Trio gets awards galore

Ever since head coach Steve Alford took over the UNM men’s basketball team, the Lobos have made winning league awards seem like a given.

On the backs of reliable point guard Dairese Gary, double-double machine Drew Gordon and lanky guard Kendall Williams, the Lobos notched their fourth straight 20-win season under Alford. The conference on Monday recognized the trio’s contributions with end-of-the-season honors.

For the second straight year, Gary was named to the All-MWC first team and the all-defensive team. He is the first Lobo since Tony Danridge to earn back-to-back, All-MWC first team.

“It means a lot because our conference is on the rise right now,” Gary said. “What we’ve been doing within our conference, it feels pretty good to be on top because we have so many good players in our conference.”
Gordon, who sat out for the Lobos’ first six games because of NCAA transfer rules, was the Newcomer of the Year to Williams’ Freshman of the Year.

Gordon also took home the conference’s last Player of the Week award for his back-to-back double-doubles against BYU and Air Force and got a spot on the All-MWC second team. He finished the year with 11 double-doubles, 10 of which were in MWC play.

“I’m really happy because I had to take a year off, and I kind of had a rough start at UCLA,” Gordon said.

In his first year at UNM, Williams, also an All-MWC honorable mention, averaged 11 points per contest and 4.6 assists.

“Even in high school, I didn’t get too many awards, so it’s nice to come in here and change it up a little bit,” Williams said. “But I think more than anything, it tells more about the team, the coaches and the leaders.”

As expected, BYU’s Jimmer Fredette was named the MWC Player of the Year, and Alford’s MWC Coach of the Year three-peat ended, with the conference naming BYU’s Dave Rose and SDSU’s Steve Fisher co-winners.

Regardless, Alford said, it was good to see his players get individual hardware.

“I thought it was a really good league for us,” Alford said. “We got a lot of good individual honors, and that’s always good for your program.”
Forward Porche Torrance and guard Amanda Best represented the women’s team. Torrance made the MWC all-defensive team and Best was named to All-MWC third team.