Haws, Mika receive preseason recognition

BOSTON, Mass. – BYU junior guard Tyler Haws has been named to the Lute Olson Preseason All-America Team, which was announced recently.

Each year CollegeInsider.com presents the Lute Olson Award to the nation's top Division I player who has played at least two seasons with his respective team. Freshmen and first-year transfers can be named to the All-America team, but are not eligible to receive the Player of the Year honors.

The award is named in honor of coaching great Lute Olson, who won 780 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona. During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 1997.

A junior from Alpine, Utah, Haws is one of the top-returning scorers in the country. Last season, he was seventh in the nation and led the West Coast Conference in scoring at 21.7 points per game. Haws became the first BYU sophomore and only the fifth Cougar in program history to finish among the nation’s the top 10 in scoring.

In addition to the Lute Olson Preseason All-America honors, Haws was recently named to the College Sports Madness Preseason All-High Major First Team. Freshman big man Eric Mika also received recognition as the Preseason All-High Major Freshman of the Year. Mika comes to BYU from Lone Peak High School in Alpine, Utah. He earned third-team All-America honors while leading Lone Peak to the MaxPreps.com high school national title and the 5A Utah state title.