Zags rake in WCC hoop awards
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 12 years, 1 month AGO
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Gonzaga won three of the four major awards on the All-West Coast Conference men's basketball team released Tuesday as Mark Few was named the Coach of the Year, junior Kelly Olynyk the Player of the Year and senior Mike Hart the Defender of the Year in a vote of the conference coaches.
Senior Elias Harris and sophomore Kevin Pangos joined Olynyk on the All-WCC team, sophomore Gary Bell Jr., was accorded honorable mention accolades and Przemek Karnowski was named to the All-Freshman Team.
It's the 12th time a Bulldog has been named the WCC Player of the Year, Matt Bouldin the last to receive the honor in 2010.
Few, the 14th-year head coach, earned his ninth Coach of the Year accolade and his first since 2010.
Hart made it two straight Bulldogs to win Defender of the Year honors, following in the footsteps of Robert Sacre last season. Hart is the fifth Zag to win the award.
Harris has 1,800 career points to rank fifth and 952 rebounds to rank second on the all-time Gonzaga charts.
Pangos shot a team-leading 42.5 percent from 3-point range on 68 for 160.
Bell is shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point range on 50 for 130.
Karnowski averaged 5.7 ppg and 2.5 rpg while shooting 56.9 percent from the field on 74 of 130.
Pepperdine freshman Stacy Davis is the West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year, the eighth player from the Waves to earn Newcomer of the Year.
ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Player of the Year - Kelly Olynyk, jr., F, Gonzaga.
Defensive Player of the Year - Mike Hart, sr., G, Gonzaga.
Newcomer of the Year - Stacy Davis, fr., F, Pepperdine.
Coach of the Year - Mark Few, Gonzaga.
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Brandon Davies, sr., F, BYU; Matthew Dellavedova, sr., G, Saint Mary's; Cole Dickerson, jr., F, San Francisco; Kevin Foster, sr., G, Santa Clara; Elias Harris, sr., F, Gonzaga; Tyler Haws, so., G, BYU; Anthony Ireland, jr., G, Loyola Marymount; Kelly Olynyk, jr., F, Gonzaga; Kevin Pangos, so., G, Gonzaga; Marc Trasolini, sr., F, Santa Clara.
HONORABLE MENTION
Christopher Anderson, San Diego; Jordan Baker, Pepperdine; Gary Bell, Jr., Gonzaga; Stacy Davis, Pepperdine; Johnny Dee, San Diego; Cody Doolin, San Francisco; Stephen Holt, Saint Mary's; Lorne Jackson, Pepperdine; Ryan Nicholas, Portland.
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Stacy Davis, F, Pepperdine; Tim Derksen, F, San Francisco; Avry Holmes, G, San Francisco; Przemek Karnowski, C, Gonzaga; Jito Kok, C, San Diego.
Gonzaga senior guard Taelor Karr was named the Player of the Year, junior guard Jazmine Redmon was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year and head coach Kelly Graves took home the Coach of the Year honor for the seventh time in his career.
Along with Karr, junior guard Haiden Palmer was also named All-Conference for the first time in her career. Sophomore forward Sunny Greinacher garnered WCC honorable mention accolades and redshirt freshman center Shelby Cheslek earned a spot on the All-Freshman squad.
Karr becomes the fifth player in Gonzaga's history - and first since Courtney Vandersloot in 2011 - to be named WCC Player of the Year.
Redmon is only the second Zag to garner Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining Jami Schaefer in 2008.
Graves is the WCC Coach of the Year for the third time in the last four seasons.
Palmer was the 2011-12 Newcomer of the Year and All-WCC honorable mention.
A year after Greinacher was tabbed to the All-Freshman team, she was inserted into the starting lineup as a sophomore and shined.
Cheslek made her way into the starting lineup nine games into the season. Her rebounding average (6.2) was in the Top 15 in league and blocks (1.6) were third-highest.
Rounding out the WCC yearly awards was Maya Hood of the University of San Diego who was named Newcomer of the Year.
ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Taelor Karr, Sr., G, Gonzaga
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Jazmine Redmon, Jr., G, Gonzaga
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR - Maya Hood, Fr., F, San Diego
COACH OF THE YEAR - Kelly Graves, Gonzaga
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Alex Cowling, Sr., G/F, Loyola Marymount; Jennifer Hamson, Jr., C, BYU, Amy Kame, Jr., G, San Diego; Taelor Karr, Sr., G, Gonzaga; Mel Khlok, Sr., G, San Francisco; Lindsay Leo, Sr., F. Santa Clara; Danielle Mauldin, Jr., F, Saint Mary's; Jackie Nared, Jr., G, Saint Mary's; Haiden Palmer, Jr., G, Gonzaga; Haley Steed, Sr., G, BYU.
HONORABLE MENTION
Shay Cooney-Williams (Pepperdine); Meagan Fulps (Santa Clara); Sunny Greinacher (Gonzaga); Annika Holopainen (Portland); Maya Hood (San Diego); Katelyn McDaniel (San Diego); Hazel Ramirez (Loyola Marymount); Keilani Unga (BYU)
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Shelby Cheslek, F, Gonzaga; Zhane Dikes, G, San Francisco; Annika Holopainen, F, Portland; Maya Hood, F, San Diego; Taylor Proctor, F, San Francisco.