SAN MATEO, Calif. – Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s brought home all the major awards for the West Coast Conference 2021-22 men's basketball all-conference end of the year honors. All-American forward Drew Timme was named Player of the Year while freshman standout Chet Holmgren was named Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year for the top-ranked Zags. For No. 19 Saint Mary's, Randy Bennett earned Coach of the Year honors, and Tommy Kuhse was tabbed Sixth Man of the Year.
All five major individual awards – along with the All-West Coast Conference Teams and the All-Freshman Team – were voted on solely by the league’s 10 head coaches.
GU's junior leader, Timme has been a part of a Gonzaga program that is 55-4 since the start of last season, and his been ranked in the Associated Press poll for 111 consecutive weeks. The native of Richardson, Texas, helped the Bulldogs clinch their 10th consecutive WCC regular season title this season. He ranks second in the WCC and paces his squad with a scoring average of 17.6 ppg. He ranks 16th in nation in field goal percentage (58.3). Timme was named one of the 10 candidates for the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, and also the 2022 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Midseason Watch List. Timme is the 19th Bulldog to capture Player of the Year honors overall – all coming since 1984 – and is the 16th since the 2001 campaign.
Holmgren tied the WCC record averaging 3.7 blocks per conference game. He ranks fourth in the nation averaging 3.59 blocks per game and his 97 blocked shots are the fourth most in a single season in conference history. A standout on the boards, as well, Holmgren leads the WCC with 9.7 rebounds per game, which also ranks 21st in the nation. Holmgren is eighth in the WCC in scoring (14.4 ppg). In addition, his 61.6 field goal percentage leads the league and ranks seventh nationally. Also efficient from behind the arc, the freshman is fifth in the nation from three-point distance (72.7). He was recently named a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award.
In his 21st season guiding the 19th-ranked Gaels, Bennett earned his fourth WCC Coach of the Year accolade. Bennett most recently gave his fans reason to celebrate when he guided Saint Mary’s to a 10-point upset victory over No. 1 Gonzaga in Moraga last Saturday to complete an undefeated home schedule this season. The Gaels earned the No. 2 seed in this year’s UCU WCC Basketball Tournament in the process. SMC ranks ninth nationally in scoring defense (59.4 ppg). The Gaels ended the regular season winning five of their last six games, and SMC has only allowed three teams to score more than 70 points against them this season.
Kuhse has played a huge role in Saint Mary's successful season, earning WCC Player of the Week honors on Feb. 21. The fifth-year senior is second on the team in scoring with an average of 11.4 ppg. He collected 25 points during SMC’s victory over BYU, helping him garner the conference weekly honor. Kuhse also paces the Gaels in assists with 108. He ranks fourth in the WCC in three-point field goal percentage at 44.9 percent.
Gonzaga led the way with three first-team selections (Timme, Holmgren, Andrew Nembhard), while the Gaels, San Francisco and Santa Clara notched two each. Six of the first-team honorees were selected to the Preseason All-WCC Team, as well.
2021-22 All-WCC Men’s Basketball Major Individual Honors
Player of the Year: Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Coach of the Year: Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s
Newcomer of the Year: Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
Sixth Man of the Year: Tommy Kuhse, Saint Mary’s
Defensive Player of the Year: Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
2021-22 All-WCC Men’s Basketball First Team
Name Yr. Pos. School
Alex Barcello Sr. G BYU
Jamaree Bouyea Gr. G San Francisco
Chet Holmgren Fr. F Gonzaga
Tommy Kuhse Gr. G Saint Mary’s
Yauhen Massalski Gr. F San Francisco
Andrew Nembhard Sr. G Gonzaga
Matthias Tass Sr. F/C Saint Mary’s
Drew Timme Jr. F Gonzaga
Josip Vrankic Sr. F Santa Clara
Jalen Williams Jr. G Santa Clara
2021-22 All-WCC Men’s Basketball Second Team
Name Yr. Pos. School
Alex Ducas Jr. G/F Saint Mary’s
Logan Johnson Sr. G Saint Mary’s
Keshawn Justice Sr. F Santa Clara
Tyler Robertson So. G/F Portland
Eli Scott Gr. G/F LMU
Khalil Shabazz Sr. G San Francisco
2021-22 All-WCC Men’s Basketball Freshman Team
Name Pos. School
Nolan Hickman G Gonzaga
Chet Holmgren F Gonzaga
Maxwell Lewis F Pepperdine
Houston Mallette G Pepperdine
Wayne McKinney III G San Diego
Mike Mitchell Jr. G Pepperdine
Fousseyni Traore F BYU
2021-22 WCC Men’s Basketball Honorable Mention Selections
Jeremiah Bailey, Pacific; Rasir Bolton, Gonzaga; Marcellus Earlington, San Diego; Julian Strawther, Gonzaga; Moses Wood, Portland