2023–24 West Coast Conference men's basketball season

The 2023–24 West Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in September 2023 and will end with the 2024 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament in March 2024. This will be the 73rd season for WCC men's basketball, and the 35th 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.

2023–24 West Coast Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportMen's basketball
Number of teams9
Regular season
Season championsSaint Mary’s
Season MVPAugustas Marčiulionis, Saint Mary's
Tournament
Basketball seasons
2024–25 →
2023–24 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 21 Saint Mary's 15 1   .938 26 8   .765
No. 15 Gonzaga 14 2   .875 27 8   .771
San Francisco 11 5   .688 23 11   .676
Santa Clara 10 6   .625 20 13   .606
San Diego 7 9   .438 18 15   .545
Portland 5 11   .313 12 21   .364
Loyola Marymount 5 11   .313 12 19   .387
Pepperdine 5 11   .313 13 20   .394
Pacific 0 16   .000 6 26   .188
2024 WCC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Head coaches

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Coaches

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Team Head coach Previous job Years

at school

Overall

record

WCC

record

WCC

Tournament record

NCAA

Tournaments

Sweet

Sixteens

Gonzaga Mark Few Gonzaga (asst.) 25 689–135 (.836) 332–34 (.907) 49–5 (.907) 23 12
Loyola Marymount Stan Johnson Marquette (asst.) 4 43–39 (.524) 19–24 (.442) 2–3 (.400) 0 0
Pacific Leonard Perry Pacific (asst.) 3 22–39 (.361) 10–20 (.333) 1–2 (.333) 0 0
Pepperdine Lorenzo Romar Arizona (asst.) 6 105–136 (.436) 24-53 (.312) 5–5 (.500) 7 3
Portland Shantay Legans Eastern Washington 3 32–33 (.492) 12–18 (.400) 2–2 (.500) 1 0
Saint Mary's Randy Bennett Saint Louis (asst.) 23 507–208 (.709) 256–95 (.729) 27–19 (.587) 9 1
San Diego Steve Lavin St. John's 2 11–20 (.355) 4–12 (.250) 0–1 (.000) 8 4
San Francisco Chris Gerlufsen San Francisco (asst.) 2 20–14 (.588) 7–9 (.438) 2–1 (.667) 0 0
Santa Clara Herb Sendek Arizona State 7 120–94 (.561) 57–50 (.533) 5–7 (.417) 8 1

Notes:

  • Year at school includes 2023–24 season.
  • Overall and WCC records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the 2023–24 season.

Preseason

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Conference realignment

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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.[1] Therefore, the WCC dropped to 9 teams for the current season.[2]

Preseason poll

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2023-24 WCC Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll[3]
Rank Team (First Place Votes) Points
1. Saint Mary's (5) 61
2. Gonzaga (4) 60
3. San Francisco 45
4. Loyola Marymount 42
5. Santa Clara 41
6. Portland 27
7. Pepperdine 22
8. Pacific 16
9. San Diego 10

All-WCC Preseason Men's Basketball team

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Honor Recipient
Preseason All-WCC Team Alex Ducas, Saint Mary's
Graham Ike, Gonzaga
Keli Leaupepe, LMU
Aidan Mahaney, Saint Mary's
Houston Mallette, Pepperdine
Ryan Nembhard, Gonzaga
Jevon Porter, Pepperdine
Tyler Robertson, Portland
Mitchell Saxen, Saint Mary's
Anton Watson, Gonzaga

Rankings

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*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25
NV No votes received
Pre/

Wk 1

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2

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3

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4

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5

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6

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7

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8

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9

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17

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Final
Gonzaga AP 11 11 11 11 7 10 15 13 24 23 RV RV RV RV RV RV 23 19
C 12 12 10 10 8 13 16 16 25 21 RV RV RV RV RV RV 22 18
Loyola

Marymount

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

Mary's

AP 23 RV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV RV RV RV 18 18 17 23
C 23 24 NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV RV RV 19 18 17 21
San

Diego

AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
San

Francisco

AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV RV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Santa

Clara

AP NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
C NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV

Regular season

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Conference matrix

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Gonzaga Loyola Marymount Pacific Pepperdine Portland Saint Mary's San Diego San Francisco Santa Clara
vs. Gonzaga 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1
vs. Loyola Marymount 2–0 0-2 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0
vs. Pacific 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Pepperdine 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0
vs. Portland 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2-0 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs. Saint Mary's 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0-2 0–2 0–2
vs. San Diego 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs. San Francisco 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–2 1-1
vs. Santa Clara 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1
Total 14–2 5–11 0–16 5–11 5–11 15–1 7–9 11–5 10–6


Early season tournaments

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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 Result
Gonzaga Maui Invitational November 20-22 5th
Loyola Marymount Cayman Islands Classic November 19-21 7th
Pacific Pacific MTE[4] November 24–29
Pepperdine Ball Dawgs Classic November 21–24
Portland Diamond Head Classic December 21-24 8th
Saint Mary's Continental Tire Main Event November 17-19 4th
San Diego Acrisure Invitational November 24-25 2nd
San Francisco Arizona Tip-Off[5] November 17-19 3rd
Santa Clara Emerald Coast Classic November 18-25 2nd

