Joaquim named to All-WAC first team; Johnson honorable mention
Hawai’i junior Vander Joaquim was one of five players named to the All-Western Athletic Conference first team on Sunday.
The All-WAC teams, which are selected by the eight conference coaches, were announced on Sunday.
It is the first time since Julian Sensley in 2006 that a Hawai’i player was named to the All-WAC first team. Joaquim, a 6-foot-10 center from Luanda, Angola, is now on an elite list of 14 Warriors to be named All-WAC first team.
Joaquim leads the Warriors in both scoring at 14.0 points per game, and rebounding at 9.5. He also leads the team with 54 blocked shots, and was one of five players named to the All-Defensive Team.
In 14 WAC games, Joaquim averaged 15.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, and led the conference with a .633 field goal percentage.
The other four players named to the All-WAC first team were Deonte Burton and Olek Czyz from regular-season champion Nevada, Wendell McKines of New Mexico State, and Preston Medlin of Utah State.
Burton, a sophomore point guard, was named the Player of the Year. His coach, Nevada’s David Carter, won the Don Haskins Coach of the Year Award.
Louisiana Tech’s Raheem Appleby was named the WAC Freshman of the Year.
Appleby was also named to the All-WAC second team, along with Kevin Olekaibe of Fresno State, Kyle Barone of Idaho, Dario Hunt from Nevada, and Hernst Laroche of New Mexico State.
Hawai’i senior guard Zane Johnson received honorable mention. He is averaging 14.0 points per game, and ranks third in the WAC with an average of 2.8 3-pointers per game (he has 82 total 3s). It is the second consecutive year that Johnson received honorable mention.
The Warriors have been in the WAC for 33 seasons, but will move to the Big West Conference for basketball next season.
The previous 13 Hawai’i players to be named All-WAC first team: Clarence Dickerson (1982), Tony Webster (1983), Reggie Cross (1989), Chris Gaines (1990), Phil Lott (1992), Trevor Ruffin (1994), Tony Maroney (1995), Anthony Harris (1996), Anthony Carter (1997), Predrag Savovic (2001 and 2002), Carl English (2003), Michael Kuebler (2004) and Julian Sensley (2006).
2011-12 WAC Men’s Basketball Postseason Award Winners
All-Conference
First Team
Vander Joaquim, Hawai‘i, C, 6-10, Jr., Luanda, Angola (College of Eastern Utah)
Deonte Burton, Nevada, G, 6-1, So., Los Angeles, Calif. (Compton Centenial HS)
Olek Czyz, Nevada, F, 6-7, Sr., Gdynia, Poland (Duke)
Wendell McKines, New Mexico State, F, 6-6, Sr., Oakland, Calif. (Richmond HS)
Preston Medlin, Utah State, G, 6-4, So., Carrollton, Texas (Hebron HS)
Second Team
Kevin Olekaibe, Fresno State, G, 6-2, So., Las Vegas, Nev. (Cimarron-Memorial HS)
Kyle Barone, Idaho, C, 6-10, Jr., Garden Grove, Calif. (Pacifica HS)
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech, G, 6-2, Fr., Jacksonville, Ark. (Jacksonville HS)
Dario Hunt, Nevada, F, 6-8, Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo. (Charis Prep School)
Hernst Laroche, New Mexico State, G, 6-1, Sr., Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Vanier College)
Honorable Mention
Zane Johnson, Hawai‘i, G, 6-6, Sr., Phoenix, Ariz. (Arizona)
Deremy Geiger, Idaho, G, 5-11, Sr., Las Vegas, Nev. (Grayson County College)
Trevor Gaskins, Louisiana Tech, G, 6-2, Sr., Alpharetta, Ga. (Ole Miss)
Malik Story, Nevada, G, 6-5, Jr., Pasadena, Calif. (Indiana)
Hamidu Rahman, New Mexico State, C, 6-11, Sr., Somerset, N.J. (American Christian HS)
Brockeith Pane, Utah State, G, 6-1, Sr., Dallas, Texas (Midland JC)
Player of the Year: Deonte Burton, So., G, Nevada
Freshman of the Year: Raheem Appleby, G, Louisiana Tech
Don Haskins Coach of the Year: David Carter, Nevada
All-Defensive Team
Vander Joaquim, Hawai‘i, C, 6-10, Jr., Luanda, Angola (College of Eastern Utah)
Landon Tatum, Idaho, G, 5-11, Sr., San Antonio, Texas (South Plains College)
Trevor Gaskins, Louisiana Tech, G, 6-2, Sr., Alpharetta, Ga. (Ole Miss)
Jerry Evans Jr, Nevada, G, 6-8, So., Lawndale, Calif. (Leuzinger HS)
Dario Hunt, Nevada, F, 6-8, Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo. (Charis Prep School)
All-Newcomer Team
Djim Bandoumel, Idaho, F, 6-7, Sr., Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (Monroe College)
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech, G, 6-2, Fr., Jacksonville, Ark. (Jacksonville HS)
Daniel Mullings, New Mexico State, G, 6-2, Fr., Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Laurier)
James Kinney, San Jose State, G, 6-2, Jr., Champaign, Ill. (Eastern Utah College, Ohio U.)
