2020–21 West Coast Conference men's basketball season
Sports season
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The 2020–21 West Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in September 2020 and ended with the 2021 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament in March 2021. This was the 70th season for WCC men's basketball, and the 32nd 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.
| 2020–21 West Coast Conference men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | NCAA Division I |
| Sport | Men's basketball |
| Teams | 10 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Gonzaga |
| Runners-up | BYU |
| Season MVP | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga |
| Tournament | |
| Champions | Gonzaga |
| Runners-up | BYU |
| Finals MVP | Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 Gonzaga † | 15 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 31 | – | 1 | .969 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 23 BYU | 10 | – | 3 | .769 | 20 | – | 7 | .741 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loyola Marymount | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 13 | – | 9 | .591 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pepperdine | 7 | – | 6 | .538 | 15 | – | 12 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pacific | 6 | – | 7 | .462 | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 4 | – | 5 | .444 | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saint Mary's | 4 | – | 6 | .400 | 14 | – | 10 | .583 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Francisco | 4 | – | 9 | .308 | 11 | – | 14 | .440 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego | 2 | – | 7 | .222 | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portland | 0 | – | 11 | .000 | 6 | – | 15 | .286 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2021 WCC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coaches
Coaching changes
On March 8, 2020, it was announced that Mike Dunlap would end his tenure as head coach at Loyola Marymount. He spent six seasons as their head coach and posted a record of 81–108.[1] During the 2018–19 season, LMU began the season with eight straight wins and reached the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.[2] However, in the 2019–20 season their record was 11-21 and they only reached the second round of the WCC tournament.[3] Soon thereafter, on March 20, Loyola Marymount announced that Stan Johnson, the associate head coach at Marquette, would become their new head coach.[4] Johnson played college basketball at Southern Utah University and has coached at various universities in the West and Midwest.[5] On February 5, 2021, the University of Portland announced that Terry Porter had been released as head coach and Ben Johnson had been named as interim head coach until the end of the season.[6]
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 | 2 | 24–8 (.750) | 13–3 (.813) | 0–1 (.000) | 0 | 0 |
| Gonzaga | Mark Few | Gonzaga
(asst.) |
22 | 599–124 (.828) | 291–31 (.904) | 43–5 (.896) | 20 | 9 |
| Loyola Marymount | Stan Johnson | Marquette (asst.) | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 |
| Pacific | Damon Stoudamire | Memphis Grizzlies (asst.) | 5 | 62–68 (.477) | 28–40 (.412) | 1–4 (.200) | 0 | 0 |
| Pepperdine | Lorenzo Romar | Arizona (asst.) | 3 | 32–34 (.485) | 14–18 (.438) | 4–2 (.667) | 7 | 3 |
| Portland | Terry Porter | Minnesota Timberwolves (asst.) | 5 | 37–92 (.287) | 7–61 (.103) | 1–4 (.200) | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Johnson (interim) | Portland (asst.) | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | |
| Saint Mary's | Randy Bennett | Saint Louis(asst.) | 20 | 440–182 (.707) | 219–92 (.704) | 24–16 (.600) | 7 | 1 |
| San Diego | Sam Scholl | San Diego
(asst.) |
3 | 32–40 (.444) | 9–23 (0.281) | 3–2 (0.600) | 0 | 0 |
| San Francisco | Todd Golden | San Francisco (asst.) | 2 | 22–12 (.647) | 9–7 (.563) | 2–1 (.667) | 0 | 0 |
| Santa Clara | Herb Sendek | Arizona State | 5 | 64–64 (.500) | 32–35 (.478) | 2–4 (.333) | 8 | 1 |
Notes:
- Year at school includes 2020–21 season.
- Overall and WCC records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the 2020–21 season.
