HENDERSON, Nev. — After seeing very limited action in his first four years of college basketball in the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference, Hawai’i graduate senior Justin McKoy’s long-awaited breakout season was officially stamped a success on Tuesday when he was named to the All-Big West Second Team.
McKoy, a 6-foot-8 forward, was the only Warrior to earn first or second team honors. Senior guard Noel Coleman and senior center Bernardo da Silva each received Honorable Mention.
McKoy, a highly touted high school recruit, started his career at Virginia before transferring to North Carolina. But he spent most of those four years in the background in a reserve role. But at UH, he has started all 32 games this season and averaged a team-high 13.7 points points per game in league play, along with 6.1 rebounds per outing.
He topped the 20-point scoring mark in four conference games, including a season-high 26 points in a home victory over Long Beach State. McKoy is shooting 49 percent from the field, including 37 percent from 3-point range, and also leads the team in free throw accuracy at 88 percent.
“It’s a big honor,” McKoy said, “but I felt other (teammates) deserved this recognition as well.”
Coleman, a 6-2 shooting guard, earned All-Big West recognition for the third straight season. He was named to the Second Team as a sophomore and received Honorable Mention last year.
This season, Coleman leads the team in scoring (13.9 ppg), made 3-pointers (62), steals (34) and minutes per game (32.5), and often draws the toughest assignment on defense. He has had six or more games with 20-plus points, and tied a career-high with 31 points in a crucial victory at UC Riverside on March 2.
For da Silva, a 6-9 center, this is the first time earning All-Big West recognition. He is averaging 11.6 ppg and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per outing. He has recorded seven double-doubles, including a 19-point, 12 -board performance in a key home victory over UC Davis last month.
In addition, da Silva led the conference in field goal percentage (60.8 percent) during league play and led in overall games (60.2 percent) as well.