GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Matt Gibson was the only UH player recognized with a WAC postseason award.

Gibson, Sanders honored

Matt Gibson's first season with the Hawaii basketball team hasn't been without some growing pains. But the sophomore guard's progress impressed coaches around the Western Athletic Conference enough to earn him a postseason honor.

Gibson was the only Hawaii men's player to be recognized among the WAC's postseason award winners. The All-WAC teams, as voted upon by league coaches, were released yesterday, with Gibson a member of the All-Newcomer team.

The sophomore transfer from Three Rivers (Mo.) Community College led UH in scoring with 13.5 points per game as he worked to integrate his skills into UH's offense. He also finished second in the WAC in free-throw shooting at 83.9 percent (73-for-87).

"He's playing more under control and within the system. He's still not completely there, but he's much better," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "He has a lot of energy in his game and plays hard all the time and he has talent. He's starting to put all of that together."

Gibson hit a rough stretch in the middle of the season in which he totaled 12 points in a four-game span. Since then he's averaged 16 points in the last 10 games and closed the regular-season with a 26-point performance against Fresno State on Saturday.

"I'd like to think of it as more than just a hot streak," Gibson said. "It's just figuring out the offense, figuring out this system and finding my niche in it. Finding myself within the system."

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Amy Sanders was named to the All-WAC second team yesterday.

The Rainbow Warriors were shut out of the All-WAC first- and second-team lists for only the second time in the last 12 years and for the first time since the 1998-99 season. UH had placed a player on the first team each of the last four years.

Nevada swept top honors after clinching the conference's regular-season title and the top seed in this week's WAC tournament.

Sophomore forward Nick Fazekas was named WAC Player of the Year after leading the league in scoring with 21.5 points per game. He also finished third in rebounding at 9.4 boards per game.

"I'm glad Fazekas made it because I thought he was by far the MVP of the league," Wallace said.

Point guard Ramon Sessions was the Freshman of the Year, and Mark Fox won the Don Haskins Coach of the Year award for guiding the Wolf Pack to the regular-season title in his first season as head coach.

Joining Fazekas on the first team were Rice forward Michael Harris, Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap and Texas-El Paso's duo of forward Omar Thomas and guard Filiberto Rivera.

Sanders only Wahine honored: UH junior guard/forward Amy Sanders was named to the All-WAC second team yesterday, the only Rainbow Wahine player honored by the league's coaches.

Sanders led Hawaii with 11.7 points per game and also averaged 6.1 rebounds per game.