Kyisean Reed, Utah State, F, 6-6, Jr., Palmdale, Calif. (Antelope Valley JC)
(WarriorInsider.com file photos courtesy Brandon Flores)
I’d be happy for him, if he wasn’t MIA the past two home games. He needs to play up to his first team all wac status in the tournament against Barrone.
Congratulations Vander…however those last two games it did not seem like an all WAC first team player.hopefully Vander will use it as motivation. Go into WAC and prove that the choice was no fluke. AS for Zane, congratulations, he should have been all inspirational first team, for playing with flu …he gave his all, and it shows…
Men’s BBall, unbelievable..still one more shot, at least win the first game and see what happens..you all got nothing to lose, the whole WAC thinks you were perhaps thinking you were too good after win against Xavier and NMSU at home(which were great wins), but you did win 3 WAC games on the road and almost beat Nevada at Reno. Coach Gib cannot play on floor for you, I think whole staff is thinking what to do, however as he said. WAC tourney title(like mimi NCAA 64 team tourney)…anyone gets hot can win it all.
Guys make it a goal to win Idaho, then 2nd goal get to that Championship game.
Take a day off or so..get heads cleared..I guess in these times, all fans , die hard or casual are looking for something positive to brighten our lives..Do The best you can..do well in school, play together and stay together..Go for it..!
Well, Every Team has at least one game slip away that they ‘should have Won’ and last night goes into that column; for the first time in weeks, The Warriors had positioned themselves to Win, up to the last seven seconds …
Now got to play All 40+ minutes again …
At least they’ve positioned themselves to believe they can play …
Idaho … Get the Two out of Three and that’s bigger than winning this past week might have been …
ONE at a Time … One More WAC Tourney Win than last year … ?
Still stunned after Utah St. loss..where is Joston on all WAC mention. He should have at the least made honorable mention…Heck with it…Vander, Joston, Zane, MIah, Hauns, Tre, Bobby, Pii , Tyler, Davis, Shaq, Garret, …go all out, stay together, play together…take a little time off. and get Idaho, then fight to get into that championship game…holding that WAC trophy and going to dance would correct all the adversity that went down this year..Looking for very good year next year…however don’t wait, go out as winners now..you can do it…effort last night was very good…just short..
Gib encourage the guys, work with them, now is when they need leadership from top on down..I think with the disadvantages (like Riley Wallace and others before him had)of playing in the middle of Pacific ocean..you have done a great job in bringing passion and interest back to program,,,heck past three years before you,,were downers..(Bob Nash extremely nice man…good family too).. Thanks for the tremendous effort..keep guys heads on straight…you still got NCAA dance to shoot for!
Go Ranbow Warriors!!!!
Congratulations Vander. Well deserved. You make a difference when you’re in there. Show them your dominance in the upcoming WAC Tourney.
Good luck in the Wac Tournament. Don’t let negative coaching influence your game. Know who you are inside and the kind of player you are within yourself. Remember Basketball is a team sport and it doesn’t matter who has what titles when the game is
on you are all on the court to win. If nothing else any of you who have Island blood in you you should be playing for your Island and those that are here for just basketball play for the people and fans that love you here. Rise up Warriors and be Warriors!
As it should be! Way to go Vander!
Good company by the way in Burton, Czyz, McKines, and Medlin.
They got it right!
Vander , you need to show up and play hard and intelligently these last few games if you desire to help the University of Hawaii BB Team gain a playoff bid somewhere. You did not look like a all WAC player the last two games, you failed to show up . Time to shine Vander. This is the Playoffs!!!!!!