Fresno State Athletics
Smith, Steed Honored by WAC Coaches
3/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2011
FRESNO, Calif. - The Western Athletic Conference men's basketball postseason award winners as selected by the league's nine head coaches were announced today.
Fresno State sophomore center Greg Smith and junior guard Tim Steed were recognized by the WAC coaches for their play in the 2010-11 season. Smith was named to the All-WAC second team by the coaches and Steed was selected to the five-man All-Newcomer team.
Smith, coming off a career-high of 16 rebounds against Hawai'i on his last game, is the team's second leading scorer and top rebounder.
Steed ranks third on the squad in scoring, 10.3 points per game. Despite leading his team in scoring, Kevin OIekaibe was not selected to the All-Newcomer squad, which only included one freshman player, WAC Freshman of the Year Deonta Burton of Nevada.
The first team All-WAC squad is led by Utah State senior Tai Wesley who was also voted the WAC's Player of the Year. Wesley averaged 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds in WAC play this season. Utah State's Brockeith Pane, Boise State's La'Shard Anderson, New Mexico State's Troy Gillenwater and San Jose State's Adrian Oliver were also first team selections.
This year's all-WAC second team consists of Fresno State's Greg Smith, Hawai`i's Bill Amis, Idaho's Jeff Ledbetter, Nevada's Dario Hunt and Utah State's Brian Green.
Utah State head coach Stew Morrill earned his third-straight Don Haskins Coach of the Year honor by leading the Aggies to a fourth-straight regular season WAC title. In his 13th year with Utah State, Morrill led the Aggies to a 15-1 conference record.
Those named to the WAC's all-defensive team were Boise State's Anderson, Louisiana Tech's Olu Ashaolu, San Jose State's Justin Graham, Nevada's Hunt and Utah State's Tyler Newbold.
Selected to the WAC's all-newcomer team were Nevada's Burton and Olek Czyz, Hawai`i's Zane Johnson, Utah State's Pane and Fresno State's Tim Steed.
The 2011 WAC Tournament will be held March 9-12, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. ESPNU will carry two men's quarterfinal games, including the noon and 2:30 p.m. (PT) games on Thursday, March 10. ESPN2 will show the men's semifinal game on Friday, March 11 at 9:00 p.m. (PT) and the men's championship game on Saturday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m. (PT) . All of the games not televised by ESPN will be available on WAC.tv.
Dogs Open March Madness vs. Nevada in 2011 WAC Tournament
Coming off two of their best games of the season, the Fresno State Bulldogs look to carry some momentum into the 2011 WAC Tournament in Las Vegas beginning Wednesday. Fresno State enters ther tournament as the No. 7 seed and will play No. 6 Nevada in the opening round at 2:30 p.m. PT. If the Dogs win, they play No. 3 seed New Mexico State at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 10.
New Look WAC Tournament
The 2011 WAC Tournament will have a fresh look with both a pristine neutral site venue and a new bracket format that rewards the top four seeded teams, in which the third and fourth seeds receive byes into the quarterfinals and the top two teams are placed into the semifinals. The WAC tournament winner earns an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.
"We Are Your Team!" Fresno State opens the 2011 WAC Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. PT. Listen to the game on the Bulldog Sports Network, KMJ 580 AM.
