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WSU’s Josh Hawkinson named All-Pac-12 honorable mention

By Jacob Thorpe jacobt@spokesman.com(509) 710-8070

PULLMAN – Washington State forward Josh Hawkinson was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention for the second consecutive season.

The junior from Shoreline, Washington, averaged 15.6 points and 11.0 rebounds, which ranked No. 10 and No. 1 in the Pac-12, respectively. He tied his own school with 20 double-doubles, which also leads the conference.

Hawkinson ranks No. 12 in the conference in blocks per game, No. 6 in field goal percentage and minutes per game, and No. 10 in free throw percentage. Last season Hawkinson was named the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player, in addition to honorable mention honors.

A WSU men’s basketball player has been named honorable mention all-conference 24 times in the program’s history, with 21 different players earning the honor.

Utah’s Jakob Poeltl won Pac-12 Player of the Year after leading the Utes to a No. 2 finish while averaging 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game while shooting 66 percent from the field. He led the conference with four Pac-12 Player of the Week awards and was also named All-Defensive team honorable mention.

Oregon’s Dana Altman was named Coach of the Year after guiding the Ducks to the regular-season championship and an undefeated home record.

Gary Payton II, the Oregon State guard from Seattle, was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Payton II’s 2.4 steals per game led the conference by a wide margin.

Colorado’s Georges King was named the conference’s Most Improved Player. King averaged 1.5 points per game two years ago and redshirted last season, then started 24 of 31 games in 2015-16. He averaged 13.3 points per game and led the league in 3-point percentage (45.3).

Brandon Taylor, a senior Psychology major at Utah, was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year after compiling a 3.4 grade-point average while averaging 9.6 points per game and leading the Utes with 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

The Washington Huskies had four players earn All-Conference honors. Senior guard Andrew Andrews led the Pac-12 in scoring with 21.2 points per game and was named to the 10-member first team. Dejounte Murray was named second-team all-conference and made the All-Freshman team, while Marquese Chriss was named honorable mention on the All-Freshman team. Junior forward Malik Dime was named All-Defensive team honorable mention.