Brock Motum's hard work over the last 12 months was validated in a big way today as the WSU forward was selected by the Pac-12's coaches to the 10-man all-conference first team. He also was named the conference's "most improved" player.
Also named to an all-Pac-12 team: Reggie Moore, who was named an all-conference honorable mention. DaVonte Lacy was an Pac-12 all-freshman team honorable mention and Marcus Capers was an all-defensive team honorable mention.
But this day is mostly about Motum, and deservedly so. The junior from Brisbane, Australia, emerged as arguably the best player in the conference -- a development few saw coming a year ago. His scoring average in conference jumped all the way to 20.7, a full point and a half ahead of Oregon State's Jared Cunningham. He also pulled down 6.5 rebounds a game while playing the sixth-most minutes in the conference.
And if you're into that whole tempo-free thing, you can read all about how efficient Motum was this season here. The numbers have changed slightly since I wrote that, but not significantly so. Motum still is ahead of the competition in every way. Alas, the coaches went with a "winner" as they usually do, selecting quintessential intangible guy Jorge Gutierrez as the conference's player of the year.
Lacy finished the conference season shooting 37 percent from three-point range on his way to scoring 8.3 points per game. His efficiency wasn't too shabby, either -- 102.7 offensive rating. Moore earned his recognition by finishing second in the conference in assists per game with 5.2.
The Pac-12's news release appears after the jump.
WALNUT CREEK, Calif., - In a vote of the 12 Conference coaches, CALIFORNIA senior guard Jorge Gutierrez has been named the 2011-12 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Player of the Year, WASHINGTON guard Tony Wroten has been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year; Gutierrez has been named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year; WASHINGTON STATE junior forward Brock Motum has been named Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year and Lorenzo Romar of WASHINGTON is the Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Commissioner Larry Scott announced today.
The full list of all-conference players can be found here.