Fresno State Athletics
Ely Named WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year
3/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 4, 2001
DENVER - The Western Athletic Conference men's basketball postseason award winners as selected by the league's nine head coaches were announced today.
The first team is led by Fresno State junior Melvin Ely who was also voted the WAC's Player of the Year. In conference games only, Ely averaged 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and led the WAC in field goal percentage (.627). UTEP senior forward Brandon Wolfram is a first-team selection for the second straight year. Rice's Mike Wilks, Fresno State's Chris Jefferies and Hawai`i's Predrag Savovic were also first team selections.
Fresno State guard Tito Maddox was named the WAC's Freshman of the Year. Maddox averaged 13.7 points 8.1 assists and 1.9 steals in conference only games. Fresno State head coach Jerry Tarkanian was named the Don Haskins Coach of the Year after leading the 25th-ranked Bulldogs to a 24-5 record and Fresno State's first ever WAC regular-season title (13-3).
The 2001 Williams WAC Basketball Tournament is this week at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla. The men's teams will compete March 6, 8-10, with the women's competition March 6-7 and 9-10. Fox Sports Net will carry the men's semifinal games on Friday and the championship game on Saturday, March 10 at 9:00 p.m. (CT).
2001 WAC Men's Basketball Postseason Award Winners
First Team
- Melvin Ely, Jr., Fresno State
- Brandon Wolfram, Sr., UTEP
- Mike Wilks, Sr., Rice
- Chris Jefferies, So., Fresno State
- Predrag Savovic, Jr., Hawai`i
Second Team
- Jeryl Sasser, Sr., SMU
- Kevin Johnson, So., Tulsa
- Tito Maddox, Fr., Fresno State
- Damon Hancock, Jr., SMU
- Eugene Costello, Jr., UTEP
Player of the Year: Melvin Ely, Fresno State
Freshman of the Year: Tito Maddox, Fresno State
Don Haskins Coach of the Year: Jerry Tarkanian, Fresno State
All-Newcomer Team
- Chris Jefferies, So., Fresno State
- Tito Maddox, Fr., Fresno State
- Eugene Costello, Jr., UTEP
- Andre Hazel, Fr., Nevada
- Phil Martin, Fr., Hawai`i
All-Defensive Team
- Melvin Ely, Jr., Fresno State
- Chris Jefferies, So., Fresno State
- Derrick Davenport, Sr., TCU
- Mike Wilks, Sr., Rice
- Dante Swanson, So., Tulsa
