Justin James Receives Preseason Honor, Cowboys Chosen Seventh
The Wyoming Cowboys have been picked to finish seventh, while senior guard Justin James was chosen preseason All-Mountain West Tuesday.
The league’s Preseason Media Poll and Preseason All-Conference Team, as voted on by media that cover the Mountain West, was released at the MW Media Summit going on in Las Vegas.
The Cowboys received 88 points in voting for seventh place.
In no surprise, Nevada was selected as the preseason favorite to win the conference title. The Wolfpack earned 18 of the 19 first-place votes and had 207 points. San Diego State got one first-place vote, 188 points, and was chosen second. New Mexico (153), Boise State (139), and Fresno State (138) were picked third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. UNLV received 122 points and was tabbed sixth ahead of UW. Behind the Cowboys are Colorado State (80), Utah State (78), Air Force (42), and San Jose State (19).
James earned preseason honors for a second consecutive year. He was a First-Team All-MW in 2018 and also received All-District honors from the NABC. As a junior, James averaged 18.9 points, six rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. He raised that to 20.8 points per game in MW play last season, which was second in the league.
James is joined on the preseason all-conference team by Nevada’s Caleb Martin, Cody Martin, and Jordan Caroline, as well as Fresno State guard Deshon Taylor.
All five members of the Preseason All-MW squad tested the waters of the NBA last spring but chose to return for their senior season.
Wyoming gets underway with action Nov. 1 in an exhibition game versus Colorado Christian. The official start to the season is Nov. 6 at home versus UC Santa Barbara.