2021–22 West Coast Conference men's basketball season
The 2021–22 West Coast Conference men's basketball season will begin with practices in September 2021 and will end with the 2022 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament in March 2022.[1] This will be the 71st season for WCC men's basketball, and the 33nd under its current name of "West Coast Conference". The conference was founded in 1952 as the California Basketball Association, became the West Coast Athletic Conference in 1956, and dropped the word "Athletic" in 1989.
2021–22 West Coast Conference men's basketball season | |
---|---|
League | NCAA Division I |
Sport | Men's basketball |
Number of teams | 10 |
Regular season | |
Season champions | Gonzaga |
Runners-up | Saint Mary's |
Season MVP | Drew Timme, Gonzaga |
Tournament |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 1 Gonzaga † | 13 | – | 1 | .929 | 28 | – | 4 | .875 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 18 Saint Mary's | 12 | – | 3 | .800 | 26 | – | 8 | .765 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Santa Clara | 10 | – | 5 | .667 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
San Francisco | 10 | – | 6 | .625 | 24 | – | 10 | .706 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BYU | 9 | – | 6 | .600 | 24 | – | 11 | .686 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portland | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 19 | – | 15 | .559 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
San Diego | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 15 | – | 16 | .484 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pacific | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 8 | – | 22 | .267 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loyola Marymount | 3 | – | 12 | .200 | 11 | – | 18 | .379 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pepperdine | 1 | – | 15 | .063 | 7 | – | 25 | .219 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† 2022 WCC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll |
Head coaches
Coaching changes
Two new head coaches will lead their team in the WCC during the 2021-22 season. On March 22, 2021, Shantay Legans, the then coach at Eastern Washington University, revealed via Twitter that he had accepted the position as the head coach at the University of Portland.[2] Then, on July 7, 2021, the University of the Pacific announced that associate head coach Leonard Perry would become the new head coach of the Tigers.[3] The former head coach, Damon Stoudamire, accepted a position as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics under Ime Udoka.[4] Perry was previously the head basketball coach at the University of Idaho from 2001–2006.[5]
Coaches
Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years
at school |
Overall
record |
WCC
record |
WCC
Tournament record |
NCAA
Tournaments |
Sweet
Sixteens |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BYU | Mark Pope | Utah Valley | 3 | 44–15 (.746) | 23–6 (.793) | 1–2 (.333) | 1 | 0 |
Gonzaga | Mark Few | Gonzaga
(asst.) |
23 | 630–124 (.836) | 305–31 (.908) | 45–5 (.900) | 21 | 10 |
Loyola Marymount | Stan Johnson | Marquette (asst.) | 2 | 13–9 (.591) | 7–5 (.583) | 1–1 (.500) | 0 | 0 |
Pacific | Leonard Perry | Pacific (asst.) | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 |
Pepperdine | Lorenzo Romar | Arizona (asst.) | 4 | 89–90 (.497) | 21–25 (.457) | 5–3 (.625) | 7 | 3 |
Portland | Shantay Legans | Eastern Washington | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 1 | 0 |
Saint Mary's | Randy Bennett | Saint Louis(asst.) | 21 | 454–192 (.703) | 223–98 (.695) | 25–17 (.595) | 7 | 1 |
San Diego | Sam Scholl | San Diego
(asst.) |
4 | 35–50 (.412) | 11–30 (0.268) | 3–3 (0.500) | 0 | 0 |
San Francisco | Todd Golden | San Francisco (asst.) | 3 | 33–26 (.559) | 13–16 (.448) | 3–2 (.600) | 0 | 0 |
Santa Clara | Herb Sendek | Arizona State | 6 | 76–72 (.514) | 36–40 (.474) | 4–5 (.444) | 8 | 1 |
Notes:
- Year at school includes 2021–22 season.
- Overall and WCC records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the 2021–22 season.
