DENVER-Wednesday, Utah Valley men’s basketball transfer, guard Brandon Averett was named to the Western Athletic Conference’s all-preseason second team as the conference’s men’s basketball media day commenced.
The event, hosted by the Crowne Plaza Denver International Airport Convention Center, also saw the conference’s media and coaches pick the Wolverines to finish sixth in the WAC.
Averette is a junior who transferred from Big 12 power Oklahoma State. During his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Cowboys, Averette played in 69 games, most notably in the 2017-18 season.
That season, the native of Richardson, Texas averaged 19.9 minutes, 6.3 points, 2.9 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 steals per game.
Perennial favorite New Mexico State was slated to win the conference title by both coaches and media.
The coaches poll picked Grand Canyon second, Seattle U. third, Texas-Rio Grande Valley fourth, California Baptist fifth, Cal State Bakersfield tied for sixth with the Wolverines, Kansas City eighth and Chicago State ninth.
The media poll saw Grand Canyon finishing second, with Seattle U. in third place and Texas-Rio Grande Valley in fourth place. California Baptist was slated to finish fifth, Cal State Bakersfield in seventh and Kansas City and Chicago State rounding things out in eighth and ninth place respectively.
California Baptist junior guard Milan Acquaah was selected as the preseason player of the year in both polls.
The native of Bakersfield, Calif. averaged 19 points and 5 rebounds per game while shooting 85 percent at the foul line on the season for the Lancers in 2018-19.
