Pascal Siakam honored as WAC Player of the Year
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – New Mexico State sophomore Pascal Siakam was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year and joins teammate junior Ian Baker on the first team as the conference released the 2016 All-WAC Teams today.
The duo led the Aggies (22-9, 13-1) to a repeat regular season WAC Championship and now seek to claim a fifth straight WAC Tournament Championship this week at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
In addition to both being chosen to the All-WAC first team, the pair were also selected to the WAC All-Defensive team.
Siakam was the unanimous pick for WAC Player of the Year after posting 25 double-doubles for the season, ranking second in the nation. He’s 21st nationally in scoring with 20.7 points per game and seventh nationally in rebounding with 11.7 boards a contest. He’s the only player averaging a double-double in NCAA Division I averaging 20-plus points a game. Siakam also is 26th nationally in blocked shots (2.35 per game). He leads the WAC in all categories.
In just WAC games, the 6-9 forward from Douala, Cameroon, double-doubled in 11 of 14 WAC games. In conference play, he led the WAC in scoring (18.8), rebounding (12.4), field goal percentage (54.6) and blocked shots (2.79), and ranked fourth in minutes per game (34.71) and sixth in steals (1.14).
Siakam was also named WAC Player of the Week an unprecedented five times this season.
Baker directed the Aggies on the floor. The 6-0 point guard from Washington, D.C., was ninth in the WAC in scoring with 13.8 points a game, third in the conference in free throw percentage (82.1 percent), fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (38.9 percent), sixth in 3-point field goals per game (2.10), eighth in assists (3.71 per game) and steals (1.10 per game).
In just conference games, Baker averaged 13.0 points (12th in the WAC), 5.4 rebounds (14th), 1.29 steals (fourth), 4.21 assists (fifth), hit 81.8 percent of his free throws (eighth), and 37.7 percent of his 3-point field goals (sixth).
It’s the second straight season for Siakam to be on the All-WAC first team, and Baker gets his first All-WAC honor.
Joining Siakam and Baker on the All-WAC first team are seniors Aly Ahmed and Kevin Mays of CSU Bakersfield, and sophomore Josh Braun of Grand Canyon.
The All-WAC Second Team is composed of junior Dedrick Basile of CSU Bakersfield, senior Marcel Davis of Utah Valley, graduate student Grandy Glaze of Grand Canyon, junior Martez Harrison of Missouri-Kansas City and Brendan Westendorf of Seattle U.
In addition to Baker and Siakam, the WAC All-Defensive Team has Basile and Mays of CSUB, and Westendorf of Seattle.
The WAC All-Newcomer Team features Basile, Glaze, and Westendorf with LaVell Boyd of Missouri-Kansas City and Konner Frey of Utah Valley.
CSU Bakersfield’s Rod Barnes was voted the Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year and UT Rio Grande Valley’s Antonio Green was selected as the WAC Freshman of the Year.
