The 2009–10 Great West Conference men's basketball season marks the inaugural season of

Great West Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football followin ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. The Great West is the first new Division I basketball conference since the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

began play in 1999. In 2008–09, the Great West Conference began competition in basketball, although they were transitioning to Division I at the time.

Preseason

On October 29, 2009, the

held its first basketball media day. The league's coaches voted

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

the inaugural preseason #1 and South Dakota senior forward

Tyler Cain Tyler Cain (born June 30, 1988) is an American basketball player for Derthona Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the University of South Dakota (USD). He is best known for being the inaugural winner o ...

the preseason player of the year.

Great West Coaches Poll

Preseason All-Great West Team

First Team *

, South Dakota * Carl Montgomery, Chicago State * Jheryl Wilson, NJIT * Nick Weiermiller, Texas-Pan American * Louis Krogman, South Dakota Second Team * Jordan Swarbrick, Utah Valley * Travis Bledsoe, North Dakota * Roman Gentry, South Dakota * Travis Mertens, North Dakota *

Isaiah Wilkerson Isaiah Jamal Wilkerson (born November 13, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Dorados de Chihuahua (LNBP), Dorados de Chihuahua of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). He finished his collegiate career in 2011– ...

, NJIT Honorable Mention: Mario Flaherty, Houston Baptist; Wendell Preadom, Houston Baptist; Gary Garris, NJIT; Nathan Hawkins, Texas Pan-American; Jon Montgomery, Chicago State; Ben Smith, Texas-Pan American Preseason Player of the Year *

, South Dakota

Regular season

Postseason

As a new Division I conference, the Great West does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, the league's tournament champion will receive a berth in the

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was an American men's college basketball postseason tournament founded by Collegeinsider.com. The tournament was oriented toward schools that did not get selected for the NCAA Division I men's ...

.Great West Granted Automatic Bid Into CIT Field
,

. Retrieved 2009-10-31.

Conference awards & honors

Weekly awards

Great West Player of the Week
Throughout the conference season, the Great West offices name a player of the week.

References

External links

Great West Official website
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