Over the last two days, we have dug into our preseason player awards as well as our All-Conference teams ahead of the 2026-27 Mountain West men's basketball season. In the third of our four-part annual preview series, we are going to rank each of the conference's 10 best players entering the new year.
Keep in mind that, even in a new-look MW, this list was very hard to configure. There were nearly 15 guys deserving of making this list, but only 10 could.
Without further ado, here is our list!
** – currently ineligible
Phipps, a Pepperdine transfer, was the only player on this list that wasn't voted onto our All-Conference teams that we revealed yesterday. Full transparency: I thought about putting him for both. Phipps averaged 13.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Waves, ranking top-5 in the WCC in both assists and steals. He's going to be a steady presence for the Wolf Pack.
As a result of Phipps' inclusion, Nevada and Grand Canyon both had three players apiece, while New Mexico had two — led by our unanimous preseason Player of the Year selection in Jake Hall. Wyoming and UNLV both had one as well, although UNLV's Jackson Kiss was next up after Phipps.
What are your thoughts on our rankings? Let us know in the comments!
