Fredette Named MWC Preseason Player of the Year

DENVER -- BYU guard Jimmer Fredette received Mountain West Conference Preseason Player of the Year honors at the league’s media day being held today at The MountainWest Sports Network studios. Kyle Collinsworth was also named the Preseason Freshman of the Year and the Cougars were picked to finish second in the MWC by the league’s media.

Fredette, a preseason first-team All-American and national player-of-the-year candidate, repeats as the league’s preseason player of the year. Also named to the preseason all-conference team, Fredette is a two-time All-MWC First Team honoree and last season led the league in scoring at 22.1 points per game while adding 4.7 assists.

Collinsworth is a versatile guard out of Provo High School who was named Utah’s Mr. Basketball and the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior. At Provo he helped the Bulldogs win two state titles and was a three-time first-team all-state honoree.

San Diego State was picked to finish first in the league and garnered 21 first-place votes compared to five for the Cougars. Last season, BYU was picked to finish first in the league and finished the season second in the regular season standings while setting a program record with 30 wins and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

This marks the third time the Cougars were picked to finish second in the preseason media poll — the other years being the 2006-07 and 2008-09 seasons. BYU finished first in the MWC regular season in 2007 and tied for first in 2009.

The Cougars open the 2010-11 regular season at home against Fresno State on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.

CLICK HERE for more on the preseason poll and preseason all-conference team.

2010-11 MWC MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
Rk. School (1st-Place Votes) Pts.
1.  San Diego State (21)     261
2.  BYU (5)                  220
3.  New Mexico (3)           214
4.  UNLV (1)                 203
5.  Colorado State           132
6.  Utah                     105
7.  TCU                       92
8.  Wyoming                   88
9.  Air Force                 35
2010-11 MWC MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Name             Class  Pos.  Institution
Jimmer Fredette  Sr.    G     BYU
Dairese Gary     Sr.    G     New Mexico
Kawhi Leonard    So.    F     San Diego State
Malcolm Thomas   Sr.    F     San Diego State
Tre'Von Willis   Sr.    G     UNLV
Preseason Player of the Year
Jimmer Fredette, Sr., G, BYU
Preseason Newcomer of the Year 
Drew Gordon, Jr., F, New Mexico
Preseason Freshman of the Year 
Kyle Collinsworth, Fr., G, BYU