Top 5 Mountain West tournament MVPs, starting with Jimmer Fredette

By Ed Graney

Las Vegas Review-Journal

8 months ago

BYU's Jimmer Fredette celebrates after scoring 52 points against UNM during the Mountain West C ... — BYU’s Jimmer Fredette celebrates after scoring 52 points against UNM during the Mountain West Conference Tournament at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on March 11, 2011. (File/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

UNLV guard Anthony Marshall tries to keep the ball from Kawhi Leonard of San Diego State in the second half of their Mountain West Conference Championship basketball game at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday, March 13, 2010. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

UNLV forward Brandon McCoy (44) goes up to dunk against Utah State guard Sam Merrill (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Las Vegas on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

UNLV basketball player Wink Adams salutes fans after the Rebels won the Mountain West Conference Basketball Championship over BYU 76-61 at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday, March 15, 2008, in Las Vegas. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

UNR Wolf Pack forward Jordan Caroline (24) takes a shot while under pressure from UNLV Rebels forward Joel Ntambwe (24) during the first half of a basketball game at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019. (Caroline Brehman/Las Vegas Review-Journal

The Mountain West basketball tournament begins Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center, and the event has not lacked for stellar individual play over the years.

Some of the best players to wear a uniform for conference schools have earned the tournament’s MVP award.

Here are a few of those names to lift the trophy.

1. Jimmer Fredette (Brigham Young): The scoring machine was exactly that in tournament play, notching an all-time event total of 52 against New Mexico in 2011. He also has the second-highest mark of 45, set the previous season against Texas Christian. Fredette also holds tournament records for field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted and is tied for free-throw percentage.

2. Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State): As a freshman in 2010, he scored 16 points, grabbed a career-best 21 rebounds and sank all eight of his free throws in the final two minutes as the Aztecs beat UNLV 55-45 for the tournament title. Leonard has gone on to NBA stardom and was an NBA Finals MVP for the Raptors and Spurs.

3. Sam Merrill (Utah State): The first player to win consecutive tournament MVP awards, Merrill was especially clutch in 2020. He scored 27 points on 6-of-15 shooting from 3-point range in the championship game win against San Diego State. He also scored 27 against Wyoming in the semifinals and 29 against New Mexico in the quarterfinals.

4. Wink Adams (UNLV): It was 2008 when Adams led the Rebels to a 76-61 win against BYU in the tournament final, the second straight such championship for UNLV. Adams scored 23 points, 14 in the final seven minutes. He also had 20 points in a semifinal win against Utah and a 3-point play in the final seconds of an 89-88 quarterfinal victory against Texas Christian.

5. Jordan Caroline (UNR): One of the better players in league history, Caroline went for 23 points and 10 rebounds in a 79-71 victory against Colorado State in the 2017 tournament final. He also averaged 23 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and one steal while playing 34.5 minutes per game in the next season’s event, earning all-tournament honors.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.