Preseason
Preseason poll
| 2020-21 WCC Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll[7] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Points |
| 1. | Gonzaga (9) | 81 |
| 2. | BYU (1) | 69 |
| 3. | Saint Mary's | 63 |
| 4. | Pepperdine | 57 |
| 5. | San Francisco | 52 |
| 6. | Santa Clara | 38 |
| 7. | Loyola Marymount | 33 |
| 8. | Pacific | 31 |
| 8. | San Diego | 16 |
| 10. | Portland | 10 |
All-WCC Preseason Men's Basketball team
| Honor | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Preseason All-WCC Team | Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga |
| Alex Barcello, BYU | |
| Jamaree Bouyea, San Francisco | |
| Kessler Edwards, Pepperdine | |
| Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | |
| Colbey Ross, Pepperdine | |
| Eli Scott, LMU | |
| Matthias Tass, Saint Mary's | |
| Drew Timme, Gonzaga | |
| Josip Vrankic, Santa Clara |
Rankings
| 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[8] |
Wk
2[9] |
Wk
3[10] |
Wk
4[11] |
Wk
5[12] |
Wk
6[13] |
Wk
7[14] |
Wk
8[15] |
Wk
9[16] |
Wk
10[17] |
Wk
11[18] |
Wk
12[19] |
Wk
13[20] |
Wk
14[21] |
Wk
15[22] |
Wk
16[23] |
Wk
17[24] |
Post[25] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BYU | AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23T | -- | |||||
| C | RV | -- | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||||
| Gonzaga | AP | 1 (28) | 1 (57) | 1 (54) | 1 (54) | 1 (61) | 1 (62) | 1 (63) | 1 (63) | 1 (62) | 1 (62) | 1 (61) | 1 (55) | 1 (59) | 1 (60) | 1 (59) | 1 (61) | 1 (60) | -- |
| C | 2 (10) | -- | 1 (23) | 1 (24) | 1 (25) | 1 (29) | 1 (29) | 1 (29) | 1 (28) | 1 (29) | 1 (28) | 1 (28) | 1 (28) | 1 (27) | 1 (31) | 1 (31) | 1 (32) | 2 | |
| Loyola
Marymount |
AP | ||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||
| Pacific | AP | ||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||
| Pepperdine | AP | ||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||
| Portland | AP | ||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||
| Saint
Mary's |
AP | ||||||||||||||||||
| C | RV | -- | RV | RV | |||||||||||||||
| 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 | – | 2−0 | 0−1 | 0−2 | 1−1 | 0−2 | 0−2 | 0−0 | 0−2 | 0–0 |
| vs. Gonzaga | 0−2 | – | 0−1 | 0−2 | 0−2 | 0−1 | 0−2 | 0−2 | 0−2 | 0–1 |
| vs. Loyola Marymount | 1−0 | 1−0 | – | 1−1 | 0−1 | 0−1 | 1−0 | 0−1 | 0−2 | 1−1 |
| vs. Pacific | 2–0 | 2−0 | 1−1 | – | 1−0 | 0−2 | 1−0 | 0−1 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| vs. Pepperdine | 1−1 | 2−0 | 1−0 | 0−1 | – | 0−2 | 1–1 | 0−1 | 0−1 | 1−0 |
| vs. Portland | 2−0 | 1−0 | 1−0 | 2−0 | 2−0 | – | 0−0 | 1−0 | 2−0 | 0−0 |
| vs. Saint Mary's | 2−0 | 2−0 | 0−1 | 0−1 | 1−1 | 0−0 | – | 0−0 | 0−1 | 1−0 |
| vs. San Diego | 0−0 | 2−0 | 1−0 | 1−0 | 1−0 | 0−1 | 0−0 | – | 1−0 | 1−1 |
| vs. San Francisco | 2−0 | 2−0 | 2−0 | 1−0 | 1−0 | 0−2 | 1−0 | 0−1 | – | 0–1 |
| vs. Santa Clara | 0−0 | 1−0 | 1−1 | 1−0 | 0−1 | 0−0 | 0−1 | 1−1 | 1−0 | – |
| Total | 10−3 | 15−0 | 7−5 | 6−7 | 7−6 | 0−11 | 4−6 | 2−7 | 4−9 | 4−5 |
Early season tournaments
The following table summarizes the multiple-team events (MTE) or early season tournaments in which teams from the West Coast Conference participated.
| Team | Tournament | Dates | Arena | Arena Location | Record | Bracketed | Finish | TV Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BYU | Roman Legends Classic[26] | December 1–3, 2020 | Mohegan Sun Arena | Uncasville, Connecticut | 1–1 | No | N/A | ESPN |
| Gonzaga | Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off[27] | November 26–27, 2020 | Suncoast Credit Union Arena | Fort Myers, Florida | 2–0 | Yes | 1st of 4 | FOX |
| Loyola Marymount | Minnesota MTE[28] | November 28–30, 2020 | Williams Arena | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 0–2 | No | 2nd of 2 | Big Ten Network |
| Pepperdine | San Diego State MTE[29] | November 25 & 27, 2020 | Viejas Arena | San Diego, California | 1–1 | No | 2nd of 4 | CBS & Pac-12 Network |
| Portland | U.S. Bank Portland Invitational[30] | November 25–29, 2020 | Chiles Center | Portland, Oregon | 2–1 | No | N/A | N/A |
| Saint Mary's | Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic[31] | November 25–27, 2020 | Sanford Pentagon | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | 2–1 | Yes | 5th of 8 | ESPN |
| San Francisco | Bubbleville | November 25–29, 2020 | Mohegan Sun Arena | Uncasville, Connecticut | 2–2 | No | N/A | ESPN |
| Santa Clara | Bronco Invitational[32] | November 25–28, 2020 | Leavey Center | Santa Clara, California | 3–0 | No | 1st of 4 | WCC Network |
WCC Player/Freshman of the Week
Throughout the year, the West Coast Conference named a player of the week and a freshman of the week as follows:
| Week | Date | Player of the Week | Freshman of the Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1[33] | November 30, 2020 | Drew Timme (Gonzaga) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
| 2[34] | December 7, 2020 | Andrew Nembhard (Gonzaga) | Leemet Bockler (St. Mary's) |
| 3[35] | December 14, 2020 | Ahmed Ali (Portland) | Caleb Lohner (BYU) |
| 4[36] | December 21, 2020 | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
| 5[37] | December 28, 2020 | Corey Kispert (Gonzaga) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
| 6[38] | January 4, 2021 | Joel Ayayi (Gonzaga) | Oumar Ballo (Gonzaga) |
| 7[39] | January 11, 2021 | Joel Ayayi (Gonzaga) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
