# 2009–10 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2009–10 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices on October 17, 2009 and ended with the 2010 WAC men's basketball tournament March 11–13, 2010 at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, NV on the campus of the University of Nevada. Utah State won the regular season championship while New Mexico State won the WAC Tournament.

## Pre-season

The WAC conducted a media teleconference on October 20, 2009 and released the media and coaches poll, as well as the preseason All-WAC teams and player of the year.

### WAC Media Poll

| Rank | Team | Votes |
| 1 | Utah State (15) | 273 |
| 2 | Nevada (12) | 269 |
| 3 | New Mexico State (6) | 226 |
| 4 | Idaho | 193 |
| 5 | Boise State | 145 |
| 6 | Louisiana Tech | 140 |
| 7 | Fresno State | 130 |
| 8 | San Jose State (1) | 88 |
| 9 | Hawai'i | 66 |

### Media All-WAC Team

* Luke Babbitt, So. F, Nevada
* Mac Hobson, Sr. G, Idaho
* Armon Johnson, Jr. G, Nevada
* Jared Quayle, Sr. G, Utah State
* Jahmar Young, Jr. G, New Mexico State
Player of the Year
* Luke Babbitt, So. F, Nevada

### WAC coaches poll

| Rank | Team | Votes |
| 1 | Utah State (8) | 64 |
| 2 | Nevada (1) | 53 |
| 3 | New Mexico State | 50 |
| 4 | Idaho | 42 |
| 5 | Louisiana Tech | 31 |
| 6 | Fresno State | 30 |
| 7 | Boise State | 23 |
| 8 | San Jose State | 19 |
| 9 | Hawai'i | 12 |

### Coaches All-WAC Team

First Team
* Luke Babbitt, So. F, Nevada
* Mac Hobson, Sr. G, Idaho
* Armon Johnson, Jr. G, Nevada
* Jered Quayle, Sr. G, Utah State
* Jahmar Young, Jr. G, New Mexico State
Second Team
* Roderick Flemings, Sr., F, Hawai‘i
* Paul George, So. G/F, Fresno State
* Kyle Gibson, Sr. G, Louisiana Tech
* Sylvester Seay, Sr. F, Fresno State
* Tai Wesley, Jr. F, Utah State
Player of the Year
* Luke Babbitt, So. F, Nevada

## Players of the week

Players of the week:
| Week | Player | School | Weekly stats |
| 1 - Nov 16 | Roderick Flemings | Hawai'i | 18.5 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 2.5 AST, 55.6 FG% |
| 2 - Nov 23 | Joey Shaw | Nevada | 20.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.5 AST, 61.9 FG% |
| 3 - Nov 30 | Ike Okoye | Boise State | 17.0 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 2.5 AST, 4.5 BLOCKS, 61.9 FG% |
| 4 - Dec 7 | Kyle Gibson | La Tech | 27.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.0 AST, 59.3 FG% |
| 5 - Dec 14 | Jahmar Young | New Mexico State | 24.0 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 3.0 AST, 47.0 FG% |
| 6 - Dec 21 | Adrian Oliver | San Jose State | 31.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.0 AST, 52.6 FG% |
| 7 - Dec 28 | Tai Wesley | Utah State | 16.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 4.0 AST, 65.4 FG% |
| 8 - Jan 4 | Olu Ashaolu | La Tech | 15.5 PPG, 16.5 RPG, 1.5 AST, 52.4 FG% |
| 9 - Jan 11 | Luke Babbitt | Nevada | 23.0 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 3.0 AST, 58.3 FG% |
| 10 - Jan 18 | Jared Quayle | Utah State | 14.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 5.7 AST, 55.2 FG% |
| 11 - Jan 25 | Adrian Oliver | San Jose State | 30.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 5.0 AST, 54.3 FG% |
| 12 - Feb 1 | Hamidu Rahman | New Mexico State | 22.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 66.7 FG% |
| 13 - Feb 8 | Jahmar Young | New Mexico State | 25.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 5.0 AST, 61.5 FG% |
| 14 - Feb 15 | Armon Johnson | Nevada | 23.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 5.5 AST, 50.0 FG% |
| 15 - Feb 22 | Roderick Flemings | Hawai'i | 32.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.5 AST, 45.1 FG% |
| 16 - Mar 1 | Robert Arnold | Boise State | 22.0 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 3.0 AST, 75.0 FG% |
| 17 - Mar 7 | Tai Wesley | Utah State | 22.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 5.5 AST, 82.6 FG% |
On January 26 San Jose State's Adrian Oliver was named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association for games ending the week of January 24.

