wac news and notes, continued - Western Athletic Conference

A LOOK BACK: 2010-11UTAH STATE FALLS TO TEXAS A&M AT NCAA TOURNAMENTThree players in double-digits was not enough for 12th-seeded Utah State as the Aggies weretopped by the Wildcats of Kansas State, 73-68, in the second round of the 2011 NCAA Tournamentat the McKale Center at Tuscon, Ariz. USU, ranked No. 17 in this week’s ESPN/USA Today Coaches’poll and No. 19 in the Associated Press poll ends its record season with a 30-4 mark, as the 30wins ties the 2008-09 team for most in school history and its 30-4 mark is the best-ever in theprogram’s history. No. 24/21 K-State improves to 23-10 overall and advances to play third-seededand No. 16/16 Wisconsin in the third round on Saturday. In his final game in an Aggie uniform,senior forward Tai Wesley netted a team-high 18 points, while junior guard Brockeith Pane added17 points and senior guard Pooh Williams tied a career-high with four three-pointers on the wayto 16 points. Wesley and senior guard Tyler Newbold shared not only team-best reboundinghonors but game-best as well snaring six boards each. The Aggies pulled within 33-28 less thanthree minutes into the second half as Wesley hit a jumper and a layup sandwiched around a Panelayup. The Wildcats responded and opened a 47-34 lead at the 10:14 mark on a Kelly jumper. USUcountered to close to 56-50 on a driving Williams dunk with 4:20 to play, but that would be theclosest the Aggies would get until the waning seconds. Utah State’s senior class of Wesley, Green,Newbold, Williams, and forwards Nate Bendall and Matt Formisano leave USU as their winningestplayers in school history with a four-year record of 108-28. That group led the Aggies to fourstraightregular-season Western Athletic Conference championships and two WAC Tournamenttitles in the last three years.UTAH STATE CLAIMS 2011 WAC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT TITLETai Wesley and Brockeith Pane each scored 19 points and Wesley also pulled down nine reboundsas the Aggies won the WAC Tournament with a 77-69 win over Boise State in the championshipcontest of the 2011 WAC Basketball Tournament championship game. La’Shard Anderson pacedBoise State with 18 points.2011 WAC Basketball All-Tournament TeamLa’Shard Anderson, Boise StateNate Bendall, Utah StateAdrian Oliver, San Jose StateTai Wesley, Utah StateBrockeith Pane, Utah State - MVPUTAH STATE WINS FOURTH-STRAIGHT WAC REGULAR SEASON TITLEUtah State’s men’s basketball team won its third-straight outright Western Athletic Conferenceregular season championship and fourth-straight league title overall in 2010-11. With its regularseason WAC Championship, Utah State extended its current school record run of consecutivepostseason appearances to 12 straight as the Aggies have played in the NCAA Tournament seventimes and the NIT four times in the past 11 years. Along with securing its 12-straight postseasonappearance, Utah State is also one of just two teams in the nation to win at least 23 games in eachof the last 12 seasons along with Kansas.SEVEN WAC PLAYERS NAMED TO NABC ALL-DISTRICT TEAMThe National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced the NABC Division I All-Districtteams for 2011, recognizing the nation’s best men’s collegiate basketball student-athletes. Sevenplayers from the WAC received NABC all-district honors. Utah State’s Tai Wesley, New MexicoState’s Troy Gillenwater, San Jose State’s Adrian Oliver, Louisiana Tech’s Olu Ashaolu, Fresno State’sGreg Smith, Nevada’s Dario Hunt and Boise State’s La’Shard Anderson each received a place onthe all-district squad.FOUR WAC TEAMS INVITED TO POSTSEASON TOURNAMENTSFour WAC teams, including Boise State, Hawai‘i, Idaho and San Jose State have been invited toparticipate in postseason tournaments. Boise State and San Jose State will play in the College BasketballInvitational (CBI), while Hawai‘i and Idaho will play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.UTAH STATE’S MORRILL NAMED NABC DISTRICT 6 COACH OF THE YEARVeteran Utah State men’s basketball coach Stew Morrill was honored this past season as the NationalAssociation of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 6 Coach of the Year as selected by his peers.It is the second year in a row that Morrill has been named the NABC’s Coach of the Year for District6 as he shared the award a year ago with Northern Colorado’s Tad Boyle. Morrill was also namedthe Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the third-straight season in 2011 afterleading Utah State to its fourth-straight regular season WAC title with a 15-1 league mark to goalong with its second WAC Tournament Championship in the last three years. USU finished theCOACHING RECORDSRodney Terry - Fresno StateOverall................................................ 0-0 (.000), 1st seasonSchool................................................. 0-0 (.000), 1st seasonWAC..................................................... 0-0 (.000), 1st seasonGib Arnold - Hawai‘iOverall..........................................19-13 (.594), 2nd seasonSchool...........................................19-13 (.594), 2nd seasonWAC....................................................8-8 (.500), 2nd seasonDon Verlin - IdahoOverall...........................................50-46 (.521), 4th seasonSchool............................................50-46 (.521), 4th seasonWAC................................................24-24 (.500), 4th seasonMichael White - Louisiana TechOverall................................................ 0-0 (.000), 1st seasonSchool................................................. 0-0 (.000), 1st seasonWAC..................................................... 0-0 (.000), 1st seasonDavid Carter - NevadaOverall...........................................34-32 (.515), 3rd seasonSchool............................................34-32 (.515), 3rd seasonWAC................................................19-13 (.594), 3rd seasonMarvin Menzies - New Mexico StateOverall...........................................76-58 (.563), 5th seasonSchool............................................76-58 (.563), 5th seasonWAC................................................40-22 (.645), 5th seasonGeorge Nessman - San Jose StateOverall........................................ 68-119 (.364), 7th seasonSchool......................................... 68-119 (.364), 7th seasonWAC................................................27-69 (.281), 7th seasonStew Morrill - Utah StateOverall................................... 542-241 (.692), 26th seasonSchool.................................... 324-103 (.759), 14th seasonWAC............................................136-78 (.636),14th season2011-12 WAC Men’s Basketball Preview 3