Mountain West announces all-conference teams, awards as voted on by coaches: Great Osobor named Player of the Year

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Mountain West Player of the Year is Utah State forward Great Osobor, a somewhat surprising pick considering he may not have been his own coach's pick for the award, nor is he the conference's one candidate for the nation's most outstanding college basketball player.

The conference announced its 2023-24 men's basketball awards on Tuesday. The league’s 11 head coaches voted on the all-conference teams, as well as the coach, player, defensive player, newcomer, sixth man and freshman honors.

Utah State head coach Danny Sprinkle was named Mountain West Steve Fisher Coach of the Year. San Diego State’s Lamont Butler was voted Defensive Player of the Year. New Mexico forward Mustapha Amzil and Utah State guard Josh Uduje were voted the Mountain West Co-Sixth Man of the Year, while New Mexico forward JT Toppin and UNLV guard Dedan Thomas Jr. were recognized as Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year.

In addition to player of the year, Osobor was also named Mountain West Newcomer of the Year. In his first year in the league, Osobor averaged 17.8 points and 8.9 boards per game, while connecting on 57.9 percent of attempts from the field.

Osobor and Utah State teammate Darius Brown II, a guard, landed on the all-conference first team, along with San Diego State forward Jaedon LeDee, Boise State forward Tyson Degenhart and Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens.

Sprinkle, Osobor and Brown were all at Montana State last year and this year led the Aggies — a team that was picked to finish ninth in the league in the preseason — to the program's first outright regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West Tournament.

Brown averaged 12.4 points, 6.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds a game and hit several big shots throughout the year, including a three-pointer in the waning seconds to give Utah State the win over UNM on Saturday.

Following the game, Sprinkle told reporters: “If Darius Brown is not (Mountain West) player of the year, I will never vote ever again. Seriously, don’t ask me to vote again.”

LeDee, who is averaging 20.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 55.7% from the floor, was named Mountain West Player of the Year by media, which released results of its year-end polling on Monday. He's also one of 15 players — and one of only two players from a non-Power 5 conference — to be a candidate for the Wooden Award Trophy, presented annually to the most outstanding college basketball player in the United States.

The Mountain West coaches' poll named six players to the all-conference second team and four player to the third team.

Freshman of the Year Toppin and Thomas are joined by Boise State forward O'Mar Stanley, Nevada guards Kenan Blackshear and Jarod Lucas and New Mexico guard Donovan Dent on the second team.

The third team includes Colorado State guard Nique Clifford, Nevada forward Nick Davidson, New Mexico guard Jaelen House and UNLV forward Keylan Boone.

Bulter, House and Brown are joined on the all-defensive team by Nevada forward Tré Coleman and UNLV guard Luis Rodriguez.

Lobo award winners

These notes come from New Mexico's sports information department.

The three selections to the three all-Mountain West teams ties a school record for the Lobos. New Mexico also had three players selected in 2004-05, 2009-10, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2022-23. House, a second-team selection last year and a third-team selection in 2021-22, became the third Lobo to be named to the All-Mountain West teams three times, joining Ruben Douglas (2001-03) and Kendall Williams (2012-14).

Toppin is second Lobo to be named Mountain West Freshman of the Year, joining Williams in 2010-11. He is the seventh freshman, and first Lobo freshman, to be named first or second team All-Mountain West. In conference play, Toppin led the Mountain West in rebounds (9.6), offensive rebounds (3.78), field goal percentage (.599) and blocks (2.17). His seven double-doubles in Mountain West play are the tied for the second most in conference history by a freshman, trailing only Kahwi Leonard’s 10 in 2009-10 at San Diego State. He earned Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors nine times, tying the conference record set by Degenhart in 2021-22.

Dent becomes the fifth Lobo (joining Douglas, Williams, Alex Kirk and Elijah Brown) to be a first or second team All-Mountain West selection as a sophomore. He ranked among the conference leaders in scoring (14th-13.9), field goal percentage (sixth-.516), assists (fifth-5.11), free throw percentage (14th-.727), blocks (14th-0.78) and assist/turnover ratio (seventh-2.49) in conference games. Dent is the only Mountain West player this season with a 30-point game (31 vs. Boise State) and 14-assist game (14 vs. Utah State) in conference play this season.

House earned All-Mountain West honors for the third time and was selected to the All-Defensive Team for the second straight year. The only Mountain West player on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, he becomes the first player to lead the conference in steals for three straight seasons after grabbing 39, seven more than anyone else in the conference. Offensively, House ranked among conference leaders in scoring (eighth-14.9), assists (12th-3.28), free throw percentage (T-1st-.879), three-pointers (12th-2.0) and assist/turnover ratio (13th-1.59) in league play.

