The Big West Conference announced its All-Conference honors Monday evening with Long Beach State men’s and women’s basketball taking home four awards.
Men’s basketball senior guard Colin Slater was named Big West Player of the Year, freshman guard Jadon Jones was Defensive Player of the Year, and head coach Dan Monson took home his fourth Coach of the Year award.
For the LBSU women’s basketball team, senior forward Maddi Utti was named Big West Defensive Player of the Year.
Men’s Basketball
Slater is the 13th player in LBSU’s basketball program to win Big West Player of the Year.
- He averaged 14.7 points per game
- Made 33 three-pointers in conference play
- Had a total of 47 assists averaging for 3.1 per game in conference play.
Slater joined his teammate Joel Murray on the Big West All-Conference team. This year, Murray was second in conference play.
- He scored an averaged 16.2 points per game
- Murray also had a total of 41 assists in conference play.
Jadon Jones became the third player in Beach history to win Big West Defensive Player of the Year.
- The freshman had a total of 29 steals
- 15 blocked shots
- Jones averaged a total of 31.8 minutes per game for The Beach
Jones joined teammate Aboubacar Traore as they both received Big West all honorable mentions. Traore was just ahead of Jones in the category for blocked shots with a total of 41 single-season blocked shots on the year.
Head coach Dan Monson took home his first Big West Coach of the Year award in nine years. Monson previously won this award from 2011 to 2013.
After a season where the team started off 4-8 in non-conference play, Monson quickly adjusted his program as The Beach finished the year in first place in The Big West with an overall record of 18-11 and 12-3 in conference play.
Women’s Basketball
For the Women’s basketball team, Maddi Utti finished as a First-Team All-Big West selection.
- Utti finished her senior season with an average of 14 rebounds per game
- 24 blocked shots
- Lead the conference with 79 steals in regular-season play
Justina King joined Utti on the All-Big West team and was named to the Big West All-Conference second team. King finished the year leading the Big West in assists with a total of 117 for the year.
Women’s Basketball player Jasmine Hardy won honorable mentions in the conference as the junior guard finished the year with 44 three-point shots and finished 8th in this category for conference play.
Both teams are set to hit the road this week to play in the Big West Conference tournament at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada.