West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

American collegiate basketball award From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the most outstanding men's basketball player in the West Coast Conference (WCC). The award was first given following the conference's inaugural 1952–53 season, when it was known as the California Basketball Association. The only season in which the award was not presented was the conference's second season of 1953–54. There have been six ties in the award's history, most recently in 2022–23 between Brandin Podziemski of Santa Clara and Drew Timme of Gonzaga. There have also been 13 repeat winners, but only one, Bill Cartwright of San Francisco, has been player of the year three times.

Awarded forthe most outstanding basketball player in the West Coast Conference
CountryUnited States
First award1953
Most recentGraham Ike, Gonzaga
Quick facts Awarded for, Country ...
WCC Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Awarded forthe most outstanding basketball player in the West Coast Conference
CountryUnited States
History
First award1953
Most recentGraham Ike, Gonzaga
Close

Four schools in the WCC have dominated the total awards distribution. Before 2000, Pepperdine, San Francisco and Santa Clara had earned the bulk of the awards. Since then, Gonzaga has had the overwhelming majority of selections. In the 26 seasons from 2000–01 to the Bulldogs' final WCC season in 2025–26, coinciding with the program's rise to national prominence, Gonzaga players have won or shared the award 18 times. Gonzaga now claims the most awards with 21 and most individual winners with 19. Santa Clara is second in awards with 12, and its nine individual winners give it a share of second place in that category with Pepperdine. The next closest school, Saint Mary's, has 10 awards. Of schools that will be WCC members in 2026–27, Portland is the only established member without a winner. Denver will play its first WCC season in 2026–27. In that same season, Gonzaga will join the reconfigured Pac-12 Conference alongside Oregon State and Washington State, which became multi-sport WCC associates, including basketball, after the 2024 collapse of the Pac-12. Neither Oregon State nor Washington State had a recipient during their two WCC seasons.

Key

† Co-Players of the Year
* Awarded a national player of the year award:
Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79)
UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96)
Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present)
John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the WCC Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Ken Sears, Santa Clara, 1953 and 1955
Bill Russell, San Francisco, 1956
Jerry Grote, Loyola Marymount, 1960
Tom Meschery, Saint Mary's, 1961
Harry Dinnel, Pepperdine, 1962
Steve Gray, Saint Mary's, 1962 and 1963
Ollie Johnson, San Francisco, 1964 and 1965
Keith Swagerty, Pacific, 1966 and 1967
Marcos Leite, Pepperdine, 1976
Bill Cartwright, San Francisco, 1977 through 1979
John Stockton, Gonzaga, 1984
Hank Gathers, Loyola Marymount, 1989
Doug Christie, Pepperdine, 1991 and 1992
Steve Nash, Santa Clara, 1995 and 1996
Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga, 2005
Adam Morrison, Gonzaga, 2006
Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga, 2008
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's, 2012
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga, 2013
Tyler Haws, BYU, 2014
Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga, 2019
Drew Timme, Gonzaga, 2022 and 2023
More information Season, Player ...
Season Player School Position Class Reference
1952–53 Ken Sears Santa Clara PF Sophomore [1]
1953–54 None selected[1]
1954–55 Ken Sears (2) Santa Clara PF Senior [2]
1955–56 Bill Russell * San Francisco C Senior [3]
1956–57 Mike Farmer San Francisco PF Junior [4]
1957–58† Mike Farmer (2) San Francisco PF Senior [4]
Leroy Wright Pacific PF Junior [1]
1958–59† LaRoy Doss Saint Mary's PF Senior [5]
Leroy Wright (2) Pacific PF Senior [5]
1959–60 Jerry Grote Loyola Marymount SG / PG Sophomore [6]
1960–61 Tom Meschery Saint Mary's PF Senior [7]
1961–62† Harry Dinnel Pepperdine SF / SG Junior [8]
Steve Gray Saint Mary's G Junior [8]
1962–63 Steve Gray (2) Saint Mary's G Senior [9]
1963–64 Ollie Johnson San Francisco C Junior [10]
1964–65 Ollie Johnson (2) San Francisco C Senior [10]
1965–66 Keith Swagerty Pacific F Junior [11]
1966–67 Keith Swagerty (2) Pacific F Senior [11]
1967–68 Rick Adelman Loyola Marymount SG Senior [12]
1968–69 Dennis Awtrey Santa Clara C Junior [13]
1969–70 Dennis Awtrey (2) Santa Clara C Senior [13]
1970–71 John Gianelli Pacific C / PF Junior [14]
1971–72 Mike Stewart Santa Clara C Junior [15]
1972–73 Bird Averitt Pepperdine PG Junior [16]
1973–74 Frank Oleynick Seattle SG Sophomore [17]
1974–75 Ricky Sobers UNLV G Senior [18]
1975–76 Marcos Leite Pepperdine PF Junior [19]
1976–77 Bill Cartwright San Francisco C Sophomore [20]
1977–78 Bill Cartwright (2) San Francisco C Junior [20]
1978–79 Bill Cartwright (3) San Francisco C Senior [20]
1979–80 Kurt Rambis Santa Clara SF Senior [21]
1980–81 Quintin Dailey San Francisco SG Sophomore [22]
1981–82 Quintin Dailey (2) San Francisco SG Junior [22]
1982–83† Orlando Phillips Pepperdine C Senior [23]
Dane Suttle Pepperdine G Senior [23]
1983–84 John Stockton Gonzaga PG Senior [24]
1984–85 Dwayne Polee Pepperdine SF / SG Junior [25]
1985–86 Dwayne Polee (2) Pepperdine SF / SG Senior [25]
1986–87 Scott Thompson San Diego C Senior [26]
1987–88 Levy Middlebrooks Pepperdine PF Senior [27]
1988–89 Hank Gathers Loyola Marymount PF Junior [28]
1989–90 Bo Kimble Loyola Marymount SG Senior [1]
1990–91 Doug Christie Pepperdine SG Junior [29]
1991–92 Doug Christie (2) Pepperdine SG Senior [29]
1992–93 Dana Jones Pepperdine SF Junior [30]
1993–94 Jeff Brown Gonzaga PF Senior [31]
1994–95 Steve Nash Santa Clara PG Junior [32]
1995–96 Steve Nash (2) Santa Clara PG Senior [32]
1996–97 Marlon Garnett Santa Clara G Senior [33]
1997–98 Bakari Hendrix Gonzaga PF Senior [34]
1998–99 Eric Schraeder Saint Mary's PF Senior [35]
1999–00 Kenyon Jones San Francisco C Senior [36]
2000–01 Casey Calvary Gonzaga PF Senior [37]
2001–02 Dan Dickau Gonzaga PG Senior [38]
2002–03 Blake Stepp Gonzaga PG Junior [39]
2003–04 Blake Stepp (2) Gonzaga PG Senior [39]
2004–05 Ronny Turiaf Gonzaga C Senior [40]
2005–06 Adam Morrison Gonzaga SF Junior [41]
2006–07† Sean Denison Santa Clara F Senior [42]
Derek Raivio Gonzaga PG / SG Senior [42]
2007–08 Jeremy Pargo Gonzaga PG Junior [43]
2008–09 John Bryant Santa Clara C Senior [44]
2009–10 Matt Bouldin Gonzaga SG Senior [45]
2010–11 Mickey McConnell Saint Mary's PG Senior [46]
2011–12 Matthew Dellavedova Saint Mary's PG Junior [47]
2012–13 Kelly Olynyk Gonzaga C Junior [48]
2013–14 Tyler Haws BYU SG Junior [49]
2014–15 Kevin Pangos Gonzaga PG Senior [50]
2015–16 Kyle Collinsworth BYU PG Senior [51]
2016–17 Nigel Williams-Goss Gonzaga PG Junior [52]
2017–18 Jock Landale Saint Mary's C Senior [53]
2018–19 Rui Hachimura Gonzaga PF Junior [54]
2019–20 Filip Petrušev Gonzaga PF Sophomore [55]
2020–21 Corey Kispert Gonzaga SF Senior [56]
2021–22 Drew Timme Gonzaga PF Junior [39]
2022–23† Brandin Podziemski Santa Clara SG Sophomore [39]
Drew Timme (2) Gonzaga PF Senior [39]
2023–24 Augustas Marčiulionis Saint Mary's PG Junior [57]
2024–25 Augustas Marčiulionis (2) Saint Mary's PG Senior [58]
2025–26 Graham Ike Gonzaga PF Senior [59]
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Winners by school

