WHEELING — With the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Basketball Tournament set to start Wednesday, the conference released their annual All-MEC Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams this week. The Wheeling University Men’s Basketball team put together a breakout year in 2025-2026, putting together an eight-win improvement to finish 19-8 overall and 14-6 in MEC play. Wheeling’s Ayden Goll was named Freshman of the Year, as well as making First Team All-MEC honoree, and head coach Chris Richardson was named the MEC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year. After finishing the year 17-11 overall and 12-8 in conference play and securing the conference’s No. 6 seed, Wheeling University Women’s Basketball senior Kenzie Dalton won the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row, while also earning First Team All-MEC honors.

Ayden Goll earned his first All-MEC honor of his career after bursting onto the scene with the Cardinals in 2025-26. The redshirt freshman enters tournament play sitting as the third leading scorer in the conference, averaging 18.1 points per game across his 27 games played this season. He sits 16th in the conference in shooting, hitting 42.5% (145-341) from the floor, and he established himself as the second leading free throw shooter in the conference at 87.2%. Along with being one of the top scorer’s in the conference, Goll has also been one of the top ball movers in the conference, ranking third with 126 assists.He set his career-high with 32 points in the match-up with Glenville State back on February 21.

Chris Richardson took home his first career Coach of the Year honor after leading a Cardinal team that went 11-18 last season to an eight-win improvement in 2025-2026. His team finished 19-8 overall and 14-6 to grab the #3 seed in the MEC Tournament, their highest finish since the 2019-20 season. Their 19 wins were the most by the program since the 2017-18 season, which was also the last time that the Cardinals were crowned MEC Champions, and he helped lead the program to its 900th win in its history. Under his leadership, the Cardinals held opponents to the third fewest points in the conference, allowing 82.1 PPG, while sitting as the fifth highest scoring offense, at 86.4 PPG. He currently sits as the sixth winningest coach in program history with a record of 62-99, and sits just 12 wins behind Jim O’brien from cracking the top five.

The Wheeling Men’s Basketball program added their first Freshman of the Year award since 2015, when former Cardinal Pat Moseh was honored and their first Coach of the Year Award since Danny Sancomb in 2016.

On the women’s squad, Dalton earned her second career All-MEC honor along with her second selection as the Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. She led the Cardinals with 206 rebounds, averaging 7.4 per game, while also leading the team with 151 assists. Her 151 assists leads the conference by 34 assists over the next closest player. She is averaging 5.4 assists/game on the season, and is the only player in the conference to average over 5.0 assists per game. Dalton would also crack the top 10 on the glass with 206 rebounds, averaging 7.4 per game to tie with Frostburg State’s Julie Spineli for the 10th-highest average in the conference.

However, it was her offensive game that raised her to First Team All-MEC status, with the senior putting up a career-best 485 points to average 17.3 PPG. She scored in double digits 23 times in her 28 games this season, while picking up a double-double seven times during the season. Dalton enters tournament play as the fourth leading scorer in the conference, with the top four all being within 2.5 points per game of each other.

WOMEN

Player of the Year: Abbie Smith (Concord)

Defensive Player of the Year: Kenzie Dalton (Wheeling)

Freshman of the Year: Kilah Dandridge (West Virginia Wesleyan)

Coach of the Year: Brett Vincent (West Virginia Wesleyan)

All-MEC First Team

Abbie Smith (Concord)

Emma Witt (West Virginia Wesleyan)

Kenzie Dalton (Wheeling)

Julie Spinelli (Frostburg State)

Gabby Reep (Fairmont State)

Carine Pinkney (Glenville State)

Kenyah Stubbs (Concord)

Kilah Dandridge (West Virginia Wesleyan)

All-MEC Second Team

Baylee Goins (West Virginia State)

Olivia Baker (West Liberty)

Anna Lucarelli (West Liberty)

Paris Stokes (Charleston)

Nwando Okigbo (Glenville State)

Emilia Sierra Lacosta (Wheeling)

Khalia Bryant (Glenville State)

Ana Young (West Virginia Wesleyan)

All-MEC Honorable Mention

Jahniya Marion (Davis & Elkins)

Elizabeth Boyd (Point Park)

Ksenija Mitric (Charleston)

Harper Annarino (Charleston)

Sydney Baird (West Virginia Wesleyan)

MEN

Player of the Year: Trey Simmons (Frostburg State)

Defensive Player of the Year: Boubacar Djigo (Concord)

Freshman of the Year: Ayden Goll (Wheeling)

Coach of the Year: Chris Richardson (Wheeling)

2026 All-MEC First Team

Drey Carter (Fairmont State)

Trey Simmons (Frostburg State)

Jalen Knott (Glenville State)

Jamie Muldowney (West Liberty)

Ayden Goll (Wheeling)

Boubacar Djigo (Concord)

Thomas Hailey (Charleston)

Aidan Anderson (Point Park)

Myles Montgomery (West Liberty)

2026 All-MEC Second Team

David Jolinder (Fairmont State)

Elijah Redfern (Glenville State)

Braden Chapman (Charleston)

DJ Daniel (Frostburg State)

Vegas Evans (Davis & Elkins)

Caleb Murray (Wheeling)

Rene Diop (Fairmont State)l

2026 All-MEC Honorable Mention

Trey Harris (West Virginia State)

Micah Young (Concord)

Matthew Gray (Davis & Elkins)

Cameron Williams (West Liberty)