Farmar Is Freshman of the Year in the Pac-10

UCLA point guard Jordan Farmar was selected the Pacific 10 Conference freshman of the year and Bruin senior forward Dijon Thompson was selected to the all-conference team.

Arizona State junior Ike Diogu, who leads the conference in scoring and rebounding, was selected player of the year and Washington’s Lorenzo Romar was selected coach of the year after leading the Huskies to second place and a 24-5 overall record.

Also on the 10-player all-conference team were Diogu, Salim Stoudamire and Channing Frye of Arizona, Dan Grunfeld and Chris Hernandez of Stanford, Thomas Kelati of Washington State, David Lucas of Oregon State, and Nate Robinson and Tre Simmons of Washington.

Besides Farmar, who played at Woodland Hills Taft High, the five-man all-freshman team includes three players who played in Los Angeles-area high schools: UCLA’s Arron Afflalo (Compton Centennial), USC’s Gabe Pruitt (Westchester) and Oregon’s Bryce Taylor (Harvard-Westlake). The fifth member was Oregon’s Malik Hairston from Detroit.

“I’m excited and honored but it’s not what I set out to do,” Farmar said. “It just so happens I got named for this honor but it’s a team accomplishment.”

Farmar started every game. He averaged 13.5 points, 5.3 assists and made 80.9% of his free throws.

“Playing the point position is so important and tough to do,” UCLA Coach Ben Howland said, “and to have the impact he’s had -- he just turned 18 last November -- is truly amazing.”

Thompson said he had set out to make the all-conference team because that would mean he had achieved other goals this season.

His scoring average of 18.2 and rebounding average of 8.1 ranked third in the Pac-10. He leads the league in defensive rebounding and leads the Bruins in steals.

“It’s very deserving for Dijon,” Howland said. “He’s led our team in so many ways, other than just scoring and rebounding.”

*

Senior point guard David Doubley of Pacific was selected the Big West Conference player of the year.

Bob Thomason was selected coach of the year for leading the Tigers to a 25-2 record, a 21-game winning streak and a program-best No. 17 national ranking.

Doubley averaged 12.6 points and 4.1 assists.

Pacific’s Guillaume Yango, a senior center, and Christian Maraker, a junior forward, were selected to the all-conference first team, along with Cal State Northridge senior swingman Ian Boylan, who averaged a team-leading 14.9 points and led the Big West in steals with 75.

Utah State forwards Spencer Nelson and Nate Harris were the other first-team selections.

*

Times staff writer Eric Stephens contributed to this report.