BYU’s Matt Haarms Named WCC Defensive Player Of The Year, Alex Barcello First Team

PROVO, Utah – BYU Basketball’s trio of seniors in Matt Haarms, Alex Barcello, and Brandon Averette all received postseason awards from the WCC for the 2020-21 season.

#BYU guard @AlexBarcello23 was named First Team All-WCC.#BYUHoops #GoCougs #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/hhj0Lsq5q3

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 2, 2021

Alex Barcello First Team All-WCC

Starting with BYU’s captain and leader, senior guard Alex Barcello. Barcello was named a First-Team All-WCC pick on the league’s 10-man first-team. He was the only BYU player to make the first team. First-place and undefeated Gonzaga placed four of their starting five on the first-team WCC unit.

Barcello is averaging 15.7 points and 4.6 assists per game this season. One of the top shooters in college basketball, Barcello is shooting 53 percent from the field and 48.9 percent from three this season, while being the emotional leader of this 19-5 BYU squad.

Matt Haarms Defensive Player of the Year

Matt Haarms earned WCC Defensive Player of the Year. The 7-foot-3 transfer from Purdue has been playing some of his best basketball as a BYU Cougar in recent games. In the regular-season finale against Saint Mary’s, Haarms had five blocked shots in the first half, while going on to record his first double-double at BYU (11 points, 10 rebounds).

#BYU basketball's Matt Haarms has been named WCC Defensive Player of the Year. #BYUHoops #GoCougs #WCChoops pic.twitter.com/0CsXIFS8jl

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 2, 2021

Haarms is averaging 1.95 blocks per game and has accounted for 8.95% of BYU’s blocks this season, which is good for 34th in the nation. He finished number one in the WCC in blocked shots. The next closest to Haarms’ 43 blocks this season was Hayden Curtiss from Portland who had 25 blocked shots.

Haarms was also named the All-WCC Second Team.

Brandon Averette, Caleb Lohner receive WCC recognition

Joining Haarms on the All-WCC Second Team is graduate transfer guard Brandon Averette. “BA” formed the ABBA backcourt with Barcello and has come up with clutch shots on numerous occasions for BYU this season. Averette is averaging 11.4 points per game this season.

The WCC also recognized BYU’s star freshman Caleb Lohner. Lohner, a former Wasatch Academy standout, was tabbed to the WCC’s All-Freshman Team joining Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.