Preseason
Conference realignment
On September 10, 2021, BYU was one of four schools (the others being Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF) that accepted invitations to join the Big 12 Conference beginning with the 2023-24 athletic season.[6] Therefore, BYU will remain a member of the WCC for the current season and the 2022–23 season, with the WCC potentially dropping to 9 teams for the 2023-24 season.[7] West Coast Conference commissioner Gloria Nevarez indicated that the conference is open to adding additional schools to the conference to ensure "continued success" for the league.[8]
Preseason poll
2021-22 WCC Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll | ||
---|---|---|
Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Points |
1. | Gonzaga (9) | 81 |
2. | BYU (1) | 72 |
3. | Saint Mary's | 63 |
4. | Loyola Marymount | 56 |
5. | San Francisco | 49 |
6. | Santa Clara | 45 |
7. | Pepperdine | 31 |
8. | Pacific | 24 |
8. | San Diego | 20 |
10. | Portland | 9 |
All-WCC Preseason Men's Basketball team
Honor | Recipient |
---|---|
Preseason All-WCC Team | Alex Barcello, BYU |
Jamaree Bouyea, San Francisco | |
Logan Johnson, Saint Mary's | |
Caleb Lohner, BYU | |
Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga | |
Eli Scott, LMU | |
Khalil Shabazz, San Francisco | |
Drew Timme, Gonzaga | |
Josip Vrankic, Santa Clara | |
Jalen Williams, Santa Clara |
Rankings
Improvement in ranking | ||
Drop in ranking | ||
Not ranked previous week | ||
RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll | |
(Italics) | Number of first place votes |
Pre/
Wk 1 |
Wk
2 |
Wk
3 |
Wk
4 |
Wk
5 |
Wk
6 |
Wk
7 |
Wk
8 |
Wk
9 |
Wk
10 |
Wk
11 |
Wk
12 |
Wk
13 |
Wk
14 |
Wk
15 |
Wk
16 |
Wk
17 |
Wk
18 |
Final | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BYU | AP | RV | RV | 18 | 12 | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||
C | 18 | 13 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||||
Gonzaga | AP | 1 (55) | 1 (55) | 1 (55) | 3 (1) | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 (25) | 2 (15) | 2 (12) | 2 (13) | 1 (56) | 1 (61) | 1 (46) | 1 (52) | 1 (54) |
C | 1 (29) | 1 (29) | 1 (30) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 (23) | 1 (18) | 1 (16) | 1 (18) | 1 (30) | 1 (32) | 1 (20) | 1 (27) | 1 (31) | |
Loyola
Marymount |
AP | |||||||||||||||||||
C | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pacific | AP | |||||||||||||||||||
C | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pepperdine | AP | |||||||||||||||||||
C | ||||||||||||||||||||
Portland | AP | |||||||||||||||||||
C | ||||||||||||||||||||
Saint
Mary's |
AP | RV | RV | 22 | RV | 23 | 19 | 17 | 18 | |||||||||||
C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | RV | 23 | 20 | 17 | 16 | ||||||||
San
Diego |
AP | |||||||||||||||||||
C | ||||||||||||||||||||
San
Francisco |
AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||
C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | ||||||
Santa
Clara |
AP | |||||||||||||||||||
C |
Regular season
Conference matrix
BYU | Gonzaga | Loyola Marymount | Pacific | Pepperdine | Portland | Saint Mary's | San Diego | San Francisco | Santa Clara | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
vs. BYU | – | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
vs. Gonzaga | 0–2 | – | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
vs. Loyola Marymount | 2–0 | 1–0 | – | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
vs. Pacific | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
vs. Pepperdine | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
vs. Portland | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
vs. Saint Mary's | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | – | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
vs. San Diego | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 |
vs. San Francisco | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | – | 0–2 |
vs. Santa Clara | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | – |
Total | 9–6 | 13–1 | 3–12 | 3–11 | 1–15 | 7–7 | 12–3 | 7–9 | 10–6 | 10–5 |
Early season tournaments
The following table summarizes the multiple-team events (MTE) or early season tournaments in which teams from the West Coast Conference will participate.
