This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Las Vegas • Utah Valley and new coach Mark Pope were picked sixth in the Western Athletic Conference preseason men's basketball poll, which was released Wednesday.
New Mexico State was the unanimous favorite to win the league, and Missouri-Kansas City junior Martez Harrison was named the preseason Player of the Year.
New Mexico State received seven first-place votes and finished with 49 points in the poll; coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. The Aggies were followed by Grand Canyon (39), Cal-Bakersfield (36 and one first-place vote), Missouri-Kansas City (35), Seattle (22), Utah Valley (20), Texas-Rio Grande Valley (13) and Chicago State (10).
Joining Harrison on the all-league first team were Aly Ahmed of Bakersfield, Ian Baker of New Mexico State and Pascal Siakam and DeWayne Russell of Grand Canyon. Utah Valley's Hayes Garrity was named to the second team.