## Conference tournament

| Quarterfinals, Thursday, March 11 | Quarterfinals, Thursday, March 11 | Quarterfinals, Thursday, March 11 | Semifinals, Friday, March 12 | Semifinals, Friday, March 12 | Semifinals, Friday, March 12 | Championship, Saturday, March 13 | Championship, Saturday, March 13 | Championship, Saturday, March 13 |
| 1 | Utah State | 84 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Boise State | 60 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Boise State | 60 | 1 | Utah State | 85 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Louisiana Tech | 55 | | | |
| 4 | Louisiana Tech | 74 | 4 | Louisiana Tech | 55 | | | |
| 5 | Fresno State | 66 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Fresno State | 66 | | | | 1 | Utah State | 63 |
| | | | | | | 3 | New Mexico State | 69 |
| 3 | New Mexico State | 90 | | | | | | | 3 | New Mexico State | 69 |
| 6 | San Jose State | 69 | | | | | | |
| 6 | San Jose State | 69 | 3 | New Mexico State | 80 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Nevada | 79 | | | |
| 2 | Nevada | 87 | 2 | Nevada | 79 | | | |
| 7 | Idaho | 71 | | | | | | |

## Post season
### NCAA tournament

First round
(12) New Mexico State vs. (5) Michigan State L 70–67
(12) Utah State vs. (5) Texas A&M L 69–53

### NIT

First round
(6) Nevada @ (3) Wichita State W 74–70
Second round
(6) Nevada @ (2) Rhode Island L 85–83

### CollegeInsider.com tournament

First round
Louisiana Tech vs. Southern Mississippi W 66–57
Quarterfinals
Louisiana Tech @ Missouri State L 69–40

### 2010 NBA draft

| PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School/club team |
| 1 | 10 | Paul George | SF | United States | Indiana Pacers | Fresno State (So.) |
| 1 | 16 | Luke Babbitt | SF | United States | Minnesota Timberwolves (from Charlotte via Denver, traded to Portland) | Nevada (So.) |
| 2 | 34 | Armon Johnson | PG | United States | Portland Trail Blazers (from Golden State) | Nevada (Jr.) |
| 2 | 51 | Magnum Rolle | PF/C | Bahamas | Oklahoma City Thunder (from Portland via Dallas and Minnesota, traded to Indiana) | Louisiana Tech (Sr.) |

#### Pre-draft trades

Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.
* $^c$ On June 25, 2009, Minnesota acquired Charlotte's first-round pick from Denver in exchange for the draft rights to Ty Lawson. Previously, Denver acquired a first-round pick on June 25, 2008 from Charlotte in exchange for the 20th pick in the 2008 draft.
* $^{d1}$ $^2$ $^3$ On June 23, 2010, Oklahoma City acquired Daequan Cook and the 18th pick in the 2010 Draft from Miami in exchange for the 32nd pick in the 2010 Draft. Previously, Oklahoma City acquired Etan Thomas and two second-round picks on July 27, 2009 from Minnesota in exchange for Damien Wilkins and Chucky Atkins. Previously, Minnesota acquired a second-round pick and cash considerations on June 25, 2009 from Dallas in exchange for the draft rights to Nick Calathes. Previously, Dallas acquired a second-round pick, the 24th and 56th picks in the 2009 draft on June 24, 2009 from Portland in exchange for the 22nd pick in the 2009 draft.
* $^{k1}$ $^2$ On June 22, 2010, Milwaukee acquired Corey Maggette and the 44th pick in the 2010 draft from Golden State in exchange for Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric. Previously, Golden State acquired the 44th pick in the 2010 draft and cash considerations on June 21, 2010 from Portland in exchange for the 34th pick in the 2010 draft. Previously, Portland acquired 2009 and 2010 second-round picks from Chicago in a three-team trade on June 26, 2008.

#### Draft-day trades

The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft.
* $^B$ Portland acquired Ryan Gomes and the draft rights to 16th pick Luke Babbitt from Minnesota in exchange for Martell Webster.
* $^{L1}$ $^2$ Indiana acquired the draft rights to 51st pick Magnum Rolle from Oklahoma City in exchange for the draft rights to 57th pick Ryan Reid.