin' Rebels. The 6-foot-10-inch forward was named to the Mountain West All-Defensive Team and received honorable mention All-MW recognition in 2025-26.

Jones averaged 11.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while leading the Mountain West in blocked shots at 2.2 per contest. He is one of three returning letterwinners for UNLV this season and one of two returning starters.

Storr joins the Runnin' Rebels for his final collegiate season after spending the 2025-26 campaign at Ole Miss. The 6-foot-5-inch guard led the Rebels in scoring last season, averaging 15.5 points per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field. He also averaged 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest.

The Rockford, Illinois, native has played 138 career games at the Division I level, including stops at St. John's, Wisconsin, Kansas and Ole Miss. He averaged 16.8 points per game at Wisconsin in 2023-24 and earned All-Big Ten recognition.

Jones and Storr are two of 11 players named to this year's Preseason All-Mountain West Team.

New Mexico sophomore guard Jake Hall was selected as the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year, Grand Canyon senior guard Dylan Darling was named Preseason Newcomer of the Year and Kiss earned Preseason Freshman of the Year honors.

2026-27 PRESEASON ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST TEAM
Dylan Darling, Sr., G, Grand Canyon
Efe Demirel, So., C, Grand Canyon
Jaden Henley, Sr., G, Grand Canyon
Makaih Williams, Sr., G, Grand Canyon
Elijah Price, Jr., F, UNR
Vaughn Weems, Sr., G, UNR
Jake Hall, So., G, New Mexico
Uriah Tenette, So., G, New Mexico
Tyrin Jones, So., F, UNLV
AJ Storr, Sr., G, UNLV
Naz Meyer, So., G, Wyoming

Preseason Player of the Year
Jake Hall, So., G, New Mexico

Preseason Newcomer of the Year
Dylan Darling, Sr., G, Grand Canyon

Preseason Freshman of the Year
Jackson Kiss, F, UNLV

RUNNIN' REBELS PICKED FOURTH
UNLV was also selected to finish fourth in the Mountain West's 2026-27 preseason predicted order of finish.

New Mexico was selected as the preseason favorite with 179 points and nine first-place votes, while Grand Canyon was picked second with 178 points and a league-high 10 first-place votes. UNR was selected third with 148 points, followed by UNLV (125) and Wyoming (116).

The fourth-place prediction comes as the Runnin' Rebels enter their second season under head coach Josh Pastner. UNLV advanced to postseason play in Pastner's first season, reaching the second round of the NIT.

UNLV returns Jones, sophomore guard Issac Williamson and redshirt junior guard Jalen Cunningham from last year's team while welcoming 11 newcomers. In addition to Kiss and Storr, the group includes Division I transfers Terrance Ford Jr., Jeremy Foumena, Tyler Harris, Moustapha Loum, Sebastian Mack, Cam Miles, MJ Thomas and Dontrez Williams, along with freshman Kota Suttle Jr.

The Mountain West begins a new era in 2026-27 with a 10-team men's basketball membership consisting of Air Force, Grand Canyon, Hawai'i, UNR, New Mexico, San José State, UC Davis, UNLV, UTEP and Wyoming.

2026-27 MOUNTAIN WEST PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
New Mexico – 179 points (9 first-place votes)
Grand Canyon – 178 points (10)
UNR – 148 points
UNLV – 125 points
Wyoming – 116 points
Hawai'i – 99 points
San José State – 63 points
UC Davis – 62 points
UTEP – 52 points
Air Force – 23 points

UP NEXT: The Runnin' Rebels open exhibition play Wednesday night against Utah at the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV will also host BYU on Oct. 24 and Missouri on Oct. 29 in exhibition contests before opening the 2026-27 regular season against Northern Arizona on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Runnin' Rebels' non-conference schedule also features Stanford at home, Kansas in the Players Era Eight at Michelob ULTRA Arena, a road matchup with San Diego State, Washington State at Lee's Family Forum and SMU in the Hall of Fame Phoenix.

TICKETS: Tickets for Wednesday's exhibition may be purchased by clicking here. Season tickets for the 2026-27 season are also on sale now, starting at $115. Visit UNLVtickets.com to purchase.

WATCH ON MW+: Wednesday night's exhibition will stream live on MW+, with Matt Neverett handling play-by-play and Steve Cofield serving as analyst. Fans can watch the game and subscribe to MW+ through UNLV's dedicated page by clicking here. A majority of each subscription purchased through UNLV's link directly supports UNLV Athletics.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Issac Williamson: G; 6' 0"; Freshman

#6 Tyrin Jones: F; 6' 9"; Freshman

#13 Jalen Cunningham: G; 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore

#0 Dontrez Williams: G; 6' 6"; Junior

#1 Jeremy Foumena: C; 6' 11"; Redshirt Senior

#2 Cam Miles: G; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#3 Terrance Ford Jr.: G; 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior

#5 Kota Suttle Jr.: G; 6' 3"; Freshman

#8 Tyler Harris: F; 6' 8"; Senior

#9 Jackson Kiss: F; 6' 8"; Freshman

#10 MJ Thomas: F; 6' 8"; Junior

#24 Sebastian Mack: G; 6' 4"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#12 Issac Williamson
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: G

#6 Tyrin Jones
: 6' 9"; Freshman
: F

#13 Jalen Cunningham
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

#0 Dontrez Williams
: 6' 6"; Junior
: G

#1 Jeremy Foumena
: 6' 11"; Redshirt Senior
: C

#2 Cam Miles
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: G

#3 Terrance Ford Jr.
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#5 Kota Suttle Jr.
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: G

#8 Tyler Harris
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F

#9 Jackson Kiss
: 6' 8"; Freshman
: F

#10 MJ Thomas
: 6' 8"; Junior
: F

#24 Sebastian Mack
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G