Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Awarded forthe most outstanding basketball player in the
Big Sky Conference
CountryUnited States
History
First award1979
Most recentDillon Jones, Weber State

The Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year Award, officially known as the Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Most Valuable Player Award, is an annual award given to the Big Sky Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1978–79 season. Only one player, Larry Krystkowiak of Montana, has won the award three times (1984–1986). Three others have been two-time winners: Orlando Lightfoot of Idaho (1993, 1994), and Weber State's Harold Arceneaux (1999, 2000) and Damian Lillard (2010, 2012). Weber State has the most all-time awards (12) and individual winners (10). Montana and Eastern Washington are tied for second in total awards with seven apiece.

Key

† Co-Players of the Year
* Awarded a national player of the year award:
Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79)
UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96)
Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present)
John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Big Sky Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Lawrence Butler, Idaho State, 1979
Don Newman, Idaho, 1981
Larry Krystkowiak, Montana, 1984 through 1986
Rodney Stuckey, Eastern Washington, 2006
Damian Lillard, Weber State, 2010 and 2012
Kareem Jamar, Montana, 2013
Joel Bolomboy, Weber State, 2016
Jacob Wiley, Eastern Washington, 2017
Season Player School Position Class Reference
1978–79 Lawrence Butler Idaho State SG Senior
1979–80 Don Newman Idaho G Senior
1980–81 Brian Kellerman Idaho SG Sophomore
1981–82 Ken Owens Idaho PG Senior
1982–83 Derrick Pope Montana PF Senior
1983–84 Larry Krystkowiak Montana C Sophomore
1984–85 Larry Krystkowiak (2) Montana C Junior
1985–86 Larry Krystkowiak (3) Montana C Senior
1986–87 Tom Domako Montana State SF Junior
1987–88 Arnell Jones Boise State PF Senior
1988–89 Chris Childs Boise State PG Senior
1989–90 Riley Smith Idaho C Senior
1990–91 Kevin Kearney Montana SF Senior
1991–92† Delvon Anderson Montana G Senior
Kevin Soares Nevada PG Senior
1992–93 Orlando Lightfoot Idaho SG Junior
1993–94 Orlando Lightfoot (2) Idaho SG Senior
1994–95 Ruben Nembhard Weber State SG Senior
1995–96† Jimmy DeGraffenried Weber State SG Senior
Quadre Lollis Montana State F Senior
1996–97 Charles Thomas Northern Arizona PG Senior
1997–98 Andrew Mavis Northern Arizona PF Senior
1998–99 Harold Arceneaux Weber State SF Junior
1999–00 Harold Arceneaux (2) Weber State SF Senior
2000–01 Brian Heinle Cal State Northridge C Senior
2001–02 Jason Erickson Montana State SG Sophomore
2002–03 Jermaine Boyette Weber State G Senior
2003–04 Alvin Snow Eastern Washington PG / SG Senior
2004–05 Seamus Boxley Portland State SF Senior
2005–06 Rodney Stuckey Eastern Washington PG Freshman
2006–07 David Patten Weber State PF Senior
2007–08 Jeremiah Dominguez Portland State PG Junior
2008–09 Kellen McCoy Weber State PG Senior
2009–10 Damian Lillard Weber State PG / SG Sophomore
2010–11 Devon Beitzel Northern Colorado SG Senior
2011–12 Damian Lillard (2) Weber State PG / SG Junior
2012–13 Kareem Jamar Montana SG / SF Junior
2013–14 Davion Berry Weber State SF Senior
2014–15 Mikh McKinney Sacramento State PG Senior
2015–16 Joel Bolomboy Weber State PF / C Senior
2016–17 Jacob Wiley Eastern Washington PF Senior
2017–18 Bogdan Bliznyuk Eastern Washington SG / SF Senior
2018–19 Jordan Davis Northern Colorado SG Senior
2019–20 Mason Peatling Eastern Washington PF Senior
2020–21 Tanner Groves Eastern Washington PF Junior
2021–22 Jubrile Belo Montana State PF Senior
2022–23 Steele Venters Eastern Washington SG Junior
2023–24 Dillon Jones Weber State SG / SF Senior

