Dent, Pitino, Joseph and Washington Earn All-Mountain West Honors
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Mountain West regular season champion New Mexico took top honors as four Lobos were honored Tuesday when the 2025 Mountain West men’s basketball awards were announced by the conference.
Junior guard Donovan Dent was named Mountain West Player of the Year and Richard Pitino was named the Steve Fisher Mountain West Coach of the Year. Senior forward Nelly Junior Joseph joined Dent on the All-Mountain West first team, while sophomore guard Tru Washington earned honorable mention honors.
The Lobos had two first-team selections for the third time in history, matching the accomplishment of from 2010 (Dairese Gary and Darington Hobson) and 2014 (Cam Bairstow and Kendall Williams). Dent and Joseph become the 14th and 15th New Mexico players to earn first-team All-Mountain West accolades.
Dent becomes the fifth Lobo to be named Mountain West Player of the Year, joining Ruben Douglas (2003), J.R. Giddens (2008), Darington Hobson (2010) and Kendall Williams (2013). He is the first player in conference history to average 20 points and six assists in league play. In conference games, he led the Mountain West in scoring (20.9) and was second in assists (6.0), while also ranking in the top 10 in the league in field goal percentage (fourth), free throw percentage (fifth), steals (seventh) and blocks (ninth).
Pitino earned New Mexico’s fourth Mountain West Coach of the Year award, joining Steve Alford who won it three times (2009, 2010, 2013). He led the Lobos to the regular season title at 17-3, tying the Mountain West record for conference wins in a season. New Mexico is 25-6 overall, posting its most regular season wins in 12 years. It is Pitino’s second conference coach of the year award, as he was the 2017 Big Ten Coach of the Year at Minnesota.
Joseph earned first-team all-conference status for the third time in his career, having been named first-team All-MAAC twice while at Iona. He was also named to the Mountain West All-Defensive Team. Joseph is the only player who averaged a double-double in conference play at 14.4 points and a league-best 11.9 rebounds. He also led the league in field goal percentage (.569), double-doubles (11) and was second in blocks (29) over the 20-game conference slate.
Washington earned honorable mention All-Mountain West honors after averaging 11.2 points and making a team-best 27 3-pointers in conference play. He ranked third in the conference in steals at 2.0 per game. Washington scored in double figures in 12 Mountain West games, as UNM is undefeated this year when he scores at least 10 points.
The Lobos (25-6, 17-3) will begin play at the Mountain West Tournament on Thursday with a quarterfinal matchup with either San Jose State or Wyoming. Game time at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas is 1 p.m. MT (noon PT) and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.