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SAN MATEO, Calif. – With the much-anticipated 2021-22 men’s basketball campaign a month away, Gonzaga University is once again the preseason favorite to win its 10th straight West Coast Conference regular season title in the annual poll of the WCC’s 10 head coaches. The Bulldogs received the maximum nine first place votes and 81 points.
 
Gonzaga, the 2021 NCAA National Runner-Up, is once again generating elite national buzz and will likely emerge as the preseason No. 1 team for the second time in program history and for the second straight season despite losing three All-Americans. Last season the Zags went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the nation and took an unbeaten record into the Final Four. Gonzaga has posted 14 straight seasons of 25 wins or more and seven 30-win campaigns in the last nine years.
 
Although the Zags (31-1, 15-0 WCC) lost two NBA First Round Draft picks – All-Americans Jalen Suggs & Corey Kispert – the Bulldogs reloaded with the best recruiting class in program history centered around the nation’s top recruit in Chet Holmgren. Gonzaga will rely heavily on preseason All-WCC picks All-American Drew Timme and Andrew Nembhard.
 
A consensus All-American as a sophomore, Timme is the presumptive preseason National Player of the Year and won the 2021 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award last season. Timme would be the first WCC student-athlete to be named preseason player of the year in men’s basketball. In a preseason poll of more than 100 college coaches conducted by CBSsports.com to prognosticate the 2022 National Player of the Year, Timme received 45 percent of the vote, while Holmgren was third with 12 percent.
 
Preseason All-WCC voting is restricted to returning student-athletes. Incoming freshmen and transfers are not eligible for consideration.
 
BYU (20-7, 10-3) was picked second in the preseason survey with 72 points and collected the remaining first-place vote. The Cougars marched to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, making their first March Madness appearance since 2015 in the process. Senior All-American Alex Barcello headlines the Cougars after averaging 16.1 points per game for one of the nation’s most efficient offenses. Barcello is one of four members of the preseason All-WCC squad utilizing the NCAA’s additional season of competition offered to winter sports student-athletes. Sophomore Caleb Lohner will also figure prominently after earning a spot on the 2020-21 WCC All-Freshman squad and joined Barcello on the preseason All-WCC list.
 
Saint Mary’s (14-10, 4-6 WCC) was third in the preseason poll with 63 points. The Gaels advanced to the program’s 14th consecutive postseason with an NIT berth. Senior guard Logan Johnson earned All-WCC Second Team honors in his first full season as a starter for the Gaels and collected preseason All-WCC selection.
 
In the current edition (Sept. 15) of Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology, Gonzaga is a No. 1 seed in the West, Saint Mary’s is a No. 10 seed in the Midwest, while BYU is a No. 12 seed in the West.
 
LMU (13-9, 7-5 WCC) was tabbed fourth with 56 points. The Lions welcome back one of the top returners in the conference in Eli Scott, who will use the NCAA bonus year. Scott enters his fifth year with 1,498 career points as a Lion.
 
San Francisco (11-14, 4-9 WCC) rounds out the top-five with 49 points and will rely heavily on preseason All-WCC picks Jamaree Bouyea and Khalil Shabazz. Both seniors earned All-WCC honors last season and Bouyea will use the NCAA bonus year.
 
Santa Clara (12-8, 4-5 WCC) was picked sixth with 45 points and features a pair of preseason All-WCC selections. Josip Vrankic, a 2020-21 All-WCC First Team selection, makes his second straight preseason squad and will use the NCAA bonus year. Junior guard Jalen Williams also earned a preseason All-WCC nod.
 
ALL-WCC PRESEASON NOTES

• Five of the 10 members earned All-WCC First Team honors in 2020-21 and three were named to the All-WCC Second Team
• Two members of the preseason team are returning AP All-Americans
  • Drew Timme, Gonzaga (2nd)
    • One of just three members of the 2020-21 AP first, second or third teams returning to college this season
    • 2021 NCAA All-Tournament Team
  • Alex Barcello, BYU (HM)
• Andrew Nembhard of Gonzaga was named the inaugural WCC Sixth Man of the Year in 2020-21
• Five student-athletes are appearing on the preseason team for the second straight season
  • Barcello, BYU
  • Bouyea, San Francisco
  • Scott, LMU
  • Timme, Gonzaga
  • Vrankic, Santa Clara
• Six teams placed at least one student-athlete on the preseason list
  • Two selections: BYU, Gonzaga, San Francisco & Santa Clara
  • One selection: LMU & Saint Mary’s
• The squad is dominated by upperclassmen with seven seniors, two juniors and a sophomore

 
The complete preseason poll and all-conference team follows.
 
2021-22 WCC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

Place	Team	First Place	Points
1.	Gonzaga	9	81
2.	BYU	1	72
3.	Saint Mary’s		63
4.	LMU		56
5.	San Francisco		49
6.	Santa Clara		45
7.	Pepperdine		31
8.	Pacific		24
9.	San Diego		20
10.	Portland		9

 

2021-22 Men’s Basketball Preseason All-WCC Team
Name	Yr.	Pos.	School
Alex Barcello	Sr.*	G	BYU
Jamaree Bouyea	Sr.*	G	San Francisco
Logan Johnson	Sr.	G	Saint Mary's
Caleb Lohner	So.	F	BYU
Andrew Nembhard	Sr.	G	Gonzaga
Eli Scott	Sr.*	G/F	LMU
Khalil Shabazz	Sr.	G	San Francisco
Drew Timme	Jr.	F	Gonzaga
Josip Vrankic	Sr.*	F	Santa Clara
Jalen Williams	Jr.	G	Santa Clara