When the Big Sky Conference handed out its men's basketball post-season awards today, the Portland State Vikings were standing at the front of the line. Junior Jeremiah Dominguez was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year as he was selected to the league's first team All-Conference. He is the first player in league history to win both awards. Do-it-all senior Deonte Huff was also named first team All-Big Sky Conference, and senior Scott Morrison earned second team All-Conference and Defensive Player of the Year honors.

The “big three” played huge roles in leading the Vikings to their second Big Sky Conference Championship in four seasons. PSU finished the regular season with a win on Tuesday night and are now 21-9 overall, 14-2 in the Big Sky.

Dominguez, a 5-6 guard from South Salem High School, was the spark the ignited the Vikings all season. He averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 assists, had 55 steals, and made 77 three-point field goals. Dominguez shot .481 from the field, .445 from three-point range, .838 at the line and was twice named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. He led the Big Sky in free throw percentage, steals, and three-point field goals, while ranking third in scoring, assists and three-point percentage.

A transfer from the University of Portland, Dominguez sat out last year as a redshirt, but took over the reins of the team in 2007-08.

Huff, a 6-4 guard from Lancaster, CA, was the Vikings' top all-around player, averaging 13.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and making 36 steals, ranking in the top 10 in the Big Sky in each category. Huff shot .493 from the field and .779 at the line while scoring in double figures a team-high 22 times. He is the only Viking to play in every game this season.

Morrison, a 6-11 center from Vancouver, BC, was named second team All-Conference and became the second Viking to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors. Morrison averaged 11.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and had a league-leading 48 blocked shots. Morrison shot .590 from the field and also earned Big Sky Player of the Week once during the season. He also became PSU's all-time leader in games played while moving into the all-time top in rebounding and surpassing 1,000 career points.

Dominguez is the second Viking in history to be named Big Sky Conference Player of the Year, while Morrison is the second Viking to be named Defensive Player of the Year. Former Viking Seamus Boxley earned both honors following the 2004-05 season. Boxley was also Defensive Player of the Year in 2003-04.

As for the Newcomer of the Year award, Dominguez becomes the fourth Viking to earn the honor in the last 11 years (Jason Hartman, 1997-98, Ime Udoka, 1999-00, Dupree Lucas, 2006-07).

Portland State has three All-Conference selections for the second time in its history. The other time came in 2004-05 (Seamus Boxley, Will Funn, Blake Walker).

Voting for the post-season awards was done by the league's nine coaches.

Portland State continues its record-breaking season next week when the Vikings host the Big Sky Conference Tournament at The Rose Garden, on Mar. 11-12.


2007-08 ALL-BIG SKY CONFERENCE TEAMS AND AWARDS

Most Valuable Player: Jeremiah Dominguez, Portland State
Newcomer of the Year: Jeremiah Dominguez, Portland State
Freshman of the Year: Vinnie McGhee Jr., G, Sacramento State
Defensive Player of the Year: Scott Morrison. C, Portland State

First Team
Player, School, Year, Hgt, Pos ,Hometown
Jeremiah Dominguez, Portland State, Jr., 5-6, G, Salem, Ore.
Deonte Huff, Portland State, Sr., 6-4, Gm Lancaster, Calif.
#Kyle Landry, Northern Arizona, Sr., 6-9, F/C, Calgary, Alberta
Carlos Taylor, Montana State, Sr., 6-1, G, Memphis, Tenn
*Andrew Strait, Montana, Sr., 6-8, F, Yakima, Wash.
Arturas Valeika, Weber State, Sr., 6-9, F, Vilnius, Lithuania

#Unanimous Selection
*Selected First-Team in 2005-06

Second Team
Player, School, Year, Hgt, Pos, Hometown
Dezmon Harris, Weber State, Sr., 6-1, G, Fort Worth, Texas
Scott Morrison, Portland State, Sr., 6-11, C, Vancouver, B.C.
Matt Stucki, Idaho State, Jr., 6-5, G, Pocatello, Idaho
Kellen Williams, Eastern Washington, Sr., 6-5, F, Seattle, Wash.
Josh Wilson, Northern Arizona, Jr., 6-2, G, Longview, Wash.

Honorable Mention
Amorrow Morgan, So., G, Idaho State; Logan Kinghorn, Sr., F, Idaho State; Jordan Hasquet, Jr., F, Montana; Divaldo Mbunga, Jr., C, Montana State; Jabril Banks, Jr., F, Northern Colorado; Sean Taibi, Sr., G, Northern Colorado; Vinnie McGhee Jr., G, Fr., Sacramento State; Daviin Davis, Jr., F, Weber State.