Winners by school

School (year joined) Winners Years
Weber State (1963) 12 1995, 1996†, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2024
Eastern Washington (1987) 7 2004, 2006, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023
Montana (1963) 7 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1992†, 2013
Idaho (1963, 2014) 6 1980, 1981, 1982, 1990, 1993, 1994
Montana State (1963) 4 1987, 1996†, 2002, 2022
Boise State (1970) 2 1988, 1989
Northern Arizona (1970) 2 1997, 1998
Northern Colorado (2006) 2 2011, 2019
Portland State (1996) 2 2005, 2008
Cal State Northridge (1996) 1 2001
Idaho State (1963) 1 1979
Nevada (1979) 1 1992†
Sacramento State (1996) 1 2015
North Dakota (2012) 0 —
Southern Utah (2012) 0 —
  1. ^ The University of Idaho left in 1996 to join the Big West Conference, and rejoined the Big Sky for non-football sports in 2014 (and football in 2018).
  2. ^ Boise State University left in 1996 to join the Big West. The Broncos are now in the Mountain West Conference (MW).
  3. ^ California State University, Northridge left in 2001 to join the Big West.
  4. ^ The University of Nevada, Reno left in 1992 to join the Big West. The Wolf Pack are now in the MW.
  5. ^ The University of North Dakota left in 2018 to join the Summit League.
  6. ^ Southern Utah University left in 2022 for the Western Athletic Conference.

References

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  2. ^ "Don Newman named Big Sky's MVP". Independent Record. Helena, Montana. March 8, 1980. p. 12. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Kellerman named Big Sky MVP". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. March 15, 1981. p. 25. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Nevada's Greens honorable mention". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. March 10, 1982. p. 37. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Derrick Pope named Big Sky's MVP". Independent Record. Helena, Montana. March 16, 1983. p. 29. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c "Krystkowiak named Sky MVP again". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. March 12, 1986. p. 2. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Domako unanimous Big Sky MVP". Billings Gazette. Billings, Montana. March 11, 1987. p. 21. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Bronco forward is Big Sky's MVP". Independent Record. Helena, Montana. March 16, 1988. p. 13. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Idaho's Childs takes top honor". Great Falls Tribune. Helena, Montana. March 14, 1989. p. 11. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Idaho's Riley Smith named Big Sky MVP". Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. March 14, 1990. p. 25. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Kearney is Big Sky MVP". Great Falls Tribune. Helena, Montana. March 13, 1991. p. 19. Retrieved January 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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  32. ^ Bashore, Cody (March 8, 2015). "Hornets come up short in bid to claim Big Sky crown". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. p. C7. Retrieved January 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "All-Big Sky team". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. March 8, 2016. p. B6. Retrieved January 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ Allen, Jim (March 10, 2017). "Others step up while Wiley sits". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. B1. Retrieved January 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ Allen, Jim (March 6, 2018). "Sky High On Bliznyuk – EWU senior named conference player of year". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. B3. Retrieved January 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "All-Big Sky". Billings Gazette. Billings, Montana. March 13, 2019. p. D5. Retrieved January 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ Collingwood, Ryan (March 11, 2020). "Big Sky honors Peatling, Legans". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. B1. Retrieved January 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ "Big Sky Conference". Billings Gazette. Billings, Montana. March 9, 2021. p. B3. Retrieved January 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ "Jubrile Belo Big Sky MVP, top defensive player; Danny Sprinkle is Coach of the Year". Independent Record. Helena, Montana. March 9, 2022. p. B3. Retrieved January 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ "2022–23 All-Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Honors". Billings Gazette. Billings, Montana. March 4, 2023. p. B5. Retrieved January 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ^ "Three Montana Grizzlies earn all-Big Sky basketball honors". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. March 9, 2024. p. B3. Retrieved June 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.