Men, women are picks to grab WAC crowns

The other contenders keep chipping away, but New Mexico State remains the team to beat in Western Athletic Conference basketball.

So say the coaches and so say the media for both the men’s and women’s races, the league announced Wednesday.

Despite having just one starter and only four scholarship players back, the defending men’s WAC champion Aggies return as the league favorite after being picked to finish second in both preseason polls last year for the first time since 2010.

“Obviously being picked first in the preseason has no bearing on your actual number of wins or where you finish in the conference race,” men’s basketball coach Chris Jans said.

The Aggies were picked by seven of nine coaches, who could not vote for their own team, and 22 of 24 media types. NMSU’s top nemesis, both media and coaches agree, will be Grand Canyon.

Redshirt junior guard A.J. Harris (9.4 points, 2.9 assists on average last year), NMSU’s lone returning starter, was picked first-team preseason AllWAC. Forward Eli Chuha (8.3 points, 4.8 rebounds) is a second-team selection.

The NMSU women, meanwhile, are picked to win their fifth consecutive regular-season title — in large part because they have Brooke Salas, who is picked to repeat as league player of the year. She averaged 19.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.2 steals last year.

In the coaches’ poll, New Mexico State earned all but two of the possible nine first-place votes. In the media poll New Mexico State earned all nine first-place votes.

CSU Bakersfield is picked to finish second in both polls.

Junior guard Gia Pack (16.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists) is also a first-team preseason All-WAC choice.

“We’re happy for Brooke and Gia and the respect they’ve earned from the conference, but they’re our two hungriest players,” said New Mexico State secondyear coach Brooke Atkinson.

“They deserve it because they are two of our hardest workers and continue to lead our team. They both expect big things out of themselves and we know they’re going to keep working.”

New Mexico State opens the 2018-19 season with a men’s/women’s doubleheader Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Pan American Center. The women will play at 5 p.m. against UT Permian Basin. The men will follow with a game against North Dakota State as part of the WAC/ Summit League Challenge.