The Vandal men's basketball team had a much more successful year than most expected, and as a result two key players were recognized Sunday in WAC postseason awards. Sharpshooting guard Jeff Ledbetter was a second-team selection and post Kyle Barone was an all-WAC honorable mention.

Read on for more.

Here's the official UI release on the awards. The Vandals (18-12) will play the winner of No. 5 Hawaii's bout with No. 8 San Jose State on Thursday after receiving a first-round bye.

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DENVER – Idaho senior Jeff Ledbetter had a breakout season in 2010-11, and he was rewarded on Sunday with a second-team all-Western Athletic Conference honor, as voted by the league’s coaches.
 
Ledbetter was one of two Vandals to earn postseason awards, as sophomore center Kyle Barone landed an all-WAC honorable mention accolade, as well. They are the first such honors for both Idaho players.
 
With 55 made 3-pointers in conference play, Ledbetter posted the top long-range shooting performance by a WAC player since 2006, and he finished the year seventh in scoring in league play at 15.1 points per game. He also led the conference in free throw percentage (.875) was second in 3-point percentage (.462), and was third in steals (1.75/gm).
 
“Jeff had a great league season,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “He obviously made our offense extremely hard to guard with his ability to make 3-pointers.”
 
Barone led the conference in field goal percentage overall (.614), and stepped it up in league play, where he shot a WAC-best 64.5 percent, which ranks fifth in conference history. He put in 11.6 points and grabbed 6.0 rebounds per game in WAC play.
 
“Kyle is a very efficient player,” Verlin said. “He has a very good field goal percentage, and he’s top ten in rebounding. I thought he played really solid all year long and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
 
Ledbetter becomes the third Vandal to earn all-WAC honors, while Barone is the second to earn honorable mention recognition.
 
The two helped lead a balanced Idaho team that went 18-12 overall this year, and tied for third place in the WAC with a 9-7 league record. The regular-season win total is the team’s highest since 1993, and the third-place finish is the second in three years under Verlin.
 
“Make no mistake about it, individual awards come from team accomplishments,” Verlin said. “The reason why we got those individual awards was because our team played very well through the conference season.”
 
Utah State’s Stew Morrill earned the Don Haskins Coach of the Year honor after leading Utah State to a 15-1 league record and fourth-consecutive regular-season title. USU’s Tai Wesley was named WAC Player of the Year, and Nevada’s Deonte Burton earned the Freshman of the Year honor.
 
2010-11 WAC Postseason Award Winners:
Don Haskins Coach of the Year: Stew Morril, Utah State
Player of the Year: Tai Wesley (Utah State)
Freshman of the Year: Deonte Burton (Nevada)
 
First-Team All-WAC
La’Shard Anderson (Boise State)
Troy Gillenwater (New Mexico State)
Adrian Oliver (San Jose State)
Brockeith Pane (Utah State)
Tai Wesley (Utah State)
 
Second-Team All-WAC
Bill Amis (Hawai`i)
Brian Green (Utah State)
Dario Hunt (Nevada)
Jeff Ledbetter (Idaho)
Greg Smith (Fresno State)
 
All-WAC Honorable Mention
Olu Ashaolu (Louisiana Tech)
Kyle Barone (Idaho)
Deonte Burton (Nevada)
Justin Graham (San Jose State)
Zane Johnson (Hawai`i)
 
All-Defensive Team
La’Shard Anderson (Boise State)
Olu Ashaolu (Louisiana Tech)
Justin Graham (San Jose State)
Dario Hunt (Nevada)
Tyler Newbold (Utah State)
 
All-Newcomer Team
Deonte Burton (Nevada)
Olek Czyz (Nevada)
Zane Johnson (Hawai`i)
Brockeith Pane (Utah State)
Tim Steed (Fresno State)

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