2023 WAC Tournament Awards & Lookahead

CBB Review hands out awards for each conference tournament in 2023. Up next: The WAC Tournament.

Two teams played well enough to knock out WAC Tournament leaders to make the championship game. Grand Canyon beat Southern Utah 84-66 to get a bid to March Madness. Grand Canyon is making its second appearance in three years.

CBB Review WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player

Gabe McGlothan, Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon’s second-leading scorer on the year, Gabe McGlothan, stepped up massively in the WAC Tournament. He averaged 21 points and was the most consistent offensive presence in these games. While he wasn’t the shining star that Rayshon Harrison was, scoring 31 points, he quietly put up 21 points. His best game was against Seattle. He scored 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

CBB Review All-WAC Tournament First Team

• G: Cameron Gooden, Utah Tech – 2 games played (28.5 PPG, 4.5 APG, 3.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG)
• G: Rayshon Harrison, Grand Canyon – 4 games played (20.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.0 SPG)
• G: Tevian Jones, Southern Utah – 3 games played (15.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.0 APG)
• F: Jakorie Smith, Tarleton – 2 games played (19.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 0.5 APG)
• F: Gabe McGlothan, Grand Canyon – 4 games played (21.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.3 APG)

Grand Canyon’s NCAA Tournament Prediction

Round of 64

Grand Canyon has played against, potentially, one tournament team in North Texas, which was a nail-biter. The issue with this team is just its overall size. The star guard Rayshon Harrison is impressive because he is a good-sized guard at 6-4. However, facing a lot of teams that can eliminate players and having averaged-sized forwards at 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-6, will need an excellent matchup to make this dance last. Without the length and talent of many other teams going into the NCAA Tournament, the short run for Grand Canyon will be interesting.

Of course, Gonzaga has Drew Timme, which means right away GCU will be up against a (no pun intended) tall task. The Zags are also playing some of their best basketball all season long. A Grand Canyon upset would be remarkable.