| 8[40] | January 18, 2021 | Corey Kispert (Gonzaga) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
| 9[41] | January 25, 2021 | Kessler Edwards (Pepperdine) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
| 10[42] | February 1, 2021 | Drew Timme (Gonzaga) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
| 11[43] | February 8, 2021 | Colbey Ross (Pepperdine) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
| 12[44] | February 15, 2021 | Drew Timme (Gonzaga) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
| 13[45] | February 22, 2021 | Eli Scott (Loyola Marymount) | Caleb Lohner (BYU) |
| 14[46] | March 1, 2021 | Corey Kispert (Gonzaga) | Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Kispert | Gonzaga | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
| Jalen Suggs | Gonzaga | 2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
| Drew Timme | Gonzaga | 2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
AP Honorable Mention:
- Joël Ayayi, Gonzaga
- Alex Barcello, BYU
Other National Awards
The following WCC players were named to national award watch lists and received awards as follows:[47]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga |
| Colbey Ross, Pepperdine | Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga | Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga | Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga | Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga | |
| Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga |
Naismith Award - Player of the Year
| Preseason Top 50 | Midseason Top 30 | 10 Semifinalists | 4 Finalists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga |
| Colbey Ross, Pepperdine | Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | |
| Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | ||
| Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga | |||
| Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga |
Bob Cousy Award - Point Guard
| Preseason Top 20 | Midseason Top 10 | 5 Finalists |
|---|---|---|
| Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga | Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga | Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga |
| Colbey Ross, Pepperdine |
Jerry West Award - Shooting Guard
| Preseason Top 20 | Midseason Top 10 | 5 Finalists |
|---|---|---|
| Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga | Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga | Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga |
Julius Erving Award - Small Forward
| Preseason Top 20 | Midseason Top 10 | 5 Finalists | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga | Corey Kispert, Gonzaga |
Karl Malone Award - Power Forward
| Preseason Top 20 | Midseason Top 10 | 5 Finalists | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga | Drew Timme, Gonzaga |
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award - Center
| Preseason Top 20 |
|---|
| Matt Haarms, BYU |
All-WCC Awards and Teams
On March 2, 2021, the West Coast Conference announced the following awards:[48]
| Honor | Recipient | School |
|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Corey Kispert | Gonzaga |
| Coach of the Year | Mark Few | Gonzaga |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Matt Haarms | BYU |
| Newcomer of the Year | Jalen Suggs | Gonzaga |
| All-WCC First Team | Joël Ayayi | Gonzaga |
| Alex Barcello | BYU | |
| Jamaree Bouyea | San Francisco | |
| Kessler Edwards | Pepperdine | |
| Corey Kispert | Gonzaga | |
| Colbey Ross | Pepperdine | |
| Eli Scott | LMU | |
| Jalen Suggs | Gonzaga | |
| Drew Timme | Gonzaga | |
| Josip Vrankic | Santa Clara | |
| All-WCC Second Team | Brandon Averette | BYU |
| Matt Haarms | BYU | |
| Logan Johnson | Saint Mary's | |
| Andrew Nembhard | Gonzaga | |
| Khalil Shabazz | San Francisco | |
| All-WCC Freshman Team | Jalin Anderson | LMU |
| Oumar Ballo | Gonzaga | |
| Caleb Lohner | BYU | |
| Mitchell Saxen | Saint Mary's | |
| Jalen Suggs | Gonzaga | |
| WCC Honorable Mention | Ahmed Ali | Portland |
| Jeremiah Bailey | Pacific | |
| Joey Calcaterra | San Diego | |
| Dameane Douglas | LMU | |
| Daniss Jenkins | Pacific | |
| Keli Leaupepe | LMU | |
| Dzmitry Ryuny | San Francisco | |
| Jalen Williams | Santa Clara |
Postseason
West Coast Conference tournament
Gonzaga defeated BYU 88–78 in the Championship game to win the tournament on March 9. Mark Few was the winning coach and Jalen Suggs was named the MVP of the tournament.
NCAA tournament
BYU and Gonzaga participated in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the WCC tournament and was awarded the number one overall seed. BYU was awarded an at-large selection as the 23rd overall seed and the 6-seed in the East Regional. BYU was defeated in the first round by UCLA 72–63 while Gonzaga advanced to the National Championship game eventually losing to the overall champions Baylor 86–70.
National Invitation Tournament (NIT)
Saint Mary's was selected as a 2-seed in a field of 16 teams to participate in the NIT Tournament. Saint Mary's was eliminated in the first round by 3-seed Western Kentucky 69–67.
College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournament
Pepperdine was selected as part of the field of 8 teams to participate in the CBI Tournament. Pepperdine won the tournament by defeating Coastal Carolina 84–61 in the Championship game on March 24.