March 10, 2015
LAS VEGAS - San Diego State forwards JJ O'Brien and Skylar Spencer highlighted the Mountain West all-conference awards as announced by the league on Tuesday. Winston Shepard and Aqeel Quinn also garnered recognition from the MW's head coaches.
O'Brien landed on the all-conference first team and also earned a spot on the all-defensive team, as did Spencer, who was named the MW Co-Defensive Player of the Year. O'Brien enjoyed a solid conference season averaging 10.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals, while shooting nearly 50 percent (.469). The senior ranked first on the squad in assists and steals, was second in rebounding and third in scoring. It is the second straight season in which O'Brien has been recognized as he was an honorable mention pick in 2014, and he joins Kawhi Leonard (2011) and Xavier Thames (2014) as the only Aztecs to be voted to the all-MW first team and defensive team.
Spencer, along with O'Brien, helped SDSU limit its foes to 52.7 points per game on 38.5-percent shooting. The Aztecs' scoring defense was top effort in the 16-year history of the Mountain West and its field-goal percentage defense threatened the conference record of 37.9 percent set by the 2007-08 Brigham Young squad. Individually, the Spencer totaled 40 rejections, which was the fourth-best mark in the conference, and averaged 4.8 rebounds.
For the third time in school history, San Diego State had two players voted to the all-defensive team. Twelve months ago, Spencer and Thames made the team and they followed in the footsteps of Leonard and Malcolm Thomas in 2011. Riche Williams (2009) and current director of player development Tim Shelton (2012) are the other two Aztecs to be considered among the MW's elite defenders.
Shepard followed his 2014 honorable mention selection with an all-conference second-team appointment this season. The junior was SDSU's leading rebounder (5.4) and second-leading scorer (11.2) and assist producer (2.1). The Houston, Texas native and two-time MW Player of the Week played his best basketball down the stretch, averaging 14.0 points on 47.8-percent shooting, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in his final eight games of the conference slate.
Quinn, meanwhile, is a first-time all-league pick after being named to the third team. The Los Angeles, California product finished the Mountain West campaign as the Aztecs' leading scorer at 12.0 points per game. The guard started all 18 games and registered 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists, while knocking down 28 three-pointers, which was tops among all SDSU players.
San Diego State's three all-conference players (does not include honorable mention selections) ties the school record and represents the program's most since 2011. The Aztecs, who have had at least one first-teamer in a school-record six consecutive seasons, also accomplished the feat in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
SDSU opens action at the Mountain West Championship in Las Vegas on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT when it faces the winner of seventh-seeded UNLV and 10th-seeded Nevada, which is set for Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. PT.
2014-15 MOUNTAIN WEST AWARD WINNERS
FIRST TEAM ALL-MW
JJ O'Brien, Sr., San Diego State
Derrick Marks, Sr., Boise State
J.J. Avila, Sr., Colorado State
Marvelle Harris, Jr., Fresno State
Larry Nance Jr., Sr., Wyoming
SECOND TEAM ALL-MW
Winston Shepard, Jr., San Diego State
James Webb III, So., Boise State
Daniel Bejarano, Sr., Colorado State
Christian Wood, So., UNLV
Jalen Moore, So., Utah State
THIRD TEAM ALL-MW
Aqeel Quinn, Sr., San Diego State
AJ West, Jr., Nevada
Hugh Greenwood, Sr., New Mexico
David Collette, Fr., Utah State
Josh Adams, Jr., Wyoming
HONORABLE MENTION
Marek Olesinki, Sr., Air Force
Stanton Kidd, Sr., Colorado State
Rashad Vaughn, Fr., UNLV
Chris Smith, Jr., Utah State
MW ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
JJ O'Brien, Sr., San Diego State
Skylar Spencer, Jr., San Diego State
James Webb III, So., Boise State
Marvelle Harris, Jr., Fresno State
Goodluck Okonoboh, Fr., UNLV
Larry Nance Jr., Sr., Wyoming
Player of the Year: Derrick Marks, Sr., Boise State
Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Skylar Spencer, Jr., San Diego State; Larry Nance Jr., Sr., Wyoming
Freshman of the Year: Rashad Vaughn, Fr., UNLV
Newcomer of the Year: James Webb III, So., Boise State
Sixth Man of the Year: John Gillon, So., Colorado State
Coach of the Year: Leon Rice, Boise State