Boise State coach Leon Rice was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year and Tyson Degenhart earned Freshman of the Year honors Monday from the media that cover the league.
Rice earned eight of 11 first-place votes, while Wyoming’s Jeff Linder got the other three votes. Degenhart was a unanimous selection after winning Freshman of the Week honors nine times this season.
Abu Kigab and Marcus Shaver Jr. landed on the All-Mountain West second team, while Degenhart and Emmanuel Akot were honorable mention selections.
One ballot from each of the 11 Mountain West markets was submitted. In towns like Boise in which multiple beat writers cover the team, a combined ballot was submitted. The official All-Mountain West postseason awards voted by the coaches will be announced on Tuesday.
It’s the second Mountain West Coach of the Year award for Rice, who also won in 2015 when the Broncos tied for the league championship.
The Broncos (24-7, 15-3 MW) won the league outright by a game over Colorado State, San Diego State and Wyoming. Boise State went 21-3 to finish the regular season after starting 3-4 with a disappointing 46-39 loss to CSU-Bakersfield in maybe the worst offensive performance in Boise State history.
Degenhart was inserted into the starting lineup following the Bakersfield loss, and the Broncos are 21-4 with him there. He’s averaging 10.2 points per game while shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range.
Boise State is the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament and will play Thursday at 1 p.m. MT against the winner of Wednesday’s New Mexico-Nevada game.
2021-22 All-Mountain West Team – Media selections
• ALL-MW 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)
• ALL-MW 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, Sr., Boise State (77)
G Isaiah Stevens, Jr., Colorado State (69)
• ALL-MW 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)
• ALL-MW 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)
Others receiving votes: Bryce Hamilton, UNLV (1); Graham Ike, Wyoming (1); Abu Kigab, Boise State (1).
COACH OF THE YEAR: Leon Rice, Boise State (8)
Others receiving votes: Jeff Linder, Wyoming (3)
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nathan Mensah, San Diego State (9)
Others receiving votes: Orlando Robinson, Fresno State (2)
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Matt Bradley, San Diego State (11)
Others receiving votes: none
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Tyson Degenhart, Boise State (11)
Others receiving votes: none
6TH MAN OF THE YEAR: Donovan Williams, UNLV (6)
Others receiving votes: K.J. Jenkins, New Mexico (2); Chandler Jacobs, Colorado State (1); Adam Seiko, San Diego State (1); John Tonje, Colorado State (1).