Usually, a conference MVP award is given to the player with the best statistics.
David Patten, however, is hardly a usual basketball player.
The 6-foot-8 senior forward for Weber State made a significant impression on the coaches in the Big Sky Conference with his effort, his statistics and — most importantly, according to WSU coach Randy Rahe — his leadership.
Patten was named the Big Sky MVP after leading the Wildcats to the regular-season championship in a worst-to-first season that has Weber State hosting the conference tournament a year after not even playing in it.
"His value to me, and to this program, was as much off the court as it was on it," Rahe said. "We had a conference call with all the coaches in the conference and I talked with them about his value and his leadership."
Averaging 14.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game didn't have Patten atop any major stat category. In fact, Eastern Washington's Rodney Stuckey led the league in scoring with 24.6 points. He handed out 5.52 assists, grabbed 4.7 rebounds and had 2.45 steals per game while shooting a league-best 84.6 percent from the free-throw line. Many expected the 2006 Big Sky MVP to repeat.
But when EWU failed to qualify for the conference tournament, some coaches may have reconsidered their votes.
"David is very deserving of being the MVP," Rahe said. "We asked him to totally change his game this year. He was pretty much just a perimeter player last year. We asked him to go inside and to take charge of the team. He did that for us every day, every game."
A prime example of Patten's leadership came just one game after taking a vicious elbow to the face and suffering multiple fractures to his cheekbone.
Wearing a protective mask, he returned to the starting lineup the next game and led the Wildcats to the league title.
"I think he showed everyone in the conference how valuable he is to us," Rahe said.
Patten was joined on the all-Big Sky first team by Stuckey, Idaho State's David Schroeder, Montana's Jordan Hasquet and a pair of representatives — Ruben Boykin Jr. and Tyrone Bazy — from co-champion Northern Arizona.
Weber State sophomore shooting guard Juan Pablo Silveira was named to the second team after averaging 10.1 points, 3.38 assists and shooting 45.7 percent from 3-point range.
"I think by the end of the season," Rahe said, "he was one of the best defenders in the league. He really came on strong at the end of the year and kept getting better."
Junior center Arturas Valeika was named honorable mention after averaging 8.6 points and 6.7 rebounds, and shooting 60 percent from the floor.
Rahe is considered by most to be the leading candidate for coach of the year after guiding the Wildcats to the conference title in his first year as coach in Ogden.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Tuesday in the Big Sky semifinals against the lowest remaining seed from Saturday's quarterfinal games.
E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com