Gonzaga’s Pargo is WCC player of year

Published 11:38 pm Tuesday, March 4, 2008

SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga guard Jeremy Pargo is the West Coast Conference men’s basketball player of the year, the eighth consecutive season a Zags player has won the honor, the league said Tuesday.

The junior averaged 11.8 points and a league best 6.2 assists per game for No. 24 Gonzaga (24-6, 13-1 WCC) which on Monday night clinched its eighth consecutive WCC regular season title.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few and Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett shared the coach of the year award. Saint Mary’s (25-5, 12-2) finished second to the Zags and enjoyed time on the Top 25 this season.

Daimon Simpson of Saint Mary’s was named defensive player of the year, while the Gaels’ Patrick Mills (14.4 points per game) was named newcomer of the year.

The all-WCC first team included Pargo, Matt Bouldin and David Pendergraft of Gonzaga; Simpson and Mills of Saint Mary’s; Brody Angley and John Bryant of Santa Clara; Brandon Johnson and Gyno Pomare of San Diego and Dior Lowhorn of San Francisco.

In winning the league’s top award, Pargo follows fellow Zags Derek Raivio (2007), Adam Morrison (2006), Ronny Turiaf (2005), Blake Stepp (2004, 2003), Dan Dickau (2002) and Casey Calvary (2001).

“I’m honored to be recognized with some of these great players,” said Pargo, who mentioned other past winners like John Stockton and Doug Christie. “It was a big surprise for me.”

“The game means so much to him,” Few said. “He works as hard as any player we’ve had over the years.”

The 6-foot-2 guard from Chicago, brother of NBA player Jannero Pargo, is a hard-nosed player who has provided consistent production all season. He is shooting 49 percent from the floor, and added 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

Some of his biggest games were against the toughest opponents, including 23 points against No. 13 Connecticut, 28 points versus Oklahoma, 25 points versus No. 2 Memphis and 27 points and nine assists in a loss to Saint Mary’s.

Few is in his ninth season as head coach of Gonzaga, and has taken the team to the NCAA tournament each season. This is his seventh coach of the year award.

Bennett, second to Few in tenure and victories in the WCC, guided the Gaels to one of the best seasons in program history.

Earning honorable mention All-WCC honors were Austin Daye of Gonzaga, Omar Samhan of Saint Mary’s and Malcolm Thomas of Pepperdine.

The all-freshman team included Daye and Steven Gray of Gonzaga, Mills and Thomas, plus Rob Jones of San Diego.