Montana’s Rorie named Big Sky preseason MVP

OGDEN, Utah (October 17, 2018) – After leading Montana to regular season and tournament titles during his junior campaign, guard Ahmaad Rorie has been named the Big Sky Men’s Basketball Preseason MVP as one of six Preseason All-Big Sky selections as voted on by the conference’s head coaches, sports information directors and Big Sky media members. Coaches were allowed to vote for their own players.

Rorie is joined on the guard-exclusive preseason team by fellow Montana senior guard Michael Oguine, Weber State junior guard Jerrick Harding, Montana State senior guard Tyler Hall, Northern Colorado senior guard Jordan Davis and Portland State sophomore guard Holland Woods.

This is the third-straight year the Big Sky’s preseason all-conference team has been made up primarily of guards.

An All-Big Sky First Team honoree a season ago, Rorie earned a sport on his second-straight preseason team after finishing seventh in the league in scoring last season with 17.2 points per game and ranking third in assists (3.7) and eighth in steals (1.2). He also came in fourth with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio and an 85.0 free throw percentage.

Rorie was named a Big Sky All-Tournament Team selection as he helped the top-seeded Grizzlies earn a NCAA Tournament berth by claiming the Big Sky Championship, finishing the season with a 26-8 overall record and 16-2 conference mark. He also captured NABC All-District 6 First Team honors.

Montana senior Michael Oguine finishes at the rim/ by Brooks Nuanez

Named the Big Sky Tournament MVP, Oguine averaged 15.8 points (11th in Big Sky) while ranking fifth in the league with 1.4 steals per game to earn All-Big Sky Second Team and the recognition of Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year.

Harding is the lone unanimous All-Big Sky First Team recipient returning from last season after averaging 22.0 points per game to rank second in the Big Sky as a sophomore. He enters the season with 979 career points, the most points ever by a Weber State player in their first two seasons.

A NABC All-District 6 First Team selection, Harding scored a league-high 46 points in an overtime victory over Montana State in the regular season finale last season to tie for 10th in the league’s single-game scoring list and the most by a Big Sky player since 1993. Harding ranked as one of the top shooting guards last season, hitting 88.2 percent from the charity stripe (3rd in Big Sky), 53.0 percent from the field (9th) and 42.5 percent from behind the arc (8th).

Last season’s preseason MVP, Hall was named to the preseason team for the third-straight season after garnering All-Big Sky Second Team honors in 2017-18. Hall enters his senior season ranked 11th on the Big Sky career scoring list with 1,861 points and second in three-pointers made with 315.

Hall ranked sixth in the league with 17.5 points as a junior while topping the Big Sky with a 90.7 free throw percentage and ranking second with 3.2 three-pointers per contest.

Davis earned preseason all-conference honors for the second consecutive year after collecting All-Big Sky Third Team accolades while averaging 16.3 points for 10th in the league last season. Davis was named a Big Sky All-Tournament Team honoree while also guiding the Bears to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament title with a 26-12 record to claim the Big Sky’s first postseason championship.

Woods rounds out the preseason team after earning Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors and leading the league with 5.6 assists per game a season ago. He recorded 10 or more assists on four occasions, ranking second in the Big Sky with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. Woods averaged 10.5 points per outing and came in fourth with an average of 1.5 steals.