Darington Hobson among locals returning for Mountain West Tournament

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 | 2 a.m.

Although New Mexico coach Steve Alford might not support the Mountain West Conference Tournament being held in Las Vegas, his team's best player has no complaints.

Darington Hobson, recently named Mountain West Player of the Year, said it's the perfect place for the conference's postseason.

"It's the most popular city out of every one in our conference," Hobson said. "You still have to buy tickets to see the team you want, so UNLV might have a little home court advantage but not much. It doesn't bother me."

Then again, Hobson is a bit biased. He grew up in Las Vegas and attended Western High for a year before moving to Houston.

Hobson headlines a class of seven players with local ties who are returning to play in the conference tournament, which kicks off at 2 p.m. this afternoon with a play-in game between Wyoming and Air Force.

New Mexico will play the winner of that game at 1 p.m. Thursday. The Lobos have the No. 1 seed in the tournament after Hobson led them with 16 points and nine rebounds per game in his first season after transferring from the College of Eastern Utah.

"I think the people have seen what we're capable of doing," Hobson said. "We're going to shock a lot of people in the Mountain West Tournament because we're still playing with a chip on our shoulder."

Hobson's first showing at the Thomas & Mack Center, where he grew up attending games with his father, lived up to its billing.

He scored 16 points with 13 rebounds in New Mexico's 77-67 victory over UNLV and made all of the game's biggest plays.

"The main thing I remember is going back home in front of a bunch of family and friends and getting a great win," Hobson said.

Hobson said it was the biggest victory of the season for the Lobos. It came in the middle of their current 14-game win streak that helped them capture the regular season conference title.

Hobson will have even more friends around this week in Las Vegas. He said he knew all the other local players on other Mountain West teams.

"Everyone from Vegas knows each other," Hobson said. "We all play at the same gyms during the summer. We are all like brothers and every time we see each other. It's good to get together and compete."

Here are the other Las Vegas players that could oppose UNLV in the tournament:

Jonathan Tavernari, BYU, senior forward-The 2006 Bishop Gorman graduate calls himself "a Vegas guy" and loves playing at the Mack. He's averaged 10 points and five rebounds per game this year and won the Mountain West's Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Michael Loyd, Jr., BYU, sophomore guard-Loyd, a Palo Verde grad, comes off of the bench for the Cougars and plays 13 minutes per game.

Billy White, San Diego State, junior guard-He's one of four players who average more than 10 points per game for the Aztecs. The Mountain West named White, a 2007 Green Valley High graduate, as an honorable mention to the all-conference teams.

Curtis Dennis, New Mexico, freshman guard-Dennis took a redshirt last season after playing at Findlay Prep in high school. He's played sparingly in his first season and has not appeared in either of the Lobos' last two games.

Andre McFarland, Colorado State, junior forward-McFarland grew up in Las Vegas and attended Durango High before going to Brewester Academy in New Hampshire for prep school. He's been in Colorado State's rotation all year.

Harvey Perry, Colorado State, senior guard-Perry's college career has gone a lot like his high school one — he's bounced around a lot. Perry — who attended Foothill, Green Valley and Cheyenne — wound up at Colorado State after stints at Washington and the College of Southern Idaho.