Adams’ progress validated

No longer a wide-eyed kid who could lean on older teammates and play in the background, UNLV guard Wink Adams entered his junior season prepared to be the leader.

He welcomed the responsibility. He started by predicting the Rebels would win big and return to the NCAA Tournament, and he said to expect a lot from a basketball team that lost five seniors.

Adams matured into his spotlight role, and he was rewarded for it Monday by being voted to the All-Mountain West Conference first team.

"Since I've been here, I've been learning things and I knew I would get better as a player," he said. "This year, we've had a great team, we're kind of overachieving and everybody had a big part in what we did.

"I knew we had the team to do it. I never knew what I was going to earn, but it feels good that everybody earned something."

Lon Kruger was named Mountain West Coach of the Year for guiding UNLV to a 23-7 record and a second-place finish in the MWC at 12-4.

"Any coach knows when you win an award, it's a group effort," Kruger said. "A lot of different guys have contributed to a very good year."

Rebels senior point guard Curtis Terry was voted to the third team, and juniors Joe Darger and Rene Rougeau made honorable mention.

The awards were selected by the conference's nine head coaches and a media panel.

Brigham Young junior Lee Cummard and New Mexico senior J.R. Giddens were named co-players of the year. The rest of the first team includes BYU junior Trent Plaisted and San Diego State junior Lorrenzo Wade, a Cheyenne High School product.

Adams, UNLV's only returning starter, joined Wyoming second-teamer Brandon Ewing as the only players to rank in the conference's top 10 in scoring, field-goal percentage, assists, free-throw percentage, steals and 3-point field goals made in conference games.

Adams was a second-team selection last year and honorable mention as a freshman.

"I'm really happy for Wink," Kruger said. "He's a guy who works extremely hard every day. He's got the target on his back from the opponents all the time, and he still lines up and battles and wins most of them."

Adams leads the Rebels in scoring at 15.9 points per game, up from 13.9 last season. In conference games this season, he ranked third with a scoring average of 17.0.

"All the work has paid off. There's still room for improvement," said Adams, who has started all 67 games the past two seasons and 87 overall.

Kruger got UNLV's first conference coach of the year award since Bill Bayno in 2000, and it is the first time a Rebels coach earned the honor outright since 1992.

Coming off a 30-7 season that ended with a run to the Sweet 16, Kruger faced a sizable challenge this season. Two players were dismissed from the team and one transferred, and UNLV's tallest starter is the 6-foot-7-inch Darger.

A major reason for the Rebels' success has been Terry, who led the conference in assists with 5.9 per game.

In conference games, Darger averaged 11.0 points and Rougeau averaged 10.4. Rougeau led the league in steals with 2.4 per game.

Adams' prediction of a repeat trip to the NCAA Tournament will be decided this week.

UNLV, the No. 2 seed in the MWC tournament, opens against seventh-seeded Texas Christian (14-15, 6-10) at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Along with Terry on the third team were BYU sophomore Jonathan Tavernari, a Bishop Gorman graduate, and San Diego State's Billy White, a Green Valley High product. White was voted the conference's top freshman.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2907.