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
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportMen's basketball
Number of teams10
Regular season
Tournament
2021–22 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
San Francisco0–0 –10–0  1.000
Saint Mary's0–0 –9–2  .818
BYU0–0 –8–2  .800
No. 5 Gonzaga0–0 –8–2  .800
Portland0–0 –7–3  .700
Santa Clara0–0 –7–4  .636
Loyola Marymount0–0 –6–4  .600
San Diego0–0 –6–5  .545
Pacific0–0 –4–6  .400
Pepperdine0–0 –4–8  .333
† 2022 WCC Tournament winner
As of December 11, 2021; 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
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

 Post
BYU AP RV RV
C
Gonzaga AP 1 (55) 1 (55)
C 1 (29) 1 (29)
Loyola

Marymount

 AP
C
Pacific AP
C
Pepperdine AP
C
Portland AP
C
Saint

Mary's

 AP
C
San

Diego

 AP
C
San

Francisco

 AP
C
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
vs. Gonzaga
vs. Loyola Marymount
vs. Pacific
vs. Pepperdine
vs. Portland
vs. Saint Mary's
vs. San Diego
vs. San Francisco
vs. Santa Clara
Total

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
Gonzaga Empire Classic[10] November 18–19 Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Loyola Marymount Jacksonville Classic[11] November 17–22 UNF Arena Jacksonville, Florida
Pacific Rainbow Classic[12] November 10–13 Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, Hawaii
Pepperdine SoCal Challenge[13] November 22–24 Pavilion at JSerra San Juan Capistrano, California
Portland Incarnate Word Tournament November 26–28 McDermott Center San Antonio, Texas
Saint Mary's Maui Invitational[14] November 22–24 Lahaina Civic Center Maui, Hawaii
San Diego Las Vegas Classic[15] November 25–26 Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada
San Francisco 4-Team MTE[16] November 25–26 Las Vegas, Nevada
Santa Clara SoCal Challenge[13] November 22–24 Pavilion at JSerra San Juan Capistrano, California

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
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

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

AP Honorable Mention:

    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

    Naismith Award - Player of the Year
    Preseason Top 50 Midseason Top 30 10 Semifinalists 4 Finalists

    Bob Cousy Award - Point Guard
    Preseason Top 20 Midseason Top 10 5 Finalists
    Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga

    Jerry West Award - Shooting Guard
    Preseason Top 20 Midseason Top 10 5 Finalists
    Hunter Sallis, Gonzaga

    Julius Erving Award - Small Forward
    Main article: Julius Erving Award
    Preseason Top 20 Midseason Top 10 5 Finalists Winner
    (none)

    Karl Malone Award - Power Forward
    Main article: Karl Malone Award
    Preseason Top 20 Midseason Top 10 5 Finalists Winner
    Drew Timme, Gonzaga

    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award - Center
    Preseason Top 20
    Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga

    All-WCC Awards and Teams
    Honor Recipient School
    Player of the Year
    Coach of the Year
    Defensive Player of the Year
    Newcomer of the Year
    All-WCC First Team
    All-WCC Second Team
    All-WCC Freshman Team
    WCC Honorable Mention

    Postseason

    References
    1. "WCC Announces 2021-22 Men's Basketball Conference Matchups". wccsports.com. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    2. "'I love this place': Shantay Legans will miss EWU as he takes on head coaching job at Portland". krem.com. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    3. Frommer, Justin. "New Pacific men's basketball head coach Leonard Perry ready for second chance at leading a team". The Record. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    4. Kelapire, Ryan (2021-07-07). "Damon Stoudamire leaving Pacific to join Celtics' coaching staff". Arizona Desert Swarm. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    5. "Pacific basketball promotes Leonard Perry as Damon Stoudamire accepts assistant coach job with Celtics". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    6. Lundquist, Casey. "BYU Athletics to Join the Big 12 in 2023". BYU Cougars on Sports Illustrated: News, Analysis, and More. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    7. "What BYU leaving the WCC means for both the conference and Gonzaga". krem.com. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    8. "West Coast Complication: Exploring the future for Gonzaga and the West Coast Conference without BYU | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    9. News, U. H. "Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic bracket revealed | University of Hawaiʻi System News". Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    10. "Gonzaga to play in 2021 Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    11. "Sources: Florida State, Missouri, SMU, Loyola Marymount to headline 2021 Jacksonville Classic". College Hoops Today. 2021-05-12. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    12. "University of Hawai'i announces 2021-22 men's basketball schedule beginning with Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic". KHON2. 2021-09-10. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    13. "So Cal Challenge". So Cal Challenge. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    14. "2021 Maui Invitational Bracket Set, Notre Dame Will Face St. Mary's". Irish Sports Daily. 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    15. Dudley, Kevin (2018-12-22). "Cougs meet San Diego in Las Vegas Classic". CougCenter. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    16. "MBB | Dons Announce Non-Conference Schedule". University of San Francisco Athletics. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.