Wolf Pack No. 1
Media: Nevada overwhelming pick to win league; UNM 3rd
Nevada, San Diego State, New Mexico top Mountain West preseason basketball poll.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A camera crew working on a season-long documentary-style feature followed Eric Musselman’s every move Tuesday.
Whether he was doing interviews as part of the Mountain West Conference’s annual media get-together at the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino, talking with other league coaches or reporters in the hallways, or just loading a plate with cold cuts for lunch, his every move was being recorded.
So it was, as well, for the three Nevada Wolf Pack players who attended the preseason conference — three of the league’s five all-conference players in twin brothers Caleb and Cody Martin and fellow fifth-year senior Jordan Caroline.
The only thing missing, one reporter noted as Musselman sat down to conduct a media round table with print reporters from around the league, were trumpets signaling his arrival.
“We’re very low key,” Musselman joked with a reporter regarding all the surrounding attention, while a boom mic hovered above the coach’s head. “Very low key.”
It’s good to be king. And for the second consecutive season, the Wolf Pack is the preseason pick to win the Mountain West men’s basketball title, according to a media poll released Tuesday morning at the Cosmopolitan.
The only surprise in that regard, according to at least seven of the league’s coaches asked about it by the Journal, was that Nevada wasn’t a unanimous selection to win it all, receiving only 18 of a possible 19 first place votes and a total of 207 of a possible 209 points. That means on one ballot, the Wolf Pack was picked third.
MWC media ballots are not made public like Associated Press ballots are, including next week’s preseason AP Top 25 in which the Wolf Pack is expected to be a top-10 team nationally.
Musselman insisted he wasn’t surprised his team wasn’t a unanimous pick, even saying based on what he saw at last week’s Blue/Silver intrasquad scrimmage, “I think we might finish sixth in the league.”
None of his coaching colleagues agreed, though several said the gap between Nevada and the second tier in the league isn’t nearly as big as the national perception.
The San Diego State Aztecs, last year’s MWC tournament champion, received the only other first-place vote and 188 total points in the poll and came in second. The University of New Mexico (153 points), the runner-up in last season’s MWC tournament, was third.
A season ago, the Lobos were picked to finish ninth in head coach Paul Weir’s first season but surprised the league with a third-place finish and a run to the tournament title game.
The Lobos’ unexpected run last season was brought up more than once in discussing just how meaningless such preseason polls are.
“I thought what Paul did last year was one of the best jobs in the country,” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said of the Lobos’ turnaround.
The rest of the preseason poll played out as follows: Boise State (139), Fresno State (138), UNLV (122), Wyoming (88), Colorado State (80), Utah State (78), Air Force (42) and San Jose State (19).
University of Connecticut transfer Vance Jackson, a sophomore for the Lobos, was selected as the league’s Newcomer of the Year.
Nevada senior guard Caleb Martin, last season’s coaches pick for Player of the Year, was the media’s preseason pick for the 2018-19 Player of the Year award. His teammate, 6-foot10 forward Jordan Brown, was selected as the Freshman of the Year.
Martin was joined by twin brother Cody, a guard, and Caroline, a forward, on the allconference team. Also selected as preseason all-league honorees were Fresno State senior guard Deshon Taylor and Wyoming senior guard Justin James.