San Diego State junior guard Miles Byrd was the Mountain West preseason player of the year.
He wasn’t the conference’s postseason player of the year. Utah State guard Mason Falslev was, in awards announced Tuesday in balloting by coaches and media.
But Byrd did get a player of the year honor — defensive player of the year, the fifth straight season an Aztec has won it and the ninth time in the last 12.
“Obviously,” he said, “it’s a trend at our school that we guard.”
Byrd also was named third team all-conference, making it 10 consecutive years that the Mountain West’s preseason player of the year in October didn’t repeat in March. Six of those players received first team all-conference accolades, one was on the second team, two on the third team and Wyoming’s Graham Ike didn’t play that season after getting hurt.
After being the unanimous pick to win the regular-season title and having three members of the 10-man preseason all-conference team, the Aztecs had no first teamers, Reese Dixon-Waters on the second team and Byrd on the third team. Magoon Gwath, last year’s freshman and defensive player of the year, was shut out.
Byrd’s DPOY honor, then, cast a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy year for the 6-foot-6 guard who was on most draft boards last spring but opted to return to SDSU for his third year of eligibility despite interest, the Union-Tribune learned, from big-money programs like Gonzaga and Oregon.
In many respects, his up-and-down season became synonymous with his team’s.
Swiping steals at midcourt, then missing the uncontested dunk at the other end.
Scoring 24 against Troy, including a halfcourt heave to force overtime, then five in a 40-point loss against Michigan.
Nineteen points against Lamar … then two against Air Force.
Going 5 of 5 on 3s at UNLV … then 2 of 17 over his next five games.
Big hopes, modest reality.
But was it really that bad?
“I think it’s just expectations, especially when you’re preseason player of the year,” Byrd said as the No. 2-seeded Aztecs prepare for the Mountain West quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Thursday against Colorado State or Fresno State. “A lot of people expect you to go out there and average 18 points per game. It’s never really been my type of game.
“I’ve been more a guy who does little things and tries to make winning plays to help our team win. I’m honored that people thought I was the best defender in the league this year. Me and my dad always say, being a good defender is a choice. The majority of it, 90% of it in my opinion, is motor and playing hard, diving for loose balls, not taking shortcuts, and I think that’s why I was able to win this award.”
Byrd’s numbers across the board, both traditional statistics and advanced analytics, were largely flat compared to the previous season. His scoring average dropped from 12.3 to 10.6 points but he played two fewer minutes per game with a deeper bench and his shooting percentages were slightly up. Rebounds, assists, turnovers, steals and blocks were almost identical.
It was just that fans, and perhaps his coaches and teammates, expected him to do more.
Some of that was based on being a year older. Some of that was a lack of top returnees in a conference ravaged by graduation and the transfer portal. Some of that was a byproduct of two scrimmages at the draft combine last May in Chicago, where a 30% career 3-point shooter went 5 of 11 behind the longer NBA arc.
“It’s a mixture,” Byrd said. “Obviously, I know as a player I could have been a lot better in a lot of different areas more consistently this year. As a person and as a confident player, I also see the impact that I made that maybe isn’t noticed on every box score. You’ve got to see it from both angles.”
Coach Brian Dutcher put it like this:
“He’s played well. Could he have played a level higher? Yeah, we all could have. I could have coached a level higher. … Sometimes people want Byrd to score more, but he impacts winning at the other end of the floor, which is important to me.”
Byrd’s nickname among coaches is “Casino” for his penchant to gamble, which typically isn’t a term of endearment at a program that annually ranks among the nation’s best in defensive efficiency metrics by being positionally proficient. And he isn’t known as an elite on-ball defender.
But you can’t dispute the numbers, ranking first in the Mountain West in individual defensive efficiency and top five in both steals and blocks. The former is usually the province of small, quick guards, the latter of 6-11 bouncy centers.
“He gets steals and blocked shots,” Dutcher said. “That’s a pretty unique combination.”
Byrd’s other value is less tangible, emerging as a leader on a team that has largely lacked one this season.
“His energy is contagious,” Dixon-Waters said. “When Miles is talking and laughing in practice, it brings everybody else up. That’s something that I don’t think you can teach, for real. That’s just not me. I’m very, very quiet. He’s a vocal leader. He’s someone you can rely on, especially on defense and just playing hard.”
New Mexico guard Jake Hall, a Carlsbad High alum, was named Mountain West freshman of the year. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
MW awards
Utah State won the regular-season title as well as many of the major awards. Falslev is player of the year, Jerrod Calhoun coach of the year and Karson Templin sixth man of the year.
Carlsbad High School alum Jake Hall from New Mexico is freshman of the year, and UNLV’s Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn the newcomer of the year.
First team all-conference: Falslev, Gibbs-Lawhorn, Hall, Grand Canyon’s Jaden Henley and Nevada’s Corey Camper Jr.
Second team: Dixon-Waters, Boise State’s Drew Fielder, Nevada’s Elijah Price, New Mexico’s Tomislav Buljan and Utah State’s MJ Collins.
Third team: Byrd, Colorado State’s Jevin Muniz, Fresno State’s Jake Heidbreder and Grand Canyon’s Makaih Williams and Nana Owusu-Anane.
SDSU’s BJ Davis was one of nine players named honorable mention all-conference, meaning they received at least one vote.
The all-defensive team had Byrd, Falslev, Price, Owusu-Anane and UNLV’s Tyrin Jones.