2021–22 West Coast Conference men's basketball season

The 2021–22 West Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in September 2021 and ended 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 33rd 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
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportMen's basketball
Number of teams10
Regular season
Season championsGonzaga
  Runners-upSaint Mary's
Season MVPDrew Timme, Gonzaga
Tournament
Basketball seasons
2021–22 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings
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

edit

Coaching changes

edit

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 to 2006.[5]

Coaches

edit
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

edit

Conference realignment

edit

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 remained a member of the WCC for this season and the 2022–23 season, with the WCC potentially dropping to nine 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

edit
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

edit
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

edit
Legend
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

edit

Conference matrix

edit
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

edit

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

edit

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

edit

All-Americans

edit

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

edit

The following WCC players were named to national award watch lists and received awards as follows:

Wooden Award – Player of the Year

edit
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

edit
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

edit
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

edit
Preseason Top 20 Midseason Top 10 5 Finalists
Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga

Jerry West Award – Shooting Guard

edit
Preseason Top 20 Midseason Top 10 5 Finalists
Hunter Sallis, Gonzaga (none) (none)

Julius Erving Award – Small Forward

edit
Preseason Top 20 Midseason Top 10 5 Finalists
(none) (none) (none)

Karl Malone Award – Power Forward

edit
Preseason Top 20 Midseason Top 10 5 Finalists
Drew Timme, Gonzaga Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award – Center

edit
Preseason Top 20 Midseason Top 10 5 Finalists
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga Drew Timme, Gonzaga Drew Timme, Gonzaga

All-WCC awards and teams

edit

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

edit

West Coast Conference tournament

edit

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

edit

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)

edit

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

edit

No teams from the WCC participated in the 2022 CBI Tournament.

The Basketball Classic (TBC)

edit

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

edit
  1. ^ "WCC Announces 2021-22 Men's Basketball Conference Matchups". wccsports.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  2. ^ "'I love this place': Shantay Legans will miss EWU as he takes on head coaching job at Portland". krem.com. March 22, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  3. ^ Frommer, Justin (August 3, 2021). "New Pacific men's basketball head coach Leonard Perry ready for second chance at leading a team". The Record. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  4. ^ Kelapire, Ryan (July 7, 2021). "Damon Stoudamire leaving Pacific to join Celtics' coaching staff". Arizona Desert Swarm. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  5. ^ Norlander, Matt (July 7, 2021). "Pacific basketball promotes Leonard Perry as Damon Stoudamire accepts assistant coach job with Celtics". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  6. ^ Lundquist, Casey. "BYU Athletics to Join the Big 12 in 2023". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  7. ^ "What BYU leaving the WCC means for both the conference and Gonzaga". krem.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  8. ^ Lawson, Theo (September 10, 2021). "West Coast Complication: Exploring the future for Gonzaga and the West Coast Conference without BYU | The Spokesman-Review". spokesman.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  9. ^ "Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic bracket revealed". University of Hawaii. July 15, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Meehan, Jim (July 1, 2020). "Gonzaga to play in 2021 Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden | The Spokesman-Review". spokesman.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  11. ^ Rothstein, Jon (May 12, 2021). "Sources: Florida State, Missouri, SMU, Loyola Marymount to headline 2021 Jacksonville Classic". College Hoops Today. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ a b "So Cal Challenge". So Cal Challenge. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  14. ^ "2021 Maui Invitational Bracket Set, Notre Dame Will Face St. Mary's". Irish Sports Daily. July 27, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  15. ^ Dudley, Kevin (December 22, 2018). "Cougs meet San Diego in Las Vegas Classic". CougCenter. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  16. ^ "MBB | Dons Announce Non-Conference Schedule". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  17. ^ "Timme Tabbed WCC Player Of The Year". WCC Sports. March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2024.