ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Mountain West media day for men’s basketball took place on Thursday and there were a few preseason accolades for the Lobos. Both of the Lobos talented guards, Jaelen House and Jamal Mashburn Jr., were named to the preseason All-Mountain West team, and UNM was predicted to finish 3rd in the conference.
This marks the first time in seven years that the Lobos have two players selected to the preseason all conference team (Elijah Brown and Tim Williams in 2016-17), and it follows postseason all-conference honors from both House and Mashburn last season.
House earned his first All-Mountain West honor last season where he was named to the first-team by the media and second-team by the coaches. He is coming off back-to-back seasons with 500 points and 125 assists, and he is the first Lobo and third Mountain West player to ever do so. Last season, he also recorded 86 steals which ranked second in the nation and set a new program record.
Mashburn has now earned preseason All-Mountain West honors for a second consecutive season. He finished last year with 19.1 points per game and 21.0 points per game in conference, which led the league, and was a first-team selection at the end of the year.
UNM’s predicted order of finish (3rd) ties the highest for the program since 2019-20. The defending MW champion and NCAA runner up, San Diego State, is predicted to finish at the top of the league once again with 25 of the 31 first-place votes. Boise State is predicted to finish in second with four first-place votes, while both UNM and Nevada (predicted 4th) each received one first-place vote.
The Lobos open the season on Monday, November 6 in the Pit against Texas Southern.
