This article is part of our Conference Preview series.
For the first time since the Mountain West Conference was created, Steve Fisher will not be patrolling the sidelines for San Diego State. The venerable coach started with the Aztecs in 1999 and guided them to their strongest results, including six straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and two appearances in the Sweet 16. Brian Dutcher takes Fisher's place. Boise State coach Leon Rice now has the longest tenure in the MWC at seven seasons and looks to have one of the top teams in conference. San Jose State (Jean Prioleau) and New Mexico (Paul Weir) also have new coaches. The conference has only sent one team to March Madness in the last two seasons and last year's entry, Nevada, was a 12-seed.
Top Three Players
Chandler Hutchison (G)
After two seasons quietly coming off the bench, Hutchison burst into the spotlight with 17.7 points and 7.8 rebounds to lead the Broncos. He opened the season with three double-doubles in his first four games and finished with nine such performances (albeit only one after Jan. 14). The 6-7 wing had his best scoring game in the win over Utah in the NIT with 34 points to knock out the former-MWC team. Hutchison only hit 66.5 percent of his free throws, so he left a lot of points on the court. If he can improve his free-throw stroke, he could score 20 points per game.
Jordan Caroline (F) 
The Wolf Pack had one of the most productive frontcourt tandems last year
For the first time since the Mountain West Conference was created, Steve Fisher will not be patrolling the sidelines for San Diego State. The venerable coach started with the Aztecs in 1999 and guided them to their strongest results, including six straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and two appearances in the Sweet 16. Brian Dutcher takes Fisher's place. Boise State coach Leon Rice now has the longest tenure in the MWC at seven seasons and looks to have one of the top teams in conference. San Jose State (Jean Prioleau) and New Mexico (Paul Weir) also have new coaches. The conference has only sent one team to March Madness in the last two seasons and last year's entry, Nevada, was a 12-seed.
Top Three Players
Chandler Hutchison (G)After two seasons quietly coming off the bench, Hutchison burst into the spotlight with 17.7 points and 7.8 rebounds to lead the Broncos. He opened the season with three double-doubles in his first four games and finished with nine such performances (albeit only one after Jan. 14). The 6-7 wing had his best scoring game in the win over Utah in the NIT with 34 points to knock out the former-MWC team. Hutchison only hit 66.5 percent of his free throws, so he left a lot of points on the court. If he can improve his free-throw stroke, he could score 20 points per game.
Jordan Caroline (F)
The Wolf Pack had one of the most productive frontcourt tandems last year in Caroline and Cameron Oliver, who jumped to the NBA and will try to make an impact for the Houston Rockets. The 6-foot-7 Caroline is back and will hope to improve his averages of 15.0 points and 9.2 rebounds with Oliver and lead-scorer Marcus Marshall gone. Caroline had a season-high 45 points in a triple-overtime win against New Mexico on Jan. 7. He closed the season with three 20-point games in his last four contests, including 20 points in the NCAA tournament loss to Iowa State.
Koby McEwen (G) 
Although the Aggies suffered through a losing season for the first time in nearly 25 years, they produced a freshman guard to watch. The 6-4 McEwen had an excellent first season. He scored 14.9 points and converted 42.0 percent of his 3-pointers to go along with 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He topped the 20-point plateau seven times, including a season-high 28 points in the Jan. 7 win over UNLV. McEwen may have learned a thing or two from Jalen Moore, who has moved on after leading the team with 17.0 points. The guard attempted at least 10 free throws nine times, so an improvement on his 72.6 percent from the charity stripe would lead to many easy points.
Top Newcomers
Brandon McCoy (C)
The once proud UNLV program hit the basement in 2016-17. In coach Marvin Menzies' first season, the team won just four conference games. They should be much more competitive in the new season and could be led by McCoy, a 6-11 freshman center. The McDonald's All-American averaged 29.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 5.0 blocks for Cathedral High School in San Diego. Add in transfers Shakur Juiston (17.3 points, 12.1 rebounds) and Jordan Johnson (12.5 points, 8.1 assists in 2015-16) and the Runnin' Rebels could be back in Mountain West contention.
Devin Watson (G) 
Part of the problem in Fisher's last season with the Aztecs was that the team simply couldn't score enough. The 68.5 points per game as a team were tied for No. 285 in the country. One player may not be able to fix those offensive problems, but the 6-1 Watson will certainly try. In 2015-16, he averaged 20.3 points for San Francisco. The guard scored 31 points or more three times, including his last game as a Don in a loss to Pepperdine. Watson will slot into a three-guard lineup with Jeremy Hemsley and Troy Kell, so San Diego State could have perimeter power in Dutcher's first season.
Ray Bowles (G) 
Like Watson, Bowles is joining the Mountain West after spending time in the West Coast Conference. The 6-5 graduate transfer spent played with Pacific for three seasons and averaged 13.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists for the Tigers in 2016-17. As a junior, he had an increased offensive responsibility (12.0 shots per game), but saw his conversion rate (35.5 percent) fall precipitously. The Bulldogs have Jaron Hopkins, Deshon Taylor, and Jahmel Taylor to share the offensive burden, so Bowles should get more open looks as a senior.
Pair of Sleepers
Alexander Aka Gorski (G)
Slowly but surely, the 6-5 Aka Gorski has been growing his role with the Cowboys. In each of his three seasons in Laramie, the native of Sweden has taken two more shots per game than the previous season. As a junior, Aka Gorski averaged 7.7 points on 6.5 field goal attempts. He only hit 39.9 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from 3-point range, but he should have expanded opportunities as a senior. In his second year, he converted 38.5 percent of his 3-pointers, so the range is there.
Jaycee Hillsman (G) 
With Brandon Clarke (17.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks) leaving the Spartans in a lurch for Gonzaga, the Spartans have plenty of holes in the offense to fill. Guard Ryan Welage (13.2 points) should be the prime benefactor, but the Spartans are going to need other players to score. The 6-6 Hillsman could be a factor after averaging 5.7 points in 19.0 minutes as a sophomore. He scored a season-high 16 points in a Nov. 22 loss to St. Mary's and equaled that total in a Feb. 11 win over UNLV. In order to be a woke sleeper, Hillsman will need to hit more than 29.4 percent of his 3-pointers.
