Timme Tops The WCC

Probably every West Coast Conference coach feels some version of the way BYU’s Mark Pope sees Gonzaga star Drew Timme.

“Freaking Drew Timme, I mean how many years does he have left? Just go be a pro already,” Pope said earlier this season before the Cougars and Zags played. “He’s been the face of that program for a decade it seems. … He does it his own way and he does it in a way that nobody has successfully figured out.”

Hard to blame Pope, who arrived at BYU before the 2019-20 season, the same time Timme got to Gonzaga. The Zags have won seven of eight matchups since then, and a year ago Timme shot 13-for-13 on 2-point attempts while scoring 30 points in a 110-84 victory.

In answer to Pope’s question: Technically, Timme has one year of eligibility remaining — the so-called COVID exemption year — although neither he nor anyone else has suggested he plans to use it.

Whenever Timme chooses to exit, he will do so having created a legacy unmatched among WCC men’s basketball players since . . . well, probably Bill Russell, nearly 70 years ago.

“I would put him right behind (Russell),” said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, who has been a part of the WCC since joining the program as an assistant in 1989. “Russell is 1-A, Drew is 1-B.”

Name any other former WCC player you can think of — Bill Cartwright, Hank Gathers, Steve Nash, Adam Morrison — no one else has a resume as impressive and complete as the 6-foot-10 senior forward from suburban Dallas. Not when you merge individual accomplishment with team performance.

Whether or not he becomes an accomplished NBA player is not the question. As a college player, he is dynamite. Coaches and commentators rave about his footwork around the basket, he has never missed a game, and he commands so much defensive attention that every other Zags player benefits.

Saint Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett — whose connection to the WCC dates back to 1985, when he was a volunteer assistant at San Diego and whose team has faced Timme 10 times — said Timme is at the top of all players he’s seen in the conference over nearly four decades.

“He’s been the best (big man) in college basketball for three years. The amount of winning he’s done is ridiculous,” Bennett said. “This is the only time they haven’t been No. 1 in the country. Guys can rack up those numbers — not many — but to do it on a team that’s winning at the highest level, he’s at the top. When I compare the Gonzaga greats, he’s top dog. He’s been the guy.”

Two things cement Timme’s elite status:

— He has scored 2,117 points — one more than Cartwright totaled at USF — to rank No. 8 in WCC history with likely at least a half-dozen games left to play.

— His four-year win-loss record is 113-12. Yes, he is 101 games above .500 for his career. Has anyone else done that? And in the WCC? Timme and the Zags are 55-4 the past four seasons.

Few points out that until this season, when Gonzaga has not been ranked higher than No. 2 and currently is No. 12, Timme spent more time at No. 1 than not. It’s true. Through his first three seasons, Timme and Zags were top-ranked for 30 weeks and below that 26 weeks.

“Winning has to count for something and he’s been a part of unbelievable winning and he’s been a big part,” LMU head coach Stan Johnson said. “They’ve had lottery picks and all that, but he’s kind of been the heart and soul of Gonzaga, even with all the great players that have come in and out recently. 

“And individually, what more can you ask of a guy? Every night he’s drawing double teams and he continues to put up numbers. He’s been the one constant. You can’t say enough about him.”

Bennett feels exactly the same way. He remembers beginning to realize how good Timme was going to be when he scored 20 points against the Gaels as a freshman coming off the bench on a team that went 31-2.

“They had (Filip) Petrusev — he was (WCC) Player of the Year,” Bennett said. “I said better watch out for Timme — he’s better. As a freshman, he killed us. I remember thinking, this guy is a beast.”

Curiously, Bennett not only feels no ill will toward Timme, he actually finds his personality and demeanor charming. “He makes Gonzaga pretty likable,” Bennett said.

Mostly, he makes them extraordinarily tough to beat. 

“Obviously, to have a caliber of player that you can march into any game and know he’s going to be if not the best player on the floor then one of the best,” Few said. “He gives our guys a lot of confidence — he’s always done that. He plays with a lot of swag and it’s contagious.”

Here’s our breakdown of four other players in the conversation of most impactful in WCC history: 

— BILL RUSSELL, USF (1954-56)

Numbers: Russell scored 1,636 points and grabbed 1,606 rebounds in his three-year varsity career, compiling averages of 20.7 points and 20.3 rebounds. Blocked shots would not become an official college statistics until decades later, but as one of the game’s greatest defensive players Russell is assumed to have recorded untold numbers of triple-doubles.

Honors: A two-time consensus All-American and a two-time Helms national Player of the Year, Russell was somehow named the WCC Player of the Year just once, following his senior season of 1955-56. He was chosen three times to the all-conference team and has had his jersey No. 6 retired by USF.

Record: The Dons were 71-8 in Russell’s three seasons, with three WCC titles. They won their final 55 consecutive games his junior and senior campaigns on the way to capturing back-to-back NCAA championships. Russell was sensational in those nine postseason victories, averaging 23.2 points and 18.3 rebounds. 

