For the first time since they joined the West Coast Conference in 2011-12, the BYU men’s basketball team does not have two players on the All-WCC First Team.
BYU junior forward Yoeli Childs is the only Cougar on the 10-member first team, which was announced Tuesday by the league office. Coaches of all 10 member schools vote on the team, but are not allowed to vote for their own players.
The votes are based on league games only.
BYU junior TJ Haws made the five-member Second Team, while forward Gavin Baxter made the five-member All-Freshman Team.
It is the second-straight season that Childs was named to the First Team and Haws to the Second Team. Haws was a First-Team honoree his freshman season (2016-17).
Top-ranked Gonzaga (29-2, 16-0) won the league by five games and was rewarded appropriately, as All-American forward Rui Hachimura captured Player of the Year honors. Gonzaga’s Mark Few is the Coach of the Year for the 13th time. Junior forward Brandon Clarke, a transfer from San Jose State, won both the Newcomer of the Year award and the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Childs led the league in scoring with a 20.7 average and was second in rebounding at 9.5 caroms per game. He was also in the top 15 in field goal percentage, steals, blocks, offensive rebounds and minutes played.
Haws averaged 18.8 points, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals in league games. He was fifth in scoring, fourth in assists, second in free-throw percentage, third in assist/turnover ratio and 12th in steals.
Baxter averaged 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in league play and shot 68.1 percent from the field.
(Photo courtesy of Jaren Wilkey) Shaylee Gonzales is a 5-10 freshman point guard who leads the team in scoring and rebounding and is tied for the team lead in assists.
Gonzales named WCC’s top newcomer
BYU, which finished in second place in the WCC women’s basketball standings, was well-represented Tuesday.
Freshman Shaylee Gonzales, who averaged 16.3 points in all games and 15.8 points in conference games, is the WCC Newcomer of the Year and a member of the five-player All-Freshman Team. Gonzales is the Cougars’ third WCC Newcomer of the Year honoree since they joined the league in 2012, joining Kalani Purcell (2016) and Lexi Eaton Rydalch (2012). Gonzales was the only freshman in the league who cracked the top 18 in either points per game (sixth) or rebounds per game (5.6, 17th) in league play. She also averaged 4.4 assists per game.
Junior guard Brenna Chase joined Gonzales on the 10-player All-WCC First Team, while sophomore guard Paisley Johnson made the five-player Second Team.
Pepperdine’s Yasmine Robinson-Bacote is the WCC Player of the Year, Pacific’s Valerie Higgins is the Defensive Player of the Year and Gonzaga’s Lisa Fortier is the Coach of the Year.
