VSiN Coast to Coast Hoops: The College Basketball Betting Podcast2024-25 West Coast Conference (WCC) Preview-Coast To Coast Hoops
Greg previews the WCC for the upcoming 2024-25 season by looking at the conference from a stylistic and betting standpoint, doing a deep dive on every team's roster, the coaching changes & moving parts with Connor Hope of Heat Check CBB, & Greg gives his projected order of finish for each team in the conference.
Podcast Highlights
4:04-Styles & Betting Trends of the WCC
23:44-Deep dive on every WCC roster with Connor Hope
58:43-Greg's Projected order of conference finish in the WCC
Hey Morman per Levo, Welcome to Love to Las Vegas for with myself Creig Speederson now part of the Vison Family podcast. We've got an excellent podcast for you as joining me in segment number two for this WCC conference preview edition, We've got Connor op joining me as he does so every single year, to break down this fine conference. We're gonna look at what is now eleven teams in this conference as Washington State, Oregon State, those two teams that were remainders from the BAC twelve that's now the back two they joined this conference. So we're gonna be taking a look at the dynamic of that. We're gonna look at all the coaching changes, the transfers, all the nooks and crannies. Trust me when I say Connor leaves no stone unturned when it comes to this conference. So we're gonna have a great chat with him in segment number two. In the final segment, I'm gonna get you guys my projector or finished for the WCC And if you do have a question comment segment idea. What I have you for this podcast? Have one of two ways vo fur those in first one is my Twitter slash x timeline at jiden unders forty one, and keep in mind LESM they mean ues on adversised per usual. Please we send these into the timeline and the other ways. Find an Apple podcast review. If you rate this podcast five starts, it is very much appreciated them from there, arable fire and whatever you'd like to here on this podcast via the five star review. Due to the fact that I'm doing a conference preview edition today, that means that the past forty eight hours of college basketball news and notes, those are going to be polished up on the podcast tomorrow and a so I'm always doing segment number one.
I'd like to take a look at the.
Trends ND just sort of these styles of play of the WCC. So let's dive in right about now, where we've got a lot of teams that they look to go a little bit more offensive focus, not necessarily that they go super duper up tempo and they're just playing like bats out of h G double hockey six or anything like that. At San Diego, they were your fastest team in terms of just total possessions per game at thirty seventh and all of college basketball, and you really didn't have anyone else in this conference that was within the top eighty five in terms of total possessions per game. You had a lot of teams that they weren't necessarily playing slowly, but they weren't necessarily absolutely running it and gunning it like Loyal and Marriormount, for example, they were actually really slowing things down at about three and thirty fourth in the country in terms of total possessions per game, after they were a middle road team in terms of their total possessions per game. Pepperdine was a super up tempo team a few seasons ago. Last year, the last year under Lorenzo Romar, three and fifteenth in the country. Portland was about two hundred and fifth in the country in terms of total possessions per game, and for as much as Gonzaga is able to put the ball in the basket, for as efficient as Gonzaga is on the offensive side things, they were about a hard and seventieth in the country in terms of total possessions per game. Like last year, a lot of teams that typically play up tempo, they really slowed it down. They were still incredibly efficient on the offensive side of things, but it's not like they were absolutely just gunning it or anything like that. And you saw in this conference a lot of teams that were just able to knock it down from three part range. As loyal Merrimount was one of your best three point shrating teams at all of college basketball and then necessarily insulting a lot of wins as they went twelve and but they were twenty seventh in the country in terms of their three point shooting percentage. I'll point out Easter Washington being twenty ninth in terms of three point shooting percent You're gonna wonder why, but Washington State is in and pretty much everyone from Easter Washington is all Washington State. So that's the team that figures to be a really good three point shooting team. For Gonzaga, it's always a little bit hit or missed for them in terms of are three point shooting, where they're always good as their two point shooting. And that's why you're in and you're out there. A top ten team in terms of point scored on a per possession basis, they were again last season, but they were forty ninth in the country in terms of are three point shooting percentage. Pepper nine fifty sixth in the country in terms of their three point shooting percentage. You had a little bit of an up and down season for Saint Mary's, but they were able to get things all in line towards the back half of the season as well. So it was just a really interesting conference in general, one where the defenses, if we're calling it what it is, they were a little bit lacklesser. Now I will say this for Gonzaga, after it was a very poor defensive effort in the last year under Drew Timmy two seasons ago. Last year, they were able to find a little bit more defense for Gonzaga fifty eighth in the country in terms of points a lot on a purpossession basis, and you know what you're gonna get out of Saint Mary's. They are pretty much a team that zags while everyone else zigs in this conference. Number three in the country in terms of points a lot on a purposession basis and in road games, only McNeice gave up fewer points on