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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Gonzaga
- BYU
- Saint Mary’s
- Pepperdine
- San Francisco
- Santa Clara
- LMU
- Pacific
- San Diego
- Portland
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE:
-Joel Ayayi – JR, G – Gonzaga
-Alex Barcello – SR, G – BYU
-Jamaree Bouyea – SR, G – San Francisco
-Kessler Edwards – JR, F – Pepperdine
-Corey Kispert – SR, F – Gonzaga
-Colbey Ross – SR, G – Pepperdine
-Eli Scott – SR, G – LMU
-Matthias Tass – JR, C – Saint Mary’s
-Drew Timme – SO, F – Gonzaga
-Josip Vrankic – SR, F – Santa Clara
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Ladies and Gentlemen! In a STUNNING devleopment, Gonzaga is your preseason favorite to win the WCC this year!! This was a team that would have almost undoubtedly been on the 1 line a year ago with a solid chance of going back to the Final Four, so they were among the programs that you felt really sorry for when the NCAA Tournament was cancelled. If it’s any consolation it appears as though they have a good chance of getting back there this year, and despite all the complications they managed to put together the kind of OOC schedule that is conducive to a #1 seed and a #1 ranking. They did lose some key pieces, but with the returning players and how good the newcomers look this is a team that is good enough to cut down the nets in Indianapolis this year.
-BYU is a team with an outstanding frontcourt, a solid backcourt with some guys that can hit from outside, and a lot of depth as well (which could be a key factor this season). I think they are capable of pretty much running away from the rest of the league with the exception of Gonzaga.
-Saint Mary’s is always in the NCAA Tournament conversation and this year will likely be no different. Only two starters are back, and Jordan Ford is not one of them, so the Gaels will be relying on guys from last year’s team to step into bigger roles. We may see them take a bit of a step back, but I still think they can land inside the bubble by the end of the year.
-San Francisco has been a ton to watch in recent years. While they haven’t made the NCAA Tournament, they’ve won 20+ games in each of the last four seasons, which is a sign that this program is improving and starting to gain some momentum. Head coach Todd Golden will look to continue that trend with three double digit scorers returning and some guys that look like they could step into bigger roles this year.
-I’m a little surprised that Santa Clara is not getting a little more preseason love. Four starters are back from a team that won 20 games a year ago, and the program has made noticeable improvements under head coach Herb Sendek that are likely to continue into this season.
-Pacific has three starters back from a team that won 23 games and finished in 3rd place a year ago. They will be joined by three key transfers. There isn’t a whole lot of preseason love for this Pacific team, but I think they are a potential dark horse that may end up doing much better than expected.
-Quite a bit of preseason love for Pepperdine this year, who returns four starters from a year ago. Lorenzo Romar appears to have them going in the right direction so we shall see if that improvement can continue into this season.
-LMU had a rather unspectacular 11 season a year ago and are in rebuilding mode now with four starters gone.
-Not much to say about San Diego and Portland other than I think they’ll be in a three way race for 8th place with LMU.