LOGAN, Utah, March 12, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Mountain West champion Utah State dominated the conference awards Tuesday, with Great Osobor winning Player and Newcomer of the Year and head coach Danny Sprinkle earning Coach of the Year.
Utah State’s Josh Uduje was named co-Sixth Man of the Year, while Darius Brown II and Osobor were selected to the All-Mountain West First Team in a vote of the conference’s head coaches.
Brown also was named to the MWC All-Defensive Team and Ian Martinez was an honorable mention selection.
Sprinkle took a team picked in the preseason to finish ninth in the Mountain West and led the Aggies to their first outright regular-season title in 11 years in his first season as head coach.
After leading Montana State to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023, Sprinkle left his alma mater to take over a Utah State team with 13 newcomers. His Aggies enter this week’s Mountain West tournament as the top seed and the 18th-ranked team in the nation.
Under Sprinkle, Utah State (26-5 overall, 14-4 Mountain West) won the seventh-most games in school history and posted its third-best record in the Mountain West in its 11 years in the conference.
Osobor followed Sprinkle from Montana State and lived up to his name with a great first season at Utah State.
The 6-foot-8 junior wing from Bradford, England, leads the Aggies in points (17.6), rebounds (9.0) and blocks (1.5) per game, while shooting 57.2% from the floor. He ranked second in the Mountain West in rebounding and field goal percentage during conference play.
Uduje, a 6-5 junior guard from London, averages 8.8 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 42.7% from the floor and 75% from the free throw line. The transfer from Coastal Carolina scored in double figures in six games during conference play, including a season-high 20 points off the bench at Wyoming on Feb. 14.
Brown, a 6-2 guard and graduate student, also followed his head coach from Bozeman, Montana, to Logan and leads the Aggies in assists (6.4), steals (1.5) and minutes played (35.7) per game.
The Pasadena, California, native, also averages 12.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 45.4% from the floor, 40.4% from 3-point range and a team-best 85.7% from the free throw line.
Martinez, a 6-3 senior guard, is the Aggies’ second-leading scorer at 13.3 points per game and enters the postseason shooting 49.2% from the floor, 38.5% from 3-point range and 84.5% from the free throw line.
The Heredia, Costa Rica, native played the previous two seasons at Maryland and spent his freshman season at Utah before transferring to Utah State.
The Aggies are seeking their 11th conference tournament championship and third as a member of the Mountain West.
As the top seed, Utah State will face either eighth-seeded Wyoming (15-16, 8-10) or ninth-seeded Fresno State (11-20, 4-14) in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Thursday in Las Vegas.
2023-24 All-Mountain West men’s basketball Team
- Player of the Year: Great Osobor, Utah State
- Defensive Player of the Year: Lamont Butler, San Diego State
- Newcomer of the Year: Great Osobor, Utah State
- Co-Sixth Man of the Year: Mustapha Amzil, New Mexico
- Co-Sixth Man of the Year: Josh Uduje, Utah State
- Co-Freshman of the Year: JT Toppin, New Mexico
- Co-Freshman of the Year: Dedan Thomas Jr., UNLV
- Steve Fisher Coach of the Year: Danny Sprinkle, Utah State
First Team
- Tyson Degenhart, Boise State
- Isaiah Stevens, Colorado State
- Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State
- Darius Brown II, Utah State
- Great Osobor, Utah State
Second Team
- O’Mar Stanley, Boise State
- Kenan Blackshear, Nevada
- Jarod Lucas, Nevada
- Donovan Dent, New Mexico
- JT Toppin, New Mexico
- Dedan Thomas Jr., UNLV
Third Team
- Nique Clifford, Colorado State
- Nick Davidson, Nevada
- Jaelen House, New Mexico
- Keylan Boone, UNLV
Defensive Team
- Tré Coleman, Nevada
- Jaelen House, New Mexico
- Lamont Butler, San Diego State
- Luis Rodriguez, UNLV
- Darius Brown II, Utah State
Honorable Mention
- Chibuzo Agbo, Boise State
- Max Rice, Boise State
- Lamont Butler, San Diego State
- MJ Amey, San José State
- Kalib Boone, UNLV
- Ian Martinez, Utah State
- Sam Griffin, Wyoming
