2023 -24 WCC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Place |
Team |
First Place |
Points |
| 1. |
Saint Mary’s |
5 |
61 |
| 2. |
Gonzaga |
4 |
60 |
| 3. |
San Francisco |
|
45 |
| 4. |
LMU |
|
42 |
| 5. |
Santa Clara |
|
41 |
| 6. |
Portland |
|
27 |
| 7. |
Pepperdine |
|
22 |
| 8. |
Pacific |
|
16 |
| 9. |
San Diego |
|
10 |
2023-24 Men’s Basketball Preseason All-WCC Team
Name Yr. Pos. School
Alex Ducas Sr. G/F Saint Mary’s
Graham Ike Jr. F Gonzaga
Keli Leaupepe Sr. F LMU
Aidan Mahaney So. G Saint Mary’s
Houston Mallette Jr. G Pepperdine
Ryan Nembhard Jr. G Gonzaga
Jevon Porter So. F Pepperdine
Tyler Robertson Sr. G/F Portland
Mitchell Saxen Sr. C Saint Mary’s
Anton Watson Sr. F Gonzaga
1 Like
I think these pollsters are in a for a big surprise; actually, quite a few.
4 Likes
Re: the team rankings, I have no qualms. If you examine the points there are some clear tiers: 1) GU and SMC up top; 2) SCU, USF and LMU in a 2nd tier; 3) Portland and Pepp (maybe Pacific) and 4) USD at the bottom.
Not much difference between us and USF so I’m sure there were at least a few who ranked us 3rd or 4th.
It is possible that the Broncos surprise some and end up 3rd or maybe even an outside chance we overtake either SMC or GU for 2nd. But objectively, it’s hard to argue that given we have zero returning starters. And while the top docs lost some key guys they also have multiple starters returning (GU- Watson and Hickman), SCM (Mahaney, Ducas, Saxen). And GU landed two, high profile, Top20 transfers in Nembhard and Ike.
3 Likes
Agree 100%. There will be a couple Santa Clara players on the all WCC team too.
2 Likes
I forgot to share the interview compilation from Media Day.
Stu Jackson and Herb are both worth listening to. Jackson gives some frank insight into what he sees as the WCC’s imperative to expand and some of the challenges of being an upper-end mid-major conference for scheduling etc.
Herb’s part starts at roughly 53 minutes. Much of it is typical Sendek platitudes, but he says a couple things of note. First, he acknowledges that SCU’s support of the team has grown immensely in recent years, far surpassing what it had been. And second, he suggests that a couple members of the team may have NBA potential without naming any players in particular. He does get a specific question about Tilly and is quite glowing in his assessment of where Christoph is at.
4 Likes