WCC Player/Freshman of the Week

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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 13, 2023 Carlos Marshall Jr., Santa Clara Tyler Harris, Portland
2 November 20, 2023 Justice Hill, LMU Tyler Harris (2), Portland
3 November 27, 2023 Anton Watson, Gonzaga Ryan Beasley, San Francisco
4 December 4, 2023 Ryan Nembhard, Gonzaga Braden Huff, Gonzaga
5 December 11, 2023 Dominick Harris, LMU Nils Cooper, Pepperdine
6 December 18, 2023 Mitchell Saxen, Saint Mary's Kevin Patton Jr., San Diego
7 December 26, 2023 Malik Thomas, San Francisco Braden Huff (2), Gonzaga
8 January 2, 2024 Luke Barrett, Saint Mary's Dragos Lungu, San Diego
9 January 8, 2024 Jonathan Mogbo, San Francisco Tyler Harris (3), Portland
10 January 15, 2024 Jonathan Mogbo (2), San Francisco Kevin Patton Jr. (2), San Diego
11 January 24, 2024 Joshua Jefferson, Saint Mary's Braden Huff (3), Gonzaga
12 January 29, 2024 Graham Ike, Gonzaga Kevin Patton Jr. (3), San Diego
13 February 5, 2024 Jonathan Mogbo (3), San Francisco Bol Dengdit, Portland
14 February 12, 2024 Wayne McKinney III, San Diego Braden Huff (4), Gonzaga
15 February 19, 2024 Ryan Nembhard (2), Gonzaga Kevin Patton Jr. (4), San Diego
16 February 26, 2024 Michael Ajayi, Pepperdine Ryan Beasley (2), San Francisco
17 March 4, 2024 Graham Ike (2), Gonzaga Ryan Beasley (3), San Francisco

Postseason

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WCC Tournament

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First round
Thursday, March 7
Second round
Friday, March 8
Third round
Saturday, March 9
Semifinals
Monday, March 11
Championship
Tuesday, March 12
2Gonzaga89
3San Francisco723San Francisco77
6Portland786Portland512Gonzaga60
7Loyola Marymount701Saint Mary’s69
1Saint Mary’s79
4Santa Clara1044Santa Clara65
5San Diego575San Diego79
8Pepperdine1028Pepperdine52
9Pacific43

NCAA Tournament

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Seed Region School First round Second round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship
5 Midwest Gonzaga Defeated (12) McNeese, 86–65 Defeated (4) Kansas, 89–68 Lost to (1) Purdue, 68–80
DNP
5 West Saint Mary's Lost to (12) Grand Canyon, 66–75
DNP
Bids W-L (%): 1–1 (.500) 1–0 (1.000) 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 2–2 (.500)
Seed School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
San Francisco Lost to (2) Cincinnati, 72–73 (OT)
DNP
W-L (%): 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–1 (.000)

All-WCC Awards and Teams

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On March 5, 2024, the West Coast Conference announced the following awards:[6]

Honor Recipient School
Player of the Year Augustas Marčiulionis Saint Mary’s
Coach of the Year Randy Bennett Saint Mary’s
Defensive Player of the Year Mitchell Saxen Saint Mary’s
Newcomer of the Year Jonathan Mogbo San Francisco
Sixth Player of the Year Deuce Turner San Diego
All-WCC First Team Michael Ajayi Pepperdine
Adama-Alpha Bal Santa Clara
Graham Ike Gonzaga
Aidan Mahaney Saint Mary’s
Augustas Marčiulionis Saint Mary’s
Jonathan Mogbo San Francisco
Ryan Nembhard Gonzaga
Mitchell Saxen Saint Mary’s
Anton Watson Gonzaga
Marcus Williams San Francisco
All-WCC Second Team Alex Ducas Saint Mary’s
Nolan Hickman Gonzaga
Wayne McKinney III San Diego
Tyler Robertson Portland
Deuce Turner San Diego
All-WCC Freshman Team Ryan Beasley San Francisco
Jake Ensminger Santa Clara
Tyler Harris Portland
Braden Huff Gonzaga
Kevin Patton Jr. San Diego
WCC Honorable Mention Joshua Jefferson Saint Mary’s
Houston Mallette Pepperdine
Carlos Marshall Jr. Santa Clara
Alex Merkviladze LMU
Jevon Porter Pepperdine
Ndewedo Newbury San Francisco
Malik Thomas San Francisco
Christoph Tilly Santa Clara

References

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  1. ^ Lundquist, Casey (September 10, 2021). "BYU Athletics to Join the Big 12 in 2023". BYU Cougars on Sports Illustrated: News, Analysis, and More. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  2. ^ Greene, Brenna (September 10, 2021). "What BYU leaving the WCC means for both the conference and Gonzaga". krem.com. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  3. ^ "Saint Mary's Picked to Win 2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Championship". wccsports.com. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  4. ^ CDobbertean (2023-04-04). "2023-24 Men's College Basketball Early Season Tournaments and Exempt Multi-Team Events (MTEs)". Blogging the Bracket. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  5. ^ RMiller (2023-06-06). "The Inaugural Arizona Tip-Off". The Bracketeer. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  6. ^ "WCC Announces 2023-24 Men's Basketball All-Conference Awards".