3/11/2022 basketball Edit

Rice Named Coach of the Year, Four Others Honored in Media Poll

Joe Nckell

broncosports.com

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State men’s basketball head coach Leon Rice and forward Tyson Degenhart were named Mountain West Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively, Monday, in a poll of media members that cover the league.

Boise State head coach Leon Rice named Mountain West Coach of the Year. (Stanley Brewster / Blue-Turf.com)

Forward Abu Kigab and guard Marcus Shaver, Jr. were each named second-team All-MW, while Degenhart and guard Emmanuel Akot picked up honorable mention accolades.

Rice, who received eight of 11 votes, led the Broncos to an outright regular-season Mountain West Championship in 2021-22, the team’s first conference title since 2014-15, and the first outright conference championship since 1987-88. Boise State enters the 2022 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Basketball Championship with an overall record of 24-7, tied for the third-most wins in school history. The Broncos went 15-3 during conference play, the most league wins in school history and the highest conference winning percentage in school history (.833).

Rice was last named MW Coach of the Year in 2014-15.Degenhart, the unanimous selection for Freshman of the Year after receiving all 11 votes, started 25 of the Broncos’ 31 games, averaging 10.2 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game. He was 113-of-226 from the floor during the regular season (.500), including 40-of-96 from 3-point range (.417).

Degenhart was named MW Freshman of the Week nine times, more than the rest of the league’s freshmen combined.

Boise State forward Tyson Degenhart named Mountain West Freshman of the Year, (Stanley Brewster / Blue-Turf.com)

Kigab, who received one vote for MW Player of the Year, started each of the Broncos’ 31 games, averaging a team-best 14.7 points per game on 50.8 percent shooting (156-of-307). He also averaged 5.9 rebounds per game, ranked second on the team in assists (2.3 per game) and led the Broncos in steals (1.2 per game). Kigab led the Broncos in scoring 10 times, and had a team-best six 20-point games on the year. Kigab received second-team all-conference honors in 2020-21 from the coaches, and was named third-team All-MW by the media.

Shaver, Jr. started each of his 30 games played, scoring in double figures a team-high 25 times and averaging 13.9 points per game. Shaver, Jr. had five 20-point games this season, and knocked down 3-pointers against Utah State (Jan. 20), San Diego State (Jan. 22), Fresno State (Jan. 28) and Colorado State (Feb. 13) that either secured a victory or forced overtime. He ranked third on the team in assists (2.1 per game) and second in steals (1.2 per game). He picked up all-conference honors in the WCC following the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons (honorable mention).

Akot started 25 of his 27 games played this season, averaging 10.3 points per game and a team-best 2.9 assists per game. His 49 3-pointers ranked second on the team, and he scored in double figures 14 times, including a pair of 20-point games. Akot was named to the Charleston Classic All-Tournament Team earlier this season.

The Broncos will travel to Las Vegas for this week’s 2022 Air Force Reserve MW Men’s Basketball Championship as the No. 1 seed. Boise State will face the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 8 Nevada and No. 9 New Mexico, and tip is scheduled for Thursday (March 10) at noon PT/1 p.m. MT in a game nationally televised by CBS Sports Network.