2024 WCC Tournament Preview & Conference Awards

CBB Review prepares you for every conference tournament leading up to Selection Sunday. Up next: The WCC Tournament.

It’s the first week of March, and let the chaos of college basketball begin! The West Coast Conference Tournament kicks off Thursday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga are the favorites to cut down the nets on Tuesday, Mar. 12, but there is a chance that San Francisco could be a dark horse to get to the WCC Championship and pull off the upset. The Gaels will have a point prove after the Bulldogs ended their chance at a perfect conference record Saturday night.

2024 West Coast Conference Awards

Player of the Year: Augustas Marciulionius, Saint Mary’s

Freshman of the Year: Kevin Patton Jr., San Diego

Transfer of the Year: Graham Ike, Gonzaga

Coach of the Year: Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s

First Team:

• G: Aidan Mahaney, Saint Mary’s (13.7 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 2.5 APG, 34.9 3P%)
• G: Augustas Marciulionius, Saint Mary’s (12.4 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.2 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 34.7 3P%)
• G/F: Michael Ajayi, Pepperdine (17.2 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 1.9 APG, 48.1 3P%)
• F: Jonathan Mogbo, San Francisco (14.7 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.7 SPG, 64.3% FG%)
• F: Graham Ike, Gonzaga (16.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.0 APG, 62.0 FG%)

Second Team:

• G: Deuce Turner, San Diego (15.8 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.9 APG, 37.9 3P%)
• G: Adama Bal, Santa Clara (14.5 PPG, 3.1 APG, 3.1 RPG)
• G/F: Tyler Robertson, Portland (16.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.7 APG, 35.6 3P%)
• F: Anton Watson, Gonzaga (14.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.6 SPG, 59.0% FG%)
• C: Mitchell Saxen, Saint Mary’s (11.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.4 BPG, 56% FG%)

WCC Tournament Simulation

First Round – Thur., Mar. 7

8. Pepperdine (12-19, 5-11) vs. 9. Pacific (6-25, 0-16) – 5:30 p.m. on ESPN+

Pepperdine has, in my opinion, the best player in the conference with Michael Ajayi and Houston Mallette right behind him. Pacific won just six games all season, and none of them were in conference play. Pepperdine should have no problems with this matchup.

Drew’s Pick: Pepperdine

Second Round – Fri., Mar. 8

5. San Diego (17-14, 7-9) vs 8. Pepperdine – 9 p.m. on ESPN+

It wouldn’t be March without some madness right? Pepperdine will have the momentum after beating Pacific with the two-headed monster in Ajayi and Mallette. While these teams split the regular season contest and both wins came on the road, Pepperdine only lost by two points compared to San Diego losing by six. Expect another nail-biter with the Waves getting the last laugh.

Drew’s Pick: Pepperdine

6. Portland (11-20, 5-11) vs 7. Loyola Marymount (12-18, 5-11) – 11:30 p.m. on ESPN+

Another battle between teams that split the regular-season series, except the home team won on both occasions in this matchup. This will be a showdown between Tyler Robertson and Dominick Harris and be decided by which player can carry their team to victory. Advantage Robertson.

Drew’s Pick: Portland

Quarterfinals – Sat., Mar. 9

4. Santa Clara (19-12, 10-6) vs 8. Pepperdine (17-14, 7-9) – 10 p.m. on ESPN

Santa Clara will come into this matchup well-rested after the double-bye against a Pepperdine team that has played on back-to-back nights. The Waves might come out hot and scare the Broncos a bit, but Santa Clara should have no problems in the end with Adama Bal leading the way into the semifinals.

Drew’s pick: Santa Clara

3. San Francisco (22-9, 11-5) vs 6. Portland – 12:30 a.m. on ESPN

As a dark horse to win the tournament, San Francisco will have all of the momentum in this matchup. Portland will do everything it can to compete, but the Dons will easily take care of business and have the semifinals be a battle of the best four teams in the conference.

Drew’s pick: San Francisco

Semifinals – Sun., Mar. 10

1. Saint Mary’s (24-7, 15-1) vs. 4. Santa Clara – 9 p.m. on ESPN

Santa Clara is going to fall victim to being the team that has to play Saint Mary’s after losing to Gonzaga. I know over a week will have passed since that game, but it will be the first matchup for the Gaels who have a sour taste in their mouths. Randy Bennett will do everything in his power to try and force a rematch with Gonzaga in the WCC Championship.

Drew’s Pick: Saint Mary’s

2. Gonzaga (24-6, 14-2) vs. 3. San Francisco – 11:30 p.m. on ESPN

Gonzaga will come into this matchup winning its last eight games with a win streak that goes back to the beginning of February. The trio of Graham Ike, Nolan Hickman and Anton Watson will lead the Bulldogs and set up another date with their biggest rival: Saint Mary’s.

Drew’s pick: Gonzaga

Championship – Tues., Mar. 12

1. Saint Mary’s vs 2. Gonzaga – 9 p.m. on ESPN

You would have to go back to 1994 to find the last WCC Tournament Championship that didn’t feature either of these teams and with BYU now in the Big 12, they will meet in the title game for the third consecutive year. Saint Mary’s had the upper hand in the first meeting while Gonzaga got the better of the Gaels on Feb. 3.

Mark Few and Randy Bennett know each other all too well. These two are going to try and predict what the other is doing before it even happens. The Bulldogs have too much momentum right now to pick against them, and there’s a reason why Mark Few has the best win percentage all-time among Division I basketball (Min. 10 seasons).

Drew’s pick: Gonzaga