Gigantic Mattias Markusson is the only personnel loss of note, and there are three proven transfers, led by Cameron Shelton, the Big Sky scoring champ at Northern Arizona. Outlook: Stan Johnson managed the rare feat of dislodging one of the WCC’s Big Three – Saint Mary’s – for the third spot in the standings, albeit in an abbreviated league schedule. Key newcomers: Cameron Shelton (6-2, G), Kwane Marble (6-5, G), Alex Merkviladze (6-8, F) Two keys: keeping oft-injured forward Gavin Baxter in one piece, and finding a bigger role for athletic Gideon George. Rugged Caleb Lohner is BYU’s next all-league big man, and two transfers – Te’Jon Lucas (Illinois, via Milwaukee) and Seneca Knight (San Jose State, via LSU) – are proven scorers.
The WCC’s sharpest shooter is an underrated passer and improving at finding his own shot, and he has an intriguing cast around him. Outlook: Alex Barcello’s decision to take the NCAA super-senior option and return for one more year puts the Cougars in position to make a return to March Madness. Key losses: Matt Haarms, Brandon Averette, Connor Harding Key newcomers: Te’Jon Lucas (6-2, G), Seneca Knight (6-7, G), Atiki Ally Atiki (6-11, C) At Portland, Terry Porter was a colossal flop, winning just seven conference games in five years and leaving his successor – former Eastern Washington coach Shantay Legans – to launch a massive makeover. Damon Stoudamire managed to make Pacific a tough out again in a five-year run before leaving to join the staff of the Boston Celtics. If Gonzaga’s dominance isn’t coming to an end, one other WCC trend has – the NBA-pedigree coach – with a split decision. As a league, the WCC ranks seventh among college hoops’ 32 conferences, up a spot from where it ended the 2021 season. Four teams – GU, San Francisco, BYU and Saint Mary’s – showed up in ’s preseason top 50, and Loyola Marymount is not far behind at No. With national player of the year front-runner Drew Timme and one of the country’s top point guards in Andrew Nembhard joining those glitzy newcomers, it’s clear why the Zags are overwhelming favorites not just to win the WCC – again – but to return to the Final Four.īut even as Gonzaga tends to smother the competition, the WCC has managed to thrive as a collective. 1 recruit in the country – Chet Holmgren – and the No.
Whatever despair among its fan base attended the end of Gonzaga’s undefeated-until-the-last-game run through the herky-jerky 2021 college basketball season was quickly replaced by another surge of expectation when coach Mark Few and his staff rounded up the No. Having just watched their heroes pummel Gonzaga in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, they could be excused for seeing cakewalks to conference titles in the church league.Įxcept again all the signs suggest that there’s another wait-’til-next-year in the Cougars immediate future. That surely wasn’t what the BYU faithful envisioned when the Cougars found a basketball life preserver with the WCC after taking their football program independent. So now they have the 2021-23 seasons to accomplish what they haven’t managed yet: a league championship.
#WCC3 COLLEGE CRACKED#
After 10 years in the West Coast Conference, the Brigham Young Cougars gave their two years’ notice in September, having finally cracked into the big time with an invitation from the Big 12.
0 kommentar(er)
