Darin Mahoney is the ultimate team player.
When told last week he would be passing former teammate Trevor Morris to set the Big Sky Conference record for career games played in Sunday's CollegeInsider.com Tournament contest against Loyola Marymount, the 6-foot-8 senior forward from Heber City didn't want to leave a teammate behind.
"It's pretty crazy," he said. "I'd kind of just like to share it with Trevor. It's too bad he doesn't have a couple more and we could end up tied."
Mahoney, who has started 56 games and played in 123 at Weber State, was also quick to note that he had missed three games earlier in his career, so fellow senior Kyle Bullinger would have set the mark already if not for a dislocated elbow suffered in December. Bullinger missed nine games with the injury.
"It speaks volumes to Mo and how important he's been to our program over the last four years -- him and Bull both," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "They've been incredibly important to us. They've been playing since they were freshmen, they were valuable to us as freshmen and every year they've become more and more valuable to us. It's a great honor to those kids. It means they were good enough to play a lot of games even early in their career."
Mahoney has avoided injuries significant enough to prevent him from playing, but he has worked through more than a few bumps and bruises to get on the court.
"That's basically what Mo is," junior point guard Damian Lillard said. "He practices every day. He's had injuries and a lot going on but he always finds a way to contribute to the team. He never wants to skip a game. He's had calf injuries and he's been hurt, but he still wants to try to help the team if he can. All the credit should go to him. He's always out there and I don't think I've ever had a better teammate."
Mahoney is second in school history with 100 career blocks and is 14th with 579 career rebounds.
Rahe said Mahoney's efforts in Weber State's first-round CIT win over Utah Valley sum up his career. Mahoney had a critical steal in the final minute to keep the Wolverines from having a chance to take the lead.
"In a microcosm, that game was what Darin's all about. We don't win without Darin and Darin scored two points," Rahe said. "The extra possessions he gets, the loose balls he gets, the defense he plays; he couldn't care less about accolades, he couldn't care less about stats. He's a winner, that's what he does and that's why he's meant so much to us."
Mahoney's winning percentage with the Wildcats with a record of 82-41 winds up at .666.
NABC honors
Two Weber State players were honored last week by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Lillard was named to the All-District 6 first team with Nevada's Deonte Burton, New Mexico State's Wendell McKines, Montana's Will Cherry (Montana) and Hawaii's Vander Joaquim. District 6 is comprised of teams in the Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences.
WSU junior guard Scott Bamforth was named to the second team, along with Utah State's Preston Medlin, Nevada's Malik Story, Portland State's Charles Odum (Portland State) and and Fresno State's Kevin Olekaibe.
Mission bound
Weber State walk-on basketball player Ryan Van Pelt has accepted a mission call from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Van Pelt, a 6-foot-10 redshirt freshman center from Lindon, will leave May 30 for Antofagasta, a city in northern Chile, and will return in time for the 2014-15 season.
As a senior at Timpanogos High, Van Pelt averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Spring football
Coach John L. Smith's Wildcats resume practices this week after taking time off for Spring Break. Weber State will hold its first scrimmage March 31.
No luncheon
Weber State's Wildcat Club has cancelled its regularly scheduled luncheon today because of the basketball team's travels.
The final two luncheons will be held at the Ogden Marriott at noon on April 2 and April 16. For more information, see WeberStateSports.com.
Roy Burton covers Weber State sports for the Standard-Examiner. You can reach him at rburton@standard.net, follow @RoyBurton on Twitter and read more posts about the Wildcats at blogs.standard.net/wsu-sports-blog.
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