Fresno State Athletics
WAC Coaches Honor Bell
3/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. - There was little doubt that Fresno State senior point guard Kevin Bell was one of the best players in the Western Athletic Conference this season. It became official today when the league coaches honored Bell as a member of the All-WAC first team.
Bell becomes the first Bulldog since Damon Jackson in 2002-03 to be so honored, and joins a list of former Bulldog greats including Melvin Ely, Chris Jeffries, Courtney Alexander and Chris Herron.
"We are certainly pleased for Kevin," said head coach Steve Cleveland. "He's a young man who has worked hard to get to where he is in life, not only as a basketball player but a student who's on track to graduate this semester. We are very proud of his accomplishments."
Bell led the Dogs in scoring at 18.5 points and handed out 183 assists this season. He ranks 20th in Bulldog history in scoring (1,153 point) and second in assists (594. He needs five assists to become the all-time leader in assists.
The first team is led by Utah State senior guard Jaycee Carroll who was also voted the WAC's Player of the Year. Carroll is the first Aggie to earn Player of the Year honors since Eric Franson earned Big West Player of the Year honors in 1995.
In conference games only, Carroll led the WAC in scoring, averaging 24.5 points per game, and free throw percentage (.913). The senior led the Aggies to a share of their first WAC regular season crown. Boise State's Reggie Larry, Nevada's Marcelus Kemp, New Mexico State's Justin Hawkins and Bell were also first team selections.
Carroll, Kemp and Hawkins were the only repeat all-WAC honorees from last season. All-three were named to the first team last year. Carroll earned all-WAC honors all three seasons that he played in the WAC.
The all-WAC second-teamers this year were Matt Nelson, Boise State; Matt Gibson, Hawai`i; Jordan Brooks, Idaho; JaVale McGee, Nevada and Gary Wilkinson, Utah State. Brooks is the first Vandal to earn all-WAC honors since Idaho joined the league during the 2005-06 season. All fi ve are new to the all-WAC team this season. Nelson was named to the all-Newcomer team last season.
Nevada guard Armon Johnson became the first Wolf Pack player to earn the WAC's Freshman of the Year award since Ramon Sessions in 2005. In 16 conference games, Johnson averaged 14.1 points per contest, and 4.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.0 percent from the fi eld.
Boise State head coach Greg Graham earned his first Don Haskins Coach of the Year honor by leading the Broncos to a share of their first WAC title. In his sixth year with Boise State, Graham led the Broncos to a 12-4 conference record.
Boise State was much improved after ending last season with an 8-8 conference record and finishing tied for fifth.
The 2008 WAC Basketball Tournament is this week at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M. The men's teams will compete March 11, 13-15, with the women's competition March 11-12 and 14-15. ESPN FullCourt will carry the men's quarterfinal and semifinal games while ESPN2 will show the men's championship game on Saturday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. (MT).
All of the games will also be on WAC.tv except for the men's title game. All Fresno State games will be shown live on the Bulldog Sports Network.
