RENO — The University of Nevada men’s basketball team was picked to three-peat as Mountain West Champions in 2018-19.
The poll of MW media members was released by the conference office today. Four members of the team; Jordan Caroline, Caleb Martin, Cody Martin and Jordan Brown were also honored by the MW media.
The Wolf Pack became just the second school in MW history to win back-to-back outright conference titles last season posting a 15-3 conference record.
Overall the Pack were 29-8 and reached the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history and became just the second MW school to reach the Sweet 16. Nevada was the preseason media pick in 2017-18 and second in the preseason poll in 2016-17.
Nevada received 18 first place votes and totaled 207 points to outdistance San Diego State who received one first place vote and 188 points.
New Mexico (153), Boise State (139), Fresno State (138), UNLV (122), Wyoming (88), Colorado State (80), Utah State (78), Air Force (42), and San Jose State (19) round out the poll.
Two of the top preseason honors went to Wolf Pack players with Caleb Martin being selected as the Player of the Year and Jordan Brown the Freshman of the Year. Caleb Martin, Cody Martin and Caroline were all named to the preseason MW team.
Caleb Martin was the 2017-18 MW Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
He was third in the conference last season averaging 18.9 points per game. Twin brother Cody Martin was the 2017-18 MW Defensive Player of the Year and a second-team MW selection. A versatile player he averaged 14 points, 4.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. The twins combined to average 32.9 points per game, 38.9 percent of the Pack’s offensive output.
A first-team MW selection last season, Caroline is on the preseason team for the second year in a row.
He led the Pack in rebounding at 8.6 per game last season and was second scoring 17.7 points per outing.
The 6-11 Brown is the Wolf Pack’s first five star recruit and second McDonald’s All-American. At Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif. he averaged a double-double scoring 23.5 points and grabbing 13.1 rebounds per game as a prep senior. In the McDonald’s All-Star game he scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
