BYU captured a piece of the Mountain West Conference championship in its final year in the league.

And on Monday, the Cougars collected plenty of league honors as parting gifts.

As expected, senior guard Jimmer Fredette, the MWC's all-time leading scorer and a top candidate for national player of the year, was named the MWC player of the year.

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Dave Rose and San Diego State's Steve Fisher shared the coach of the year award, while Cougar guard Jackson Emery earned defensive player of the year honors.

Fredette was also named to the All-MWC first team, along with San Diego State's DJ Gay and Kawhi Leonard; New Mexico's Dairese Gary; and Colorado State's Andy Ogide.

Jackson Emery was selected on the All-MWC second team while Brandon Davies, who was suspended last week for the remainder of the season, was part of the All-MWC third team. Noah Hartsock was an All-MWC honorable mention selection.

"I'm really pleased with the fact our team was really recognized because this is a team," Rose said. "That's how we won games, with those guys."

Said Emery: "All of (the awards) are well-deserved. We all worked extremely hard to be where we're at today. I'm obviously happy to win defensive player of the year. This what makes us a great team - all these accolades. Hopefully we don't let those get to our head as we move on to (MWC) tournament play."

The top-seeded Cougars face either Wyoming or TCU on Thursday afternoon (1 p.m. MT) in the MWC Tournament quarterfinals at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The conference's nine coaches and a select media panel, picked the all-MWC teams and the individual awards.

Fredette, the nation's leading scorer (28.9 points per game), and the first three-time first-team honoree in MWC history, was happy to be recognized.

"It's a great honor. I'm glad I was able to be honored that way," he said. "I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates. We've had a great season this year and the success that we've had has really helped me out a lot with my personal accolades and everything. It's a good honor and hopefully I'll be able to play like it."

Emery, also a senior, averaged a league-best 2.7 steals per game against MWC opponents and is the all-time leader in steals at BYU.

"I'm proud of those guys. These seniors, they've been great for us through their whole careers," said junior Charles Abouo. "They're deserving of everything that comes their way. They're great leaders. They get out there and compete. It's great to see other people give them the recognition they deserve. It was great to see our big men get some accolades also because they do a lot of the dirty work for us and we wouldn't be here without them."

For Rose, it marked his third MWC coach of the year award.

Fredette credited Rose and his staff for recruiting players that fit the program's style of play, and then helping those players reach their potential..

"He's also a good motivator and knows how to get them to play as hard as they possibly can every single day," Fredette said of Rose. "If you don't, you're not going to play. They realize that. That's why we work so hard and we get in such good shape in the off-season, to play his style of basketball.. He's just a great guy, a great coach and people love playing for him because he's a genuine guy and will tell you like it is. He does a great job here and I don't see anything changing."

New Mexico's Drew Gordon was picked as the MWC newcomer of the year and his teammate, Kendall Williams, was selected as freshman of the year. Colorado State's Pierce Hornung was the six man of the year.

For Utah, Will Clyburn was named to the All-MWC second team, David Foster was part of the all-defensive team and Josh Watkins was honorable mention All-MWC.

On the women's side, BYU, which also won the MWC championship, saw Jeff Judkins named coach of the year. Mindy Bonham earned defensive player of the year honors and Kristen Riley received the sixth player of the year award. Bonham was on the All-MWC first team, Coriann Fraughton was placed on the All-MWC second team, and Haley Hall was named to the third team.

Utah's Michelle Plouffe was the league's freshman of the year and she was also on the All-MWC second team, along with teammate Iwalani Rodrigues. Janita Badon was picked for the all-defensive team.

