San Diego State men’s basketball has been picked by the Mountain West Conference media to repeat as 2006-07 MWC champions in a preseason poll released by the conference Thursday morning. The selection marks the second consecutive season in which the Aztecs have been picked to win the league. Last year, SDSU went on to record a 24-9 record, including a 13-3 mark in conference action, en route to both the regular season and conference tournament titles.

The Aztecs received 17 of 21 first-place votes and 192 total points to lead the league. Brigham Young finished second with one first-place vote and 156 points overall, while Air Force was picked to finish third after garnering three first-place votes and 147 total points. Rounding out the poll was Utah (114 points), New Mexico (101), UNLV (99), Colorado State (68), Wyoming (51) and TCU (27).

Individually, the league media tabbed senior guard Brandon Heath as the MWC’s top returning player, a year after it selected former Aztec Marcus Slaughter as its top player. The Los Angeles native earned 2006 MWC Player of the Year honors after averaging 18.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists during the campaign. During conference action, Heath increased his production as he averaged 19.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Besides earning the league’s top individual honor, he was named to the all-MWC first team and the all-MWC tournament squad. On a national and regional level, Heath earned Associated Press honorable mention All-America accolades as well as being named to the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) all-District IX team and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) all-District 13 first team.

Joining Heath in receiving individual accolades was senior forward Mohamed Abukar, who was named to the all-MWC first team. The preseason honor comes on the heels of a 2006 season in which Abukar averaged 15.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16 conference games en route to earning second-team all-league recognition. Last season at the annual media day event, Abukar was named MWC Newcomer of the Year.
With Abukar being voted among the league’s top five, this marks the second straight year that San Diego State has placed two players on the preseason all-conference first team.

The Aztecs return four starters off a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Included in the group of returning starters is Heath, Abukar and letterwinners Kyle Spain and Richie Williams.

The Aztecs will tip-off the 2006-07 campaign with an exhibition game against Point Loma Nazarene on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. inside Cox Arena before heading to Moraga, Calif., for the Shamrock Invitational where SDSU will open the regular season against Murray State on Nov. 10 at 5 p.m.

Season and individual game tickets are currently on sale by visiting the Cox Arena box office, the Aztec Ticket Office (Window E) at Qualcomm Stadium, calling (619) 283-SDSU or through Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.com or (619) 220-TIXS).

Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll
Team (First-place votes), Points
1. SAN DIEGO STATE (17) , 192
2. Brigham Young (1), 156
3. Air Force (3), 147
4. Utah, 114
5. New Mexico, 101
6. UNLV, 99
7. Colorado State, 68
8. Wyoming, 51
9. TCU, 27

Preseason All-Mountain West Conference
Brandon Heath, SDSU
Mohamed Abukar, SDSU
Jacob Burtschi, AFA
Trent Plaisted, BYU
Jason Smith, CSU

Top Returning Player
Brandon Heath, SDSU

Top Freshman
Stephen Weigh, Utah