OREM, Utah — After being picked to finish 5th in the Western Athletic Conference, Utah Valley men's basketball are the outright regular season champions. The Wolverines have won 18 of their last 19 games heading into the WAC Tournament.
"My confidence is in what they've done all year, their body of work, they continue to — 'surprise' maybe is the word, but they've continued to exceed expectations, we've been down with a minute left in the game, looked bleak at times and these guys have responded all year," said Coach Todd Phillps, who was just named WAC Coach of the Year.
In addition to the Coach of the Year honor, the Utah Valley players racked in the accolades. Dominick Nelson earned WAC Player of the Year, and Carter Welling was named Defensive Player of the Year.
"We're very tenacious, we're a group of brothers who play together super well. Any team that wins a lot will always have a target on their back, but we kind of look at it as the opposite. We want to be those hungry dogs," said sophomore guard Tanner Toolson, who notched All-WAC First Team honors. "We came out with the victory at the regular season, but there's nothing really that matters more than Vegas."
This is their fourth regular season conference title, but the team has never won the WAC Tournament or been to the NCAA Tournament.
"We've got to go out there and compete. It's a whole new season," said Phillips, "I think the big mantra for us is to hit first, be ultra-aggressive."
Sophomore forward Osiris Grady gives credit to the team's unselfishness for their success.
"Right now, I feel like this is the most we've been connected together and bonded," he said. "Everyone is on the same page, and no one is going out there to play for themselves. That's really the best thing right now."
Toolson added: "We've really found ourselves these last couple months and we're playing really good basketball right now so hopefully we can take that into the tournament."
Utah Valley will face Utah Tech in the WAC Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Las Vegas.
