March 5, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Four San Diego State men's basketball players earned all-Mountain West Conference honors the league announced Monday evening. Seniors Brandon Heath and Mohamed Abukar, along with junior Jerome Habel and sophomore Lorrenzo Wade were selected among the league's elite by the MWC coaches and media. It is the the third time in school history that SDSU has had four players earn all-conference accolades in one season.
Heath, the league's all-time leading scorer, becomes just the third Aztec player since 1979 to be named to the all-conference first team twice. The Los Angeles native is averaging career highs in points (19.2), rebounds (4.0) and assists (3.6). The senior ranks second in scoring (first in conference games), fourth in steals and sixth in assists.
For the second consecutive season, Abukar finds himself on the all-MWC second-team. In the MWC era, only Abukar, Heath and Marcus Slaughter have twice earned a position on the league's top two teams.
Abukar is averaging 15.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and is shooting 85.3 percent from the free throw line. He is eighth in the league in scoring, 12th in rebounding and second in free throw percentage.
Habel and Wade each were named to the honorable mention all-conference squads in their first season of basketball at San Diego State.
Habel, who has started 19 of the 26 games he has played in this season, is averaging 10.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
Wade, one of just seven sophomores honored by the league, is averaging 10.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists. The Louisville transfer, one of the best defenders in the league, is also averaging 1.17 blocks (9th) and 1.93 steals per game (t-2nd).
In all, four Aztec players earned all-conference recognition, matching the school record set in 2003 and set again in 2004. San Diego State had three players recognized in both 2005 and 2006.
San Diego State, the tournament's No. 3 seed, will begin its title defense with a quarterfinal game against sixth-seeded Colorado State in Las Vegas at 8:30 p.m. PST Thursday.