SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Gonzaga, ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press preseason national poll, has been selected the preseason favorite to win the 2024-25 West Coast Conference Men’s Basketball regular season title in a vote of the WCC’s 11 head coaches. The Bulldogs have now been given the preseason nod in six of the last seven Conference preseason polls. The Zags picked up 99 points and nine first-place votes.
Both the preseason poll and the preseason team are voted solely by the Conference's 11 head coaches.
Saint Mary’s, who won both the regular season and Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship last season, is second in the poll with 86 points and one first-place vote. Santa Clara (81 points) is third and San Francisco is fourth (77 points), with the Dons receiving one first-place vote.
Gonzaga also led the way with four of the 11 honorees on the All-WCC Preseason Team. The All-WCC preseason team normally consists of 10 members, but there are 11 this year due to a tie in voting. Saint Mary's and Santa Clara boasted two members each, while LMU, San Francisco and Washington State garnered one honoree each.
The Bulldogs reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the ninth consecutive year last season, the nation’s longest active streak. Ryan Nembhard and Graham Ike both return and were named to the All-WCC Preseason Team. Nembhard averaged 6.9 assists per game last season while Ike finished third in the WCC in scoring (16.5 ppg).
Saint Mary’s was a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season. The 2024 WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis returns this season and was named to the All-WCC Preseason Team. He averaged 14.1 ppg in conference games last season.
Santa Clara returns two-thirds of its scoring production from last season, including All-WCC Preseason Team honoree Adama-Alpha Bal. After playing at LSU last season, Carlos Stewart is back with the Broncos after a one-year hiatus.
USF competed in the NIT last season, and the Dons feature multiple key returners in 2024-25 including All-WCC Preseason Team selection Marcus Williams as well as last season's WCC Freshman of the Year, Ryan Beasley.
Ike, Nembhard, Jevon Porter (LMU) and Mitchell Saxen (Saint Mary's) were all named to the preseason team for the second straight year. Porter was tabbed to last season's preseason team as a member of Pepperdine.
2024-25 WCC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Place |
Team |
First Place |
Points |
| 1. |
Gonzaga |
9 |
99 |
| 2. |
Saint Mary's |
1 |
86 |
| 3. |
Santa Clara |
|
81 |
| 4. |
San Francisco |
1 |
77 |
| 5. |
Washington State |
|
62 |
| 6. |
LMU |
|
60 |
| 7. |
Oregon State |
|
44 |
| 8. |
Portland |
|
28 |
|
San Diego |
|
28 |
| 10. |
Pacific |
|
23 |
| 11. |
Pepperdine |
|
17 |
| 2024-25 Men’s Basketball All-WCC Preseason Team |
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
| Michael Ajayi |
Sr. |
G |
Gonzaga |
| Adama-Alpha Bal |
Sr. |
G |
Santa Clara |
| Cedric Coward |
Sr. |
G |
Washington State |
| Nolan Hickman |
Sr. |
G |
Gonzaga |
| Graham Ike |
Sr. |
F |
Gonzaga |
| Augustas Marciulionis |
Sr. |
G |
Saint Mary's |
| Ryan Nembhard |
Sr. |
G |
Gonzaga |
| Jevon Porter |
Jr. |
F |
LMU |
| Mitchell Saxen |
Sr. |
C |
Saint Mary's |
| Carlos Stewart |
Sr. |
G |
Santa Clara |
| Marcus Williams |
Sr. |
G |
San Francisco |