The Western Athletic Conference announced their regular season awards and all-conference teams for men’s basketball on Sunday afternoon. Utah Valley University’s men’s basketball team had four honorees in Head Coach Mark Madsen, sophomore center Aziz Bandaogo, junior guard Le’Tre Darthard, and senior guard Trey Woodbury.
Following his second consecutive 20-plus win season, Madsen was honored by the WAC as the 2023 Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year after leading the Wolverines to a 24-7 record and conference-best record of 15-3 in WAC play to become WAC Champions during the regular season. He guided the Wolverines to a league-best 13-1 record at home and a 10-5 record on the road which was tied with the Sam Houston State University Bearkats for the best in the league.
The Wolverines were also able to upset the Oregon University Ducks and Brigham Young University Cougars in their respective arenas in non-conference play.
Bandaogo, who played in his first year with the Wolverines after transferring in from the Akron University Zips, was honored as the 2023 WAC Defensive Player of the Year, a member of the All-WAC Defensive Team, WAC Newcomer of the Year, a member of the WAC All-Newcomer Team, and a member of the Men’s All-WAC First Team.
In his prolific first year with UVU, Bandaogo averaged a double-double of 11.2 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game. Bandaogo also had 83 total blocks, 14 steals, and averaged 1.1 assists per game. He started all 29 games that he played during the regular season.
Darthard was announced as a member of the All-WAC First Team and All-WAC defensive team. In his third year with the Wolverines, Darthard averaged 14.4 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game. He shot at 88.9% from the free-throw line, 38% from the three-point line, and had 35 steals and 18 blocks while starting all 31 games for the Wolverines.
He was also one of 12 WAC players to have a 30-plus point performance, reaching 31 points to help lead the Wolverines to a 90-83 victory over the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds.
Woodbury was honored as a member of the All-WAC First team as well. As another key contributor to the Wolverines, Woodbury averaged 12.6 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, and 4.4 assists per game for UVU. He shot from the foul line at a 72.6% clip and recorded 33 steals while playing in all 31 regular season games for the Wolverines as well.
Woodbury was one of three players in the WAC to register a triple-double in a game, hitting 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 113-69 victory over the Stephen F. Austin University Lumberjacks during the Wolverines’ regular-season finale.
All awards were voted by conference head coaches.
UVU next plays in the quarterfinals of the Hercules Tires WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament as the No. 2 seed against the No. 7 Tarleton State University Texans on Thursday, March 9, at 7 p.m. MT in the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
Be sure to tune into UVUReview.com for news and updates on how the Wolverines fare in the WAC Tournament.