More information School (year joined), Winners ...
School (year joined) Winners Years
Gonzaga (1979)[a] 21 1984, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007†, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023†, 2026
Santa Clara (1952) 12 1953, 1955, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1980, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2007†, 2009, 2023†
Pepperdine (1955) 11 1962†, 1973, 1976, 1983 (×2)†, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993
San Francisco (1952) 11 1956, 1957, 1958†, 1964, 1965, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 2000
Saint Mary's (1952) 10 1959†, 1961, 1962†, 1963, 1999, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2024, 2025
Pacific (1952/2013)[b] 5 1958†, 1959†, 1966, 1967, 1971
Loyola Marymount (1955) 4 1960, 1968, 1989, 1990
BYU (2011)[c] 2 2014, 2016
San Diego (1979) 1 1987
Seattle (1971/2025)[d] 1 1974
UNLV (1969)[e] 1 1975
Fresno State (1955)[f] 0 —
Nevada (1969)[g] 0 —
Oregon State (2024)[h] 0 —
Portland (1976) 0 —
San Jose State (1952)[i] 0 —
UC Santa Barbara (1964)[j] 0 —
Washington State (2024)[h] 0 —
Close
  1. [a]
    Gonzaga University will leave the WCC in 2026 to join the Pac-12 Conference.
  2. [b]
    The University of the Pacific left in 1971 to join its football team in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA), now known as the Big West Conference. Pacific had been a charter PCAA member for football only in 1969. The school, which dropped football in 1995, rejoined the WCC in 2013.
  3. [c]
    Brigham Young University left the WCC in 2023 to join the Big 12 Conference.
  4. [d]
    Seattle University left in 1980 to become an NAIA school. It has since rejoined the NCAA, first as a Division II school and now in Division I, and rejoined the WCC in July 2025.
  5. [e]
    The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) left in 1975 to become a Division I independent. UNLV is now a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW).
  6. [f]
    California State University, Fresno, more commonly known as Fresno State, spent two seasons as a dual member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and the then-WCAC. The Bulldogs returned to exclusive CCAA membership in 1957, are now in the MW, and will join the Pac-12 in 2026.
  7. [g]
    The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada) left in 1979 for the Big Sky Conference. The Wolf Pack are now in the MW.
  8. [h]
    Oregon State University and Washington State University, the only schools that did not leave the Pac-12 in 2024, will leave the WCC upon the expiration of their affiliation contract in 2026, coinciding with the addition of seven schools, including Fresno State and Gonzaga, to the Pac-12.
  9. [i]
    San Jose State University left in 1969 to become a founding member of the PCAA. The Spartans are now in the MW.
  10. [j]
    The University of California, Santa Barbara left in 1969 to become a founding member of the PCAA. Apart from a two-year stint in the mid-1970s in which they were independent, the Gauchos have remained in the PCAA/Big West to this day.

References

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