Mountain West Conference Awards

Men

Player of the year: Jimmer Fredette, Sr., G, BYU

Defensive player of the year: Jackson Emery, Sr., G, BYU

Newcomer of the year: Drew Gordon, New Mexico

Freshman of the year: Kendall Williams, New Mexico

Sixth man of the year: Pierce Hornung, CSU

Coaches of the year: Dave Rose, BYU; and Steve Fisher, San Diego State

First Team

Jimmer Fredette, BYU, Sr., G, 6-2, 195

Andy Ogide, Colorado State, Sr., F, 6-9, 245

Dairese Gary, New Mexico, Sr., G, 6-1, 205

D.J. Gay, San Diego State, Sr., G, 6-0, 170

Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State, So., F, 6-7, 225

Second Team

Jackson Emery, BYU, Sr., G, 6-3, 190

Drew Gordon, New Mexico, Jr., F/C, 6-9, 245

Malcolm Thomas, San Diego State, Sr., F, 6-9, 220

Tre'Von Willis, UNLV, Sr., G, 6-4, 195

Will Clyburn, Utah, Jr., F, 6-7, 200

Third Team

Michael Lyons, Air Force, So., G, 6-6, 195

Brandon Davies, BYU, So., F, 6-9, 235

Hank Thorns, TCU, Jr., G, 5-10, 170

Oscar Bellfield, UNLV, Jr., G, 6-2, 185

Chase Stanback, UNLV, Jr., G/F, 6-8, 210

All-Defensive Team

Jackson Emery, BYU, Sr., G, 6-3, 185

Dairese Gary, New Mexico, Sr., G, 6-1, 205

Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State, So., F, 6-7, 225

Malcolm Thomas, San Diego State, Sr., F, 6-9, 220

David Foster, Utah, Jr., C, 7-3, 255

Honorable Mention

Tom Fow, Sr., F, 6-6, 205, Air Force

Evan Washington, Sr., G, 6-4, 195, Air Force

Noah Hartsock, Jr., F, 6-8, 230, BYU

Travis Franklin, Sr., F, 6-7, 215, Colorado State

Kendall Williams, Fr., G, 6-3, 170, New Mexico

Billy White, Sr., F, 6-8, 235, San Diego State

Josh Watkins, Jr., G, 6-0, 200, Utah

Desmar Jackson, So., G, 6-5, 175, Wyoming

Amath M'Baye, So., F, 6-9, 210, Wyoming

Women

Newcomer of the year: Courtney Clements, San Diego State

Freshman of the year: Michelle Plouffe, Utah

Defensive player of the year: Mindy Bonham, BYU

Sixth player of the year: Kristen Riley, BYU

Player of the year: Aubrey Vandiver, Wyoming

Coach of the Year: Jeff Judkins, BYU

All-MWC First Team

Aubrey Vandiver, Sr., G, Wyoming - Player of the Year

Mindy Bonham , Sr. G, BYU

Emily Carter, Sr. G, TCU

Helena Sverrisdottir, Sr., G/F, TCU

Hillary Carlson, Sr., F., Wyoming

Second Team

Coriann Fraughton, Sr., F, 6-1, BYU,

Kim Mestdagh, Jr., G/F, 5-10, Colorado State

Starr Crawford, So., F, 6-0, TCU

Michelle Plouffe, Fr., F, 6-4, Utah

Iwalani Rodrigues, So., G, 5-9, Utah

Third Team

Haley Hall, Sr., G, 5-4, BYU

Sam Martin, Fr., F, 6-2, Colorado State

Amanda Best, Sr., G, 6-0, New Mexico

Jessika Bradley, Sr., F, 6-3, San Diego State

Paris Johnson, Sr., C, 6-4, San Diego State

Honorable Mention

Jazmine Foreman, Sr., G, 5-5, BYU

Kristen Riley, Jr., C, 6-3, BYU

Jasmine Patterson, Fr., G, 5-7, New Mexico

Courtney Clements, So., G, 6-0, San Diego State

Kelli Thompson, So., G, 6-0, UNLV

Janita Badon, Jr., G, 5-7, Utah

Jade Kennedy, Sr., F, 6-1, Wyoming

Chaundra Sewell, So., F, 6-1, Wyoming

All-Defensive Team

Mindy Bonham, Sr., G, 5-10, BYU

Porche Torrance, Jr., G/F, 6-1, New Mexico

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Paris Johnson, Sr., C, 6-4, San Diego State

Starr Crawford, So., F, 6-0, TCU

Janita Badon, Jr., G, 5-7, UtahMountain West Conference awards

e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com

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