The 2009–10 Great West Conference men's basketball season marked the inaugural season of Great West Conference basketball. The Great West is the first new Division I basketball conference since the Mountain West Conference began play in 1999. In 2008–09, the Great West Conference began competition in basketball, although they were transitioning to Division I at the time.
Preseason On October 29, 2009, the Great West Conference held its first basketball media day. The league's coaches voted South Dakota the inaugural preseason #1 and South Dakota senior forward Tyler Cain the preseason player of the year.South Dakota Chosen to Win Inaugural Great West Basketball Championship, Great West Conference. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
Great West Coaches Poll RankTeamVotes1 South Dakota (3)412 Utah Valley (2)383 Chicago State (1)354 North Dakota (1)265 Houston Baptist236 NJIT177 Texas-Pan American16
Preseason All-Great West Team First Team Tyler Cain, South Dakota Carl Montgomery, Chicago State Jheryl Wilson, NJIT Nick Weiermiller, Texas-Pan American Louis Krogman, South Dakota
Second Team Jordan Swarbrick, Utah Valley Travis Bledsoe, North Dakota Roman Gentry, South Dakota Travis Mertens, North Dakota Isaiah Wilkerson, NJIT
Honorable Mention: Mario Flaherty, Houston Baptist; Wendell Preadom, Houston Baptist; Gary Garris, NJIT; Nathan Hawkins, Texas Pan-American; Jon Montgomery, Chicago State; Ben Smith, Texas-Pan American
Preseason Player of the Year Tyler Cain, South Dakota
Regular season
Postseason As a new Division I conference, the Great West does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, the league's tournament champion will receive a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.Great West Granted Automatic Bid Into CIT Field , Great West Conference. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
Conference awards & honors
Weekly awards Great West Player of the Week Throughout the conference season, the Great West offices name a player of the week.
Week Player of the week November 18 Jordan Swarbrick, UVUUtah Valley Sweeps First 2009-10 Basketball Player of the Week Honors, Great West Conference. Retrieved 2009-11-21. November 23 Mario Flaherty, HBUHBU's Flaherty Named Men's Basketball Player of the Week, Great West Conference. Retrieved 2009-11-25. November 30 Jake Thomas, USDSouth Dakota's Thomas Selected Men's Basketball Player of the Week, Great West Conference. Retrieved 2009-11-30. December 7 Jordan Swarbrick, UVUUtah Valley's Swarbrick Chosen Player of the Week, Great West Conference. Retrieved 2009-12-07. December 14 Mitchell Bouie, USDSouth Dakota's Bouie Selected Player of the Week , Great West Conference. Retrieved 2009-12-22. December 21 Steve Smith, USDSouth Dakota's Smith Selected Player of the Week , Great West Conference. Retrieved 2009-12-22. December 28 Carl Montgomery, CSUChicago State's Carl Montgomery Selected Player of the Week, Great West Conference. Retrieved 2009-12-28. January 4 Tyler Cain, USDSouth Dakota's Tyler Cain Chosen Player of the Week, Great West Conference. Retrieved 2010-01-11. January 11 Corey Claitt, UVUUtah Valley's Corey Claitt Named Player of the Week, Great West Conference. Retrieved 2010-01-11. January 20 January 27 February 3 February 10 February 17 February 24 March 3 March 10
References
External links Great West Official website