Seattle U head coach Chris Victor is the featured guest on this week's edition of the Field of 68's West Coast Conference Insider podcast. Victor and the Redhawks stand with a 12-3 overall record with two league games played thus far. In Tuesday night's win over Washington State, Brayden Maldonado led the scoring with 15 points while the Redhawks limited the Cougars offense to just 29.7 percent shooting. Seattle U also boasts two wins against power five schools in Stanford (77-69) and Washington (70-66). Seattle U sits at No. 107 in the NET. 

The West Coast Conference currently boasts three programs in the top 70 in the NET rankings - with Gonzaga at No. 5, Saint Mary's at No. 24 and Santa Clara at No. 69. Just outside the top 100 are Seattle U (No. 107), San Francisco (No. 117), LMU (No. 124) and Pacific (No. 132). Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara are a combined 13-6 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games this season.
 
The Field of 68 Network hosts the West Coast Conference Insider podcast, featuring interviews with head coaches and student-athletes from men's basketball programs around the conference each week. Hosted by Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster, the Field of 68 is a men's college basketball-centric network of podcasts and content. As of December 2025, The Field of 68 has built a combined audience of over 240,000 followers across its primary social media platforms. It currently boasts over 137K followers on X, over 67K on YouTube and over 40K on Instagram.
 
Timestamps are listed below for efficient viewing:

0:44 - Seattle U's success so far this season
"This is about as good of a start as I think Seattle could have asked for, looking big picture." - Rob Dauster

1:50 - The West Coast Conference's success as a whole
"What has stood out to me about the league so far is I think that the gap has closed. I really think that the teams that have been traditionally at the bottom the last few years have gotten better... What Dave Smart has done at Pacific has been... impressive... He's turning them into what could be a postseason team in just two years." - Jeff Goodman

4:10 - San Diego's emergence

9:50 - Head Coach Chris Victor joins the show

11:30 - What it takes for a program like Seattle U to grow
"The roster continuity. the retention is so important for us... Overall, the ability to keep guys in the program for more than a year, more than two, that's when you start to see that growth and start to see the jumps... Last year, we had Brayden (Malonado)... coming from a Division II. New program, new level and it took him a little to get going. And you see the comfort and the confidence jump that allows him to be who he really is here."

12:50 - Brayden Malonado's breakout
"Man his numbers have been crazy. His ability, his efficiency have been pretty special. For me, it's been his leadership, that flipped and it's been good for our team and been big for him. Having that confidence now and that comfort in his role and who he is to this program and what he means to this team, it's all come together... His leadership has been off the charts." 

16:00 - International presence for Seattle U and the city
"International players that can come to Seattle are very comfortable here. It's a great city. It's a great city to live in, it's a great city if you're coming to the states for your first time to get acclimated." 

19:00 - Playing the "heavy hitters" that the West Coast Conference produces
"This is what you signed up for. I don't know if we thought we'd be going at Gonzaga and Saint Mary's on the same weekend, but at some point we're playing these guys so might as well play them back-to-back. It's exciting. You get the opportunity to play on the road against one of the top-ten teams in the country." 

21:50 - Confidence Seattle U has thanks to the early schedule

To watch the complete episode on YouTube, click here. To listen on Apple Podcasts, click here. 

Subscribe to the West Coast Conference channel on YouTube.

Subscribe to the Field of 68 on YouTube.