OGDEN, Utah, March 8, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — With one trophy in hand, Weber State‘s Dillon Jones is headed to Boise in search of another.
Jones wrapped up a historic regular season as the Big Sky Conference leader in points (20.8), rebounds (10.1) and assists (5.2) per game to earn Most Valuable Player honors and an unanimous selection to the All-Big Sky First Team.
Jones, a 6-foot-6 junior forward, became the first player in Big Sky history to lead the conference in all three statistical categories, and he’s the only player in any conference this season to do so.
“I’m grateful for the award, the accomplishment and the recognition,” Jones said. “There were a lot of good players in the league this year. I’m obviously glad it went in my favor.”
Jones leads Weber State (20-11 overall, 11-7 Big Sky) into the conference tournament in Boise, Idaho, as the No. 4 seed with a matchup vs. fifth-seeded Montana State (14-17, 9-9) at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
“I was obviously grateful and happy for the award, but I think the most important thing is obviously getting our team ready for Boise,” he said.
The Wildcats closed the regular season with a 76-64 loss to the Bobcats on Monday in Bozeman, Montana, setting up the postseason rematch.
“I think the team is ready to perform,” Jones said. “Obviously the last regular-season game didn’t go the way we planned and wanted it to. So I think the best thing that we can do is do what we did all year, and that’s respond to the challenge and be ready for it.”
The Columbia, South Carolina, native is the 10th player in Weber State history to earn Big Sky MVP honors and the first since Joel Bolomboy in 2016. He’s expected to forgo his senior season and enter the NBA Draft as a projected first-round pick.
To put his historic junior season in perspective, Jones is one of just two players in the nation since 1993 to post at least 600 points, 300 rebounds, 150 assists and 50 steals in a season. Louisiana State’s Ben Simmons (2015-16) was the only other player to achieve that feat, according to Sports Reference.
Jones ranks seventh in the nation with 18 double-doubles this season, 16th in rebounds and 19th in scoring. He’s also seventh in the nation in minutes played.
Jones leaves Weber State as the school’s all-time leader in steals and ranks second in assists and free throws made, third in rebounds and fifth in points.
Two of Jones’ Weber State teammates also were recognized this season in a vote of the conference’s head coaches, with senior Steven Verplancken receiving an honorable mention All-Big Sky honors and junior Alex Tew joining the Big Sky’s inaugural All-Defensive Team.
It was the second All-Big Sky selection for Verplancken, who ranks second on the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game and leads WSU with 69 3-pointers made this season.
Tew averages seven points and 4.2 rebounds per game and leads the Wildcats in field goal percentage (58.4%) and blocks (26).
Eastern Washington’s Cedric Coward, Montana’s Aanen Moody and Northern Colorado’s Saint Thomas join Jones as unanimous All-Big Sky First Team selections. Thomas also was named Big Sky Newcomer of the Year after ranking second in scoring and rebounding during the regular season.
2023-24 Big Sky Conference men’s basketball awards
- Most Valuable Player: Dillon Jones, Weber State
- Newcomer of the Year: Saint Thomas, Northern Colorado
- Defensive Player of the Year: Robert Ford III, Montana State
- Top Reserve: Dejour Reaves, Northern Colorado
- Freshman of the Year: LeJuan Watts, Eastern Washington
- Coach of the Year: (tie) David Riley, Eastern Washington; Steve Smiley, Northern Colorado
First Team
- Dillon Jones, Weber State
- Cedric Coward, Eastern Washington
- Aanen Moody, Montana
- Saint Thomas, Northern Colorado
- Robert Ford III, Montana State
- Brayden Parker, Idaho State
- Trenton McLaughlin, Northern Arizona
Second Team
- KJ Allen, Portland State
- Ethan Price, Eastern Washington
- Dischon Thomas, Montana
- Casey Jones, Eastern Washington
- Carson Basham, Northern Arizona
- Dejour Reaves, Northern Colorado
Honorable Mention
- Steven Verplancken, Weber State
- Maleek Arington, Idaho State
- Brandon Whitney, Montana
- Brandon Walker, Montana State
- Jaron Rillie, Northern Colorado
- Zee Hamoda, Sacramento State
All-Defensive Team
- Robert Ford III, Montana State
- Maleek Arington, Idaho State
- Carson Basham, Northern Arizona
- Casey Jones, Eastern Washington
- Julius Mims, Idaho
- Alex Tew, Weber State
