The United Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the United Athletic Conference's (UAC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1980–81 season when the conference was still known as the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Keith Van Horn of Utah and Nick Fazekas of Nevada are the only players to have won the award three times. Three other players—Michael Cage, Josh Grant and Melvin Ely—have won the award twice. Danny Ainge, the first ever WAC Player of the Year, was also the John R. Wooden Award winner in 1980–81.
Utah has the most all-time winners with seven. There have been four ties in the award's history, most notably in 1982–83 when there was a three-way tie. Due mainly to major membership turnover from 2010 to 2014 and further turnover in the 2020s, no current UAC member has a winner.
In 2026, the WAC rebranded as the United Athletic Conference (UAC), which expanded from a football-only alliance between the WAC and Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) to a multi-sports league. Three of the seven WAC members transferred to the UAC: Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, and UT Arlington. Of the six other UAC all-sports members in 2026–27, five came from the ASUN, with Little Rock joining from the Ohio Valley Conference.
Key † Co-Players of the Year* Awarded a national player of the year award that same season: UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96)Oscar Robertson Trophy (1958–59 to present) 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 UAC Player of the Year award at that point
Winners
Season Player School Position Class Reference 1980–81 * BYU SG 1981–82 Wyoming SF 1982–83† San Diego State C BYU SF Utah SG 1983–84 (2) San Diego State C 1984–85 BYU SF 1985–86 San Diego State F 1986–87 Wyoming SF 1987–88 BYU SF 1988–89 UTEP PG 1989–90 Colorado State F 1990–91 Utah PF 1991–92 Wyoming F 1992–93 (2) Utah PF 1993–94 New Mexico PG 1994–95 Utah SG / SF 1995–96 (2) Utah SG / SF 1996–97† Hawaii PG (3) Utah SG / SF 1997–98† TCU PF New Mexico SG / SF 1998–99† Utah PG SMU SG 1999–00 Fresno State SG 2000–01 Fresno State C 2001–02 (2) Fresno State C 2002–03 SMU PF 2003–04 Nevada SG / SF 2004–05 Nevada PF / C 2005–06 (2) Nevada PF / C 2006–07 (3) Nevada PF / C 2007–08 Utah State SG 2008–09 Utah State F 2009–10 Nevada PF 2010–11 Utah State PF 2011–12 Nevada PG 2012–13 Idaho C 2013–14 New Mexico State SG 2014–15 Kansas City SG / PG 2015–16 New Mexico State PF 2016–17 New Mexico State PG 2017–18 New Mexico State PF 2018–19 Utah Valley SG 2019–20 California Baptist SG 2020–21 Utah Valley C 2021–22 New Mexico State SG 2022–23 Sam Houston PG 2023–24 Grand Canyon SG 2024–25 Utah Valley PG 2025–26 California Baptist PG
Winners by school School (year joined) Winners Years Utah (1962) 7 1983†, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997†, 1999† Nevada (2000) 6 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 New Mexico State (2005) 5 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 BYU (1962) 4 1981, 1983†, 1985, 1988 Fresno State (1992) 3 2000, 2001, 2002 San Diego State (1978) 3 1983†, 1984, 1986 Utah State (2005) 3 2008, 2009, 2011 Utah Valley (2013) 3 2019, 2021, 2025 Wyoming (1962) 3 1982, 1987, 1992 California Baptist (2018) 2 2020, 2026 New Mexico (1962) 2 1994, 1998† SMU (1996) 2 1999†, 2003 Colorado State (1967) 1 1990 Grand Canyon (2013) 1 2024 Hawaiʻi (1979) 1 1997 Idaho (2005) 1 2013 Kansas City (2013) 1 2015 Sam Houston (2021) 1 2023 TCU (1996) 1 1998† UTEP (1967) 1 1989 Abilene Christian (2021) 0 — Boise State (2001) 0 — Chicago State (2013) 0 — CSU Bakersfield (2013) 0 — Denver (2012) 0 — Lamar (2021) 0 — Louisiana Tech (2001) 0 — San Jose State (1996) 0 — Seattle (2012) 0 — Southern Utah (2022) 0 — Stephen F. Austin (2021) 0 — Tarleton State (2020) 0 — Texas State (2012) 0 — UT Arlington (2012/2022) 0 — Utah Tech (2020) 0 — UTRGV (2013) 0 — UTSA (2012) 0 —
References