Legacy: Russell dominance in the paint was so profound that NCAA officials changed the rules for his junior season, widening the lane so that he could not so easily operate near the basket. His ability to block shots and run the floor was revolutionary and he went on to win an Olympic gold medal and 11 NBA titles with the Boston Celtics. A tireless activist, Russell was honored in 2011 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

— BILL CARTWRIGHT, USF (1976-79)

Numbers: Cartwright was prolific, compiling a school-record 2,116 points along with 1,137 rebounds over four seasons. As a senior, he averaged 24.5 points, 15.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots. In five NCAA Tournament games, Cartwright produced 24.6 points and 9.0 rebounds. 

Honors: After collecting second-team all-conference honors as a freshman, Cartwright was a three-time first-team selection and a three-time WCC Player of the Year. He was a consensus second-team All-American his sophomore and senior seasons.

Record: The Dons were 96-23 in Cartwright’s four seasons, including 47-7 in WCC play. They finished second in the WCC in Cartwright’s debut season then won three straight league titles. USF began the 1976-77 season with 29 straight victories before losing to Notre Dame in its final regular-season game to Notre Dame, then its NCAA Tournament opener to UNLV. The Dons were beaten in the second round of the NCAAs each of Cartwright’s final season seasons.

Legacy: The 7-foot-1 Cartwright was the WCC’s best center since Bill Russell and there hasn’t been a better one in more than 40 years since. USF has retired his jersey No. 24.

— HANK GATHERS, Loyola Marymount (1988-90)

Numbers: Gathers scored a WCC-record 2,490 points and collected 985 rebounds in three seasons, his final year ending prematurely when he tragically collapsed and died on the court in the conference tournament. He averaged 28.0 points for his LMU career in coach Paul Westhead’s  hyper up-tempo attack, including NCAA-leading totals of 32.7 points and 13.7 rebounds as a junior. LMU averaged more than 100 points each of those three seasons and in 1990 put up 122.4 per game, still an NCAA record.

Honors: Gathers was the 1989 WCC Player of the Year, a two-time WCC tournament MVP and three-time All-WCC first-team selection. He was a consensus second-team All-American in 1990. In 2020, LMU unveiled a statue of Gathers outside Gersten Pavilion.

Record: The Lions were 74-21 in Gathers’ three seasons, although his presence in in four 1990 NCAA Tournament games was as a powerful  spiritual force that fueled a run into the Elite Eight that captured the nation. LMU was 37-5 in WCC play in his three seasons span, twice winning conference regular-season titles. 

Legacy: Gathers and Philadelphia childhood pal Bo Kimble made the Lions a must-see attraction, the likes of which we haven’t seen since. A TV movie about Gathers was made in 1992 and ESPN celebrated his story in a 30-for-30 documentary.

— STEVE NASH, Santa Clara (1993-96)

Numbers: The point guard from British Columbia totaled 1,689 points and 510 assists over four seasons. He averaged 20.9 points as a junior and 17.0 as a senior. That same season he had 28 points and 12 assists in a first-round 1996 NCAA Tournament victory over Maryland, but he may best remembered for his freshman heroics, making six straight free throws in the final 30 seconds to clinch the 15th-seeded Broncos’ upset of No. 2 Arizona in the ’93 NCAA opener.

Honors: Nash was a two-time All-WCC pick, capturing conference Player of the Year honors in 1995 and ’96. He was a first-team AP All-America selection as a senior.

Record: The Broncos were 73-42 in Nash’s four seasons and earned three trips to the NCAA Tournament. The program hasn’t returned to the NCAAs in 26 seasons since. Santa Clara was 22-6 in WCC play in 1995 and ’96, winning the WCC Tournament in Nash’s freshman season of 1993 before claiming its two most recent regular-season conference crowns in 1995 and ‘95. 

Legacy: Basketball was still very much America’s game in the early 1990s and while Nash wasn’t the first international player to make noise on the college scene he certainly set a tone for WCC programs. Nine times since Nash the league’s Player of the Year was born outside the U.S., and this year WCC men’s and women’s programs feature players from 32 foreign countries spanning six continents.

— ADAM MORRISON, Gonzaga (2004-06)

Numbers: Morrison totaled 1,867 points in three seasons, averaging 19.7 over his career. In his final season, as a junior in 2005-06, he scored 28.1 per game — best in the nation — including five games of at least 40 points for team that was 29-4 and unbeaten in the WCC.

Honors: Morrison was a two-time All-WCC choice and the conference Player of the Year in 2006. The nation’s leading scorer, he also picked up AP first-team All-America in 2005-06 and was the U.S. Basketball Writers’ national co-Player of the Year.

Record: The Zags were 83-12 in Morrison’s three seasons, posting a 40-2 mark WCC play with three regular-season titles and three conference tournament crowns. They made it to the NCAA Tournament all three seasons, with Morrison averaging 21.3 points in seven games, and finished the 2005-06 season ranked No. 5 in the AP poll.

Legacy: 

Gonzaga had become something of America’s team by 2006, and Morrison was the floppy-haired face of that team. When the Zags were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16 by UCLA after leading by 13 points at halftime, the country watched as Morrison wept on the court.