BYU-Hawaii’s Jet Chang named Preseason Player of Year; Seasiders favorite for PacWest title

PHOENIX, AZ – BYU-Hawai senior guard Jet Chang (Yilan, Taiwan) has been selected the 2011-12 Pacific West Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year, while his Seasiders have been chosen to claim the PacWest Championship.

The preseason predicted order of finish and all-conference team were announced by the PacWest during its Men’s Basketball Media Day broadcast live on www.KQCKlive.com on Thursday, Nov. 10, from its studios in the San Tan Valley.

BYU-Hawaii received eight of 10 first-place votes and totaled 99 points in getting the coaches’ pick to earn the conference title.

It should be of little surprise that the Seasiders were ranked so high. Last season BYU-Hawaii finished third in the PacWest, earned a berth in the NCAA II Tournament, then made an incredible run all the way to the NCAA II National Championship Game before finally losing.

Grand Canyon and Dixie State each earned 84 points to tie for second place in the preseason prediction poll with Grand Canyon collecting two first-place votes in the balloting.

Dixie State shared the conference title with Chaminade in 2010-11 and reached the championship game of the NCAA II West Region bracket where the Red Storm fell to BYU-Hawaii. Chaminade, meanwhile, is expected to take fourth after picking up 63 points in the voting.

The following is the complete predicted order of finish: 

1. BYU-Hawaii - 98 points (8 first-place votes)

2. Grand Canyon 84 (2) & Dixie State – 84

4. Chaminade – 63

5. California Baptist – 56

6. Hawai‘i Pacific – 53

7. Hawai‘i Hilo – 42

8. Notre Dame de Namur – 32

9. Academy of Art – 23

10. Dominican (CA) – 15

Chang was one of seven players named to the Preseason All-PacWest Team. He averaged 21.2 points per game while shooting 46.1% (234 for 508) from the floor and 76.5% (130 for 170) from the line.

The preseason squad included Chang’s teammate, senior guard Jake Dastrup (Grant’s Pass, OR/Grant’s Pass) who averaged 12.8 points per contest while shooting 44.5% (97 for 218) from beyond the three-point arc.

Grand Canyon landed a pair of players on the squad in senior guard Kyle Speed (Seattle, WA/Lake Washington) and junior guard Brad Carroll (Chandler, AZ/Corona del Sol). Speed averaged 10.0 points and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 45.7% (95 for 208) from the field last season, while Carroll contributed 9.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while making 90.2% (46 for 50) of his shots from the line.

 Hawai‘i Hilo senior forward Zachary Wilde (Snohomish, WA/Snohomish) earned a place on the team after a stellar 2010-11 campaign that saw him average 13.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per outing. He shot 52.0% (146 for 281) from the field last season.

Dixie State senior forward Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) was named a Preseason All-PacWest selection by averaging 10.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest last year. He shot 54.0% (115 for 213) from the field

Academy of Art sophomore guard William Overton, Jr., (Perth Amboy, NJ/Leuzinger) also was noted by the head coaches in the league as a preseason selection. He averaged 17.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per outing for the Urban Knights last year.