Utah State basketball: Wolf Pack picked atop WAC polls; Aggies second

Nevada was selected Tuesday by both the media and the coaches as the favorite to claim the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball championship.

The Wolf Pack received seven first-place votes from the coaches and 20 from the media to be clear favorites to repeat as conference champs.

Last year's co-champion, the Utah State Aggies, were picked to finish second in both polls — receiving two first-place votes from the coaches and four from the media.

USU's Gary Wilkinson, however, was tabbed by the media as the preseason WAC player of the year. The 6-foot-9 senior post player from South Jordan averaged 13.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game a year ago, when his teammate, All-American guard Jaycee Carroll, was lighting up the scoreboard in Logan.

The coaches, meanwhile selected Nevada's Armon Johnson as their preseason player of the year. Johnson, a 6-3 sophomore guard, was the WAC freshman of the year and averaged 11.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

In the women's polls, Boise State was the preseason favorite of both the media and coaches. Utah State received one first-place vote in the coaches poll but was picked to finish sixth. The Aggies checked in at No. 7 in the media poll.

WAC Preseason coaches poll

1. Nevada (7) 63
2. Utah State (2) 57
3. New Mexico State 48
4. San Jose State 43
5. Boise State 30
6. Louisiana Tech 29
7. Hawai'i 25
8. Fresno State 20
9. Idaho 9

First Team — Coaches
Jonathan Gibson, Jr., G, New Mexico State
Kyle Gibson, Jr., G, Louisiana Tech
Armon Johnson, So., G, Nevada
C.J. Webster, Jr., C, San Jose State
Gary Wilkinson, Sr., F, Utah State

Second Team
Luke Babbitt, Fr., F, Nevada
Brandon Fields, Jr., G, Nevada
Anthony Thomas, Jr., F, Boise State
Tai Wesley, So., F, Utah State
Jahmar Young, So., G, New Mexico State
Player of the Year: Armon Johnson, Nevada

WAC Preseason media poll

1. Nevada (20) 255
2. Utah State (4) 220
3. New Mexico State (2) 201
4. Louisiana Tech 149
5. Boise State (3) 142
6. San Jose State (1) 132
7. Fresno State 114
8. Hawai'i 103
9. Idaho 34

Preseason All-WAC Team — media
Jonathan Gibson, Jr., G, New Mexico State
Kyle Gibson, Jr., G, Louisiana Tech
Armon Johnson, So., G, Nevada
C.J. Webster, Jr., C, San Jose State
Gary Wilkinson, Sr., F, Utah State
Preseason Player of the Year: Gary Wilkinson, Sr., F, Utah State
Newcomer of the Year: Luke Babbitt, Fr., F, Nevada

WAC women's preseason coaches poll

1. Boise State (5) 61
2. Fresno State (3) 58
3. Louisiana Tech 46
4. Nevada 41
5. New Mexico State 39
6. Utah State (1) 25
7. Hawai'i 24
8. San Jose State 19
9. Idaho 11

First Team — coaches