2017-18 Pac-12 Men's Basketball All-Conference individual honors

SAN FRANCISCO – In a vote of the 12 Conference coaches, ARIZONA’s Deandre Ayton has been chosen the 2017-18 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Player and Freshman of the Year; WASHINGTON’s Matisse Thybulle was selected the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year; WASHINGTON STATE’s Robert Franks was tabbed the Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year; ARIZONA STATE’s Remy Martin and COLORADO’s Dominique Collier shared the Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year; STANFORD's Dorian Pickens was named Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year; and WASHINGTON’s Mike Hopkins claimed the John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor, Commissioner Larry Scott announced today.

PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR & PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Deandre Ayton, ARIZONA

AYTON is recording one of the most dominant seasons, freshman or otherwise, in Conference history. The 7-1 forward and national player of the year candidate from Nassau, Bahamas is only the third recipient of both the Conference’s Player and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season, joining UCLA’s Kevin Love in 2008 and California’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim in 1996.

He is currently leading the Pac-12 in rebounding (11.4 rpg), seeking to become only the second freshman in Conference history to accomplish the feat alongside California’s Leon Powe in 2004. His 11.4 rebounding average would break the league’s freshman record currently held by Love (10.9 rpg in 2008), while his 19.9 scoring average, which is second in the Pac-12 this season, would rank in the top 5 among freshmen in league annals. He is on pace to be the only Conference player in the past quarter century to average at least 19.0 points and 11.0 rebounds.

Ayton is also third in the Pac-12 in blocks (1.9 bpg) and fifth in field goal percentage (.616). His 59 blocked shots are tied for the seventh-most in a season by a freshman in Conference history. He has recorded 21 double-doubles, tied for the third-most in the country and the most for any freshman in the nation. He is just two shy of the Conference’s rookie record held by Love.

PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Matisse Thybulle, WASHINGTON

THYBULLE is the first Washington player to be named Defensive Player of the Year. The rangy 6-5 junior forward has been the disruptor at the top of coach Mike Hopkins’ zone defense, leading the Pac-12 in generating the sixth-most steals in a single season in league history with 92 while also blocking 44 shots and pacing the Huskies to the second-best three-point defense (33.6%) in the Conference.

Thybulle is one of only two players in Conference history to record at least 90 steals and 40 blocks in the same season, joining only USC’s Jeff Trepagnier (94 steals, 40 blocks, 1999-00) in accomplishing the feat.

PAC-12 MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Robert Franks, WASHINGTON STATE

FRANKS is the league-leading third recipient of the Most Improved Player award from Washington State, joining former teammate Josh Hawkinson (2015) and Brock Motum (2012) as Cougars to claim the honor. The 6-7 junior forward from Vancouver, Wash., has essentially tripled his scoring average (6.3 to 17.4 ppg) and three-pointers (19 to 64) and more than doubled his rebounding output (3.3 to 6.7 rpg) and assist totals (24 to 58) compared to his sophomore campaign.

He is part of a perimeter-oriented attack that helped WSU become just the seventh team in Conference history to eclipse 300 made threes in a single season with 334 entering the Pac-12 Tournament.

PAC-12 SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: Remy Martin, ARIZONA STATE & Dominique Collier, COLORADO

Freshman sparkplug MARTIN proved to be an energetic complement to the Sun Devils’ talented and senior-laden backcourt. The 6-0 rookie from Chatsworth, Calif., made all 30 of his appearances off the bench, providing 9.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals in 23.9 minutes per game.

CU’s Collier stayed hot off the bench throughout Pac-12 league play, finishing second in three-point percentage at a 48.3 percent rate (29-60) behind the arc in 18 Conference games. He started just two Pac-12 games, but averaged 8.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 21.1 minutes in his reserve role in the Buffaloes’ backcourt.

The Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year is being recognized for the first time since 1987. To be eligible, players must not exceed more than one-third starts in league games.

PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Dorian Pickens, STANFORD

PICKENS, who was twice previously named to the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team, maintains a 3.42 grade-point average as a communications major. A team captain for the Cardinal, Pickens is his team’s second-leading scorer at 15.4 points per game, including 15.9 points per game in Pac-12 play which ranks in the top 10 in the league. He became the 46th member of Stanford’s 1,000-point club earlier this season, and is approaching the program’s top 10 in career three-point field goals.

Pickens was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team in late February and is among 41 candidates for national Academic All-America honors. He was also named to the 2017 NABC Honors Court, an award which recognizes student-athletes who excel in academics. Pickens has taken the lead on the team’s adoption of Ty Whisler, an 11-year-old patient at Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital who served as an honorary captain for the Cardinal this season.

ALSO NOMINATED: Nick Hamilton, CALIFORNIA; Thomas Welsh, UCLA; Jordan McLaughlin, USC; David Collette, UTAH.

JOHN R. WOODEN PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR: Mike Hopkins, WASHINGTON

HOPKINS earns the John R. Wooden Coach of the Year award in his debut season as a head coach. The longtime Syracuse assistant has engineered one of the best turnarounds in Division I college basketball this season, guiding Washington to its first 20-win season (20-11) since 2011-12. The Huskies’ +11.0-game improvement over last season’s 9-22 finish is tied with Oregon State for the fourth-best improvement in the country, second nationally among high major programs.

Hopkins is the sixth Conference coach to win the honor in his first year with a program, joining Stanford’s Dick DiBiaso (1976), UCLA’s Gary Cunningham (1978), Oregon State’s Jim Anderson (1990), California’s Ben Braun (1997) and Washington State’s Tony Bennett (2007).

THE VOTE: Coach of the Year, All-Conference, All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams, and Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year are voted on by the coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for themselves or their own players for the honors.

The Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year is selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.

The complete All-Conference Teams:

ALL-PAC-12 TEAM

FIRST TEAM

SECOND TEAM

HONORABLE MENTION (receiving at least three points): Rawle Alkins (ARIZ, G), Shannon Evans II (ASU, G), Robert Franks (WSU, F), Jaylen Nowell (WASH, G), Dorian Pickens (STAN, G), McKinley Wright IV (COLO, G).

** two-time All-Pac-12 First Team honoree, ^^ two-time All-Pac-12 honoree

PAC-12 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

HONORABLE MENTION (receiving at least three points): Troy Brown (ORE, F).

PAC-12 ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

HONORABLE MENTION (receiving at least three points): Chimezie Metu (USC, F), McKinley Wright IV (COLO, G).