SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Washington sophomore Jaylen Nowell has been voted the Pac-12 player of the year after helping lead the Huskies to the regular season conference title.
Washington swept the major awards chosen by the league’s coaches, with Matisse Thybulle earning defensive player of the year honors and Mike Hopkins being named coach of the year. Thybulle and Hopkins won those awards for the second straight season.
Nowell was Washington’s leading scorer, averaging 16.3 points and 5.3 rebounds for the conference champions. Nowell shot 50 percent from the field and improved his 3-point shooting this season, hitting 42.7 percent from beyond the arc. Nowell is the third Washington player to be named conference player of the year.
Thybulle was the instigator of Washington’s zone defense that caused problems for opponents all season. Thybulle has matched Jason Kidd’s single-season conference record with 110 steals and is six steals behind Gary Payton’s Pac-12 career record of 321.
Arizona State’s Luguentz Dort was named freshman of the year after averaging a team-high 16.2 points for the second-place team in conference play. Colorado’s Tyler Bey was voted most improved player and Utah’s Donnie Tillman was voted sixth man of the year.
