In early January, postseason honors were unimaginable for Grand Canyon senior Michael Finke when he scored 13 total points in his first three games back from a foot injury that sidelined him for nearly three weeks.
Two
Carlos Johnson
months later, Finke gave GCU a player on the All-WAC first team for the fourth consecutive season. Junior teammate Carlos Johnson made the All-WAC second team and joined Finke on the All-Newcomer Team while Lopes senior Gerard Martin earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team.
Finke posted the highest single-game point total by a WAC player this season when he scored 38 points against Eastern New Mexico, and he matched the highest-scoring game in conference play (36 vs. Kansas City, tying California Baptist guard Milan Acquaah's 36 vs. New Mexico State).
The 6-foot-10 power forward averaged 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in WAC play this season while shooting 54.8 percent from the field (No. 3 in WAC) and 85.7 percent from the free throw line (No. 6 in WAC).
Finke is one of only five full-time starters in Division I this season to shoot at least 54 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line.
"That's huge," Finke said of the All-WAC honor. "I don't even look at it as an individual award. It's a team award. We all play together. My success is really about the team. They found me when I've been open and I've been able to knock down shots. Coach (Dan) Majerle put me in the right positions to help this team from scoring or passing. It's definitely a great feeling to know all my hard work paid off, from the second I was cleared from my knee (rehabilitation) this offseason to working as hard as I could to get back out there and help this team win."
"It wasn't really on my radar at all," Finke said as the team prepared for Thursday's WAC Tournament first-round game against Seattle. "I honestly forgot they were announcing it this week. I'm so caught up in the team right now and how we're doing. I really want to play well when we get to the WAC Tournament, so that's where all of my focus is right now.
"The WAC honestly has been tougher than I thought it'd be coming in here. I give the glory to God for all the success I've had."
Johnson also was a newcomer to GCU but played more minutes this season than he did in the previous two years at Washington.
The Phoenix Shadow Mountain High School product is the only player among the 10 All-WAC honorees to mostly come off the bench this season. Johnson started 12 of 30 games but still scored 408 points. Only two Division I players (Buffalo's Nick Perkins and Eastern Kentucky's Jomaru Brown) scored more points this season with 12 starts or fewer.
Johnson went from averaging 3.8 points last season to a team-leading 13.6 this season by shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 77.7 percent from the free throw line.
Martin earned All-Defensive Team honors for the second time in his career, following his 2017 distinction with one this year despite suffering a season-ending knee injury with eight WAC games remaining. Martin fittingly ended his GCU career with a five-steal performance in a win at CSU Bakersfield. Majerle called the Australian the best defensive player in the WAC for the past three years.
2018-19 All-WAC
Player of the Year: Jake Toolson, Utah Valley Don Haskins Coach of the Year: Chris Jans, New Mexico State Defensive Player of the Year: Javon Levi, Texas Rio Grande Valley Newcomer of the Year: Milan Acquaah, California Baptist Freshman of the Year: Wyatt Lowell, Utah Valley
First team Michael Finke, GCU, senior
Milan Acquaah, California Bapist, sophomore
Terrell Brown, New Mexico State, junior
Jarkel Joiner, CSU Bakersfield, sophomore
Jake Toolson, Utah Valley, junior
Second team Carlos Johnson, GCU, junior
Terrell Brown, Seattle U, sophomore
Eli Chuha, New Mexico State, senior
AJ Harris, New Mexico State, junior
Terry Winn II, Texas Rio Grande Valley, senior
All-Defensive Gerard Martin, GCU, senior
Myles Carter, Seattle U, junior
AJ Harris, New Mexico State, junior
Javon Levi, Texas Rio Grande Valley, sophomore
Brandon McKissic, Kansas City, sophomore
All-Newcomer Michael Finke, GCU, senior Carlos Johnson, GCU, junior
Milan Acquaah, California Baptist, sophomore
Terrell Brown, New Mexico State, junior
Terrell Brown, Seattle U, sophomore
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