Amzil is the first Lobo to earn Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year accolades since the conference debuted the award in 2008-09. He led the conference in points off the bench, scoring all 162 of his Mountain West points as a reserve. His 11 double-figure games off the bench led the conference and was five more than anyone else in the league. He averaged 9.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in the conference, while shooting 47 percent from the floor, 39 percent from 3-point range and 84 percent from the free throw line.

All four players were also honored on Monday when the media’s All-Mountain West awards were announced. Dent, Toppin and House were named to the media’s second team, while Jamal Mashburn, Jr. was named to the third team. Toppin was the Freshman of the Year, House was the Defensive Player of the Year and Amzil was the Co-Sixth Man of the Year in the media’s Mountain West awards.

The Lobos (22-9, 10-8) begin play at the Mountain West Tournament on Wednesday with a first-round matchup with Air Force (9-21, 2-16). Game time at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas is 5 p.m. Mountain (4 p.m. PT) and the game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network, available to stream at themw.com.

MWC award winners

These notes come from the Mountain West Conference sports information department.

Sprinkle, who is in his first year as Utah State’s head coach, guided the Aggies to a 14-4 mark in conference play. Utah State earned its second MW regular-season title and first outright title since joining the league in 2013-14. This marks the second time that a Utah State coach has been named MW Coach of the Year and first since 2020.

Osobor is the second Aggie to be named Mountain West Player of the Year and the first player from USU to be selected as the MW Newcomer of the Year. In his first year in the league, Osobor averaged 17.8 points and 8.9 boards per game, while connecting on 57.9 percent of attempts from the field. In MW play, he posted eight double-doubles.

Butler is the third straight Aztec to be voted MW Defensive Player of the Year and seventh in school history. The senior recorded the second-most steals (32) during Conference action. Butler and the Aztecs held opponents to 41.3 percent shooting from the field, the best field-goal percentage defense in the league.

Amzil is the first Lobo to be named MW Sixth Man of the Year and appeared in all 18 Mountain West games for New Mexico. He averaged nine points and 4.4 boards per game off the bench, while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor.

Uduje is the third player from Utah State to earn MW Sixth Man of the Year honors. He finished the Conference season with 8.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 40.1 percent from the field. The junior played in every league this season.

Toppin is the second New Mexico player to be named MW Freshman of the Year in program history and first since 2011. He started all 18 league games, averaging 12.7 points and a MW-leading 9.6 rebounds per game. The freshman is shooting 59.9 percent from the field, the best field-goal percentage in the MW.

Thomas is fifth Runnin’ Rebel and first since 2018 to earn MW Freshman of the Year honors. In his first season with the Scarlet and Gray, he led UNLV in scoring during MW play, averaging 14.4 points per game. The guard also dished out 4.4 assists per contest and shot 43.4 percent from the field.

2023-24 All-Mountain West Men’s Basketball Team

First team

• Tyson Degenhart, Jr., F, Boise State
• Isaiah Stevens, Gr., G, Colorado State
• Jaedon LeDee, Sr., F, San Diego State
• Darius Brown II, Gr, G, Utah State
• Great Osobor, Jr., W, Utah State

Second team

• O’Mar Stanley, Jr., F, Boise State
• Kenan Blackshear, Gr., G, Nevada
• Jarod Lucas, Gr., G, Nevada
• Donovan Dent, So., G, New Mexico
• JT Toppin, Fr., F, New Mexico
• Dedan Thomas Jr., Fr., G, UNLV

Third team

• Nique Clifford, Sr., G, Colorado State
• Nick Davidson, So., F, Nevada
• Jaelen House, Gr., G, New Mexico
• Keylan Boone, Sr., F, UNLV

Defensive team

• Tré Coleman, Sr., F, Nevada
• Jaelen House, Gr., G, New Mexico
• Lamont Butler, Sr., G, San Diego State
• Luis Rodriguez, Sr., G, UNLV
• Darius Brown II, Gr., G, Utah State

Honorable mention

• Chibuzo Agbo, Sr., G, Boise State
• Max Rice, Sr., G, Boise State
• Lamont Butler, Sr., G San Diego State
• MJ Amey, Jr., G, San José State
• Kalib Boone, Sr., F, UNLV
• Ian Martinez, Sr., G, Utah State
• Sam Griffin, Sr., G, Wyoming

Player of the Year: Great Osobor, Jr., W, Utah State

Defensive Player of the Year: Lamont Butler, Sr., G, San Diego State

Newcomer of the Year: Great Osobor, Jr., W, Utah State

Co-Sixth Man of the Year: Mustapha Amzil, Sr., F, New Mexico and Josh Uduje, Jr., G, Utah State

Co-Freshman of the Year: JT Toppin, F, New Mexico and Dedan Thomas Jr., UNLV

Steve Fisher Coach of the Year: Danny Sprinkle, Utah State