Senior Tyler Cain has been named the Great West Conference Player of the Year in men’s basketball, the league announced Tuesday.
Cain (Rochester, Minn.) earned the Player of the Year honors and also was named the GWC Defensive Player of the Year in addition to earning first-team honors.
USD head coach Dave Boots was named the league’s Coach of the Year after guiding the Coyotes to the regular-season championship.
Senior Roman Gentry (Sioux City, Iowa) was also a first-team selection, while sophomore Louie Krogman (White River, S.D.) was named the league’s Sixth Man of the Year. Freshman Jake Thomas (Racine, Wis.) was named to the All-Newcomer Team while also being selected as a All-GWC honorable mention.
Cain, who was the conference's preseason player of the year, has enjoyed a dominant season for the Coyotes. He averages 15.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game to lead USD in both categories. He also averaged 2.9 shot blocks per game. In Great West play, Cain has averaged 14.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while shooting 68 percent from the field. Cain has 13 double-doubles this season to lead USD. He posted a career-high 34 points in the Coyotes’ 85-79 overtime win over Texas-Pan American on March 4.
Boots has helped the USD men continue their success at the Division I level. The veteran coach led the Coyotes to their seventh straight 20-win season and to the Great West Conference title in the league’s inaugural season. Boots has a 463-181 record at USD.
Gentry has recorded another solid season for USD, averaging 13.6 points per game. He leads the Great West in free-throw shooting percentage at 86 percent (84-of-98). Gentry particularly has been an explosive offensive threat in conference play, where he is third at 17.6 points per game.
Krogman has given USD a dangerous offensive threat off the bench this season. He is averaging 9.8 points per game, but is averaging 11.3 points per game in conference games. Krogman scored a career-high 31 points in USD’s conference-clinching 97-84 win over Houston Baptist on March 6.
Thomas is third on the USD team in scoring at 12.6 points per game and is also the team leader in three-pointers with 76. He also leads the team in three-point percentage at 42 percent.
USD (20-9) opens Great West Conference tournament play at 6 p.m. on Friday in Orem, Utah against the winner of the Utah Valley/Texas Pan American quarterfinal matchup.
