Childs, Haws and Toolson earn All-WCC honors

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – BYU seniors Yoeli Childs, TJ Haws and Jake Toolson earned All-West Coast Conference First Team recognition and Toolson was named Newcomer of the Year, the conference announced Tuesday.

ALL-WCC PRESS RELEASE | ALL-WCC VIDEO | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The three seniors combined to lead BYU to its first top-25 ranking – currently No. 15 – since 2011 and 13 conference wins – tied for the most league wins since joining the WCC. BYU’s win percentage of 81.3 in WCC play is its best since joining the conference and the Cougars are the No. 2 seed in the WCC Tournament for the first time since 2015.

Childs is the 10th* Cougar in program history to earn first-team all-conference honors three times. For Haws it is his fourth All-WCC honor and second first-team nod. He also earned first-team honors as a freshman, honorable mention as a sophomore and second-team status as a junior.

Toolson is the first BYU men’s basketball player to earn the All-WCC Newcomer of the Year honor. It is his second major individual conference award and second all-conference first-team selection as he was named the All-Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-WAC First Team last season at Utah Valley.

In WCC play, Childs led the league in scoring at 22.7 points per game and was second in rebounding at 8.5 per contest. He was also third in field goal percentage at 57.1 and tied for second with four double-doubles. Childs also shot a career-best 43.3 percent from 3-point range.

Childs – the WCC Player of the Week the last two weeks of the season – scored in double figures in 11 of 12 games played during the conference season and scored 20-plus points seven times. His 38 points scored in the regular season finale at Pepperdine were the most scored by a WCC player during a regulation game.

Haws averaged 16.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting 50.3 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from 3-point range and 83.6 percent from the free-throw line. He was among the top 10 in eight statistical categories, including: assists (2nd), assist/turnover  ratio (2nd), free-throw percentage (3rd), steals (3rd), field goal percentage (5th), tied for seventh in 3-pointers per game, eighth in the WCC in scoring and 10th in minutes per game.

With 14 assists against Portland and 13 at Pepperdine, Haws posted the top-two single-game assist totals in WCC play. He had two double-doubles, scored in double figures 12 times and had 20-plus points four times.

Toolson was the most prolific 3-point shooter in the WCC as he led the league in 3-point field goals per game at 2.9 and 3-point field goal percentage at 50.0 percent (46 of 92). He averaged 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals. Among league leaders he was among the top 15 in the following categories: assist/turnover ratio (3rd), assists (5th), field goal percentage (7th), scoring (9th), steals (12th) and minutes played (T-12th).

Toolson scored in double figures 13 times and 20-plus points five times and had one double-double. He hit a 3-pointer in all but one game and made five-plus 3-pointers four times.

The No. 15 Cougars will play in the semifinals in the 2020 University Credit Union West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas on Monday, March 9, at 8:30 p.m. PDT. BYU – the No. 2 seed – will play the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal between No. 3 Saint Mary’s and the winner No. 6 Pepperdine vs. No. 7 Santa Clara/No. 10 Portland.

*Danny Ainge (4), Kyle Collinsworth (3), Kresimir Cosic (3), Jimmer Fredette (3), Tyler Haws (3), Roland Minson (3), Joe Nelson (3), Elwood Romney (3), Michael Smith (3)