Team | Tournament | Dates | Arena | Arena Location | Record | Bracketed | Finish | TV Partner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BYU | Diamond Head Classic[9] | December 22–25 | Stan Sheriff Center | Honolulu, Hawaii | 2–1 | Yes | 3rd | ESPN |
Gonzaga | Empire Classic[10] | November 18–19 | Madison Square Garden | New York, New York | 2–0 | No | N/A | ESPN |
Loyola Marymount | Jacksonville Classic[11] | November 17–22 | UNF Arena | Jacksonville, Florida | 2–1 | Yes | 3rd | CBS |
Pacific | Rainbow Classic[12] | November 10–13 | Stan Sheriff Center | Honolulu, Hawaii | 1–2 | No | N/A | N/A |
Pepperdine | SoCal Challenge[13] | November 22–24 | Pavilion at JSerra | San Juan Capistrano, California | 0–3 | No | N/A | CBS/FloHoops |
Portland | Incarnate Word Tournament | November 26–28 | McDermott Center | San Antonio, Texas | 2–1 | No | N/A | N/A |
Saint Mary's | Maui Invitational[14] | November 22–24 | Lahaina Civic Center | Maui, Hawaii | 2–1 | Yes | 2nd | ESPN |
San Diego | Las Vegas Classic[15] | November 25–26 | Orleans Arena | Paradise, Nevada | 2–1 | Yes | 3rd | N/A |
San Francisco | Las Vegas Invitational[16] | November 25–26 | Orleans Arena | Las Vegas, Nevada | 2–0 | Yes | 1st | Fox Sports |
Santa Clara | SoCal Challenge[13] | November 22–24 | Pavilion at JSerra | San Juan Capistrano, California | 2–1 | No | N/A | CBS/FloHoops |
WCC Player/Freshman of the Week
Throughout the year, the West Coast Conference names a player of the week and a freshman of the week as follows:
Week | Date | Player of the Week | Freshman of the Week |
---|---|---|---|
1 | November 15, 2021 | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga |
2 | November 22, 2021 | Alex Barcello, BYU | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga |
3 | November 29, 2021 | Dan Fotu, Saint Mary's | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga |
4 | December 6, 2021 | Jamaree Bouyea, San Francisco | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga |
5 | December 13, 2021 | Jamaree Bouyea, San Francisco | Houston Mallette, Pepperdine |
6 | December 20, 2021 | Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga | Mike Mitchell Jr., Pepperdine |
7 | December 27, 2021 | Fousseyni Traore, BYU | Fousseyni Traore, BYU |
8 | January 3, 2022 | Logan Johnson, Saint Mary's | Nolan Hickman, Gonzaga |
9 | January 11, 2022 | Yauhen Massalski, San Francisco | Fousseyni Traore, BYU |
10 | January 17, 2022 | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga |
11 | January 24, 2022 | Alex Ducas, Saint Mary's | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga & Fousseyni Traore, BYU |
12 | January 31, 2022 | Matthias Tass, Saint Mary's | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga |
13 | February 7, 2022 | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga |
14 | February 14, 2022 | Tyler Robertson, Portland | Houston Mallette, Pepperdine |
15 | February 21, 2022 | Tommy Kuhse, Saint Mary's | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga |
16 | February 28, 2022 | Logan Johnson, Saint Mary's | Fousseyni Traore, BYU |
National Awards and Teams
All-Americans
The following WCC players were named as national All-Americans as follows:
Player | School | Associated Press | United States Basketball
Writers Association |
National Association of
Basketball Coaches |
Sporting News | Consensus Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Drew Timme | Gonzaga | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Chet Holmgren | Gonzaga | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
Other National Awards
The following WCC players were named to national award watch lists and received awards as follows:
Wooden Award - Player of the Year
Preseason Top 50 | Midseason Top 25 | Late Season Top 20 | Top 15 Ballot | Wooden 10 All Americans | 5 Finalists |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga |
Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | |
Drew Timme, Gonzaga |
Naismith Award - Player of the Year
Preseason Top 50 | Midseason Top 30 | 10 Semifinalists | 4 Finalists |
---|---|---|---|
Alex Barcello, BYU | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | (none) |
Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | |
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | |||
Drew Timme, Gonzaga |
Lute Olson - Player of the Year
Preseason Top 40 | Midseason Top 30 | 10 Semifinalists | 4 Finalists |
---|---|---|---|
Alex Barcello, BYU | Alex Barcello, BYU | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | (none) |
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | |
Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga |
Bob Cousy Award - Point Guard
Preseason Top 20 | Midseason Top 10 | 5 Finalists |
---|---|---|
Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga | Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga | Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga |
Jerry West Award - Shooting Guard
Preseason Top 20 | Midseason Top 10 | 5 Finalists |
---|---|---|
Hunter Sallis, Gonzaga | (none) | (none) |
Julius Erving Award - Small Forward
Preseason Top 20 | Midseason Top 10 | 5 Finalists |
---|---|---|
(none) | (none) | (none) |
Karl Malone Award - Power Forward
Preseason Top 20 | Midseason Top 10 | 5 Finalists |
---|---|---|
Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga |
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award - Center
Preseason Top 20 | Midseason Top 10 | 5 Finalists |
---|---|---|
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga |
All-WCC Awards and Teams
On March 2, 2022, the West Coast Conference announced the following awards:[17]
Honor | Recipient | School |
---|---|---|
Player of the Year | Drew Timme | Gonzaga |
Coach of the Year | Randy Bennett | Saint Mary’s |
Defensive Player of the Year | Chet Holmgren | Gonzaga |
Newcomer of the Year | Chet Holmgren | Gonzaga |
Sixth Man of the Year | Tommy Kuhse | Saint Mary’s |
All-WCC First Team | Alex Barcello | BYU |
Jamaree Bouyea | San Francisco | |
Chet Holmgren | Gonzaga | |
Tommy Kuhse | Saint Mary’s | |
Yauhen Massalski | San Francisco | |
Andrew Nembhard | Gonzaga | |
Matthias Tass | Saint Mary’s | |
Drew Timme | Gonzaga | |
Josip Vrankic | Santa Clara | |
Jalen Williams | Santa Clara | |
All-WCC Second Team | Alex Ducas | Saint Mary’s |
Logan Johnson | Saint Mary’s | |
Keshawn Justice | Santa Clara | |
Tyler Robertson | Portland | |
Eli Scott | LMU | |
Khalil Shabazz | San Francisco | |
All-WCC Freshman Team | Nolan Hickman | Gonzaga |
Chet Holmgren | Gonzaga | |
Maxwell Lewis | Pepperdine | |
Houston Mallette | Pepperdine | |
Wayne McKinney III | San Diego | |
Mike Mitchell Jr. | Pepperdine | |
Fousseyni Traore | BYU | |
WCC Honorable Mention | Jeremiah Bailey | Pacific |
Rasir Bolton | Gonzaga | |
Marcellus Earlington | San Diego | |
Julian Strawther | Gonzaga | |
Moses Wood | Portland |
Postseason
West Coast Conference tournament
Gonzaga defeated Saint Mary's 82–69 in the Championship game to win the tournament on March 8. Mark Few was the winning coach and Andrew Nembhard was named the MVP of the tournament.
NCAA tournament
Three teams from the WCC participated in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga received the automatic bid from the WCC and the #1 overall seed. Gonzaga advanced to the Sweet 16, where they were defeated by Arkansas 74–68. Saint Mary's received a 5 seed as an at-large selection and advanced to the second round where they were defeated by UCLA 72–56. San Francisco received a 10 seed as an at-large selection but was defeated in overtime in the first round 92–87 by Murray State.
National Invitation Tournament (NIT)
BYU and Santa Clara participated in the 2022 NIT. BYU received a 2 seed and advanced to the Quarterfinals where they lost to Washington State 77–58 while Santa Clara lost in the first round to Washington State 63–50.
College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournament
No teams from the WCC participated in the 2022 CBI Tournament.
The Basketball Classic (TBC)
Portland received an invitation to and participated in the 2022 TBC. Portland defeated New Orleans in the first round but lost to Southern Utah in the quarterfinals 77–66.
References
- "WCC Announces 2021-22 Men's Basketball Conference Matchups". wccsports.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "'I love this place': Shantay Legans will miss EWU as he takes on head coaching job at Portland". krem.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- Frommer, Justin. "New Pacific men's basketball head coach Leonard Perry ready for second chance at leading a team". The Record. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- Kelapire, Ryan (July 7, 2021). "Damon Stoudamire leaving Pacific to join Celtics' coaching staff". Arizona Desert Swarm. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "Pacific basketball promotes Leonard Perry as Damon Stoudamire accepts assistant coach job with Celtics". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- Lundquist, Casey. "BYU Athletics to Join the Big 12 in 2023". BYU Cougars on Sports Illustrated: News, Analysis, and More. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "What BYU leaving the WCC means for both the conference and Gonzaga". krem.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "West Coast Complication: Exploring the future for Gonzaga and the West Coast Conference without BYU | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic bracket revealed". University of Hawaii. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "Gonzaga to play in 2021 Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- Rothstein, Jon (May 12, 2021). "Sources: Florida State, Missouri, SMU, Loyola Marymount to headline 2021 Jacksonville Classic". College Hoops Today. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "University of Hawai'i announces 2021-22 men's basketball schedule beginning with Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic". KHON2. September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "So Cal Challenge". So Cal Challenge. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "2021 Maui Invitational Bracket Set, Notre Dame Will Face St. Mary's". Irish Sports Daily. July 27, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- Dudley, Kevin (December 22, 2018). "Cougs meet San Diego in Las Vegas Classic". CougCenter. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "MBB | Dons Announce Non-Conference Schedule". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- "Timme Tabbed WCC Player Of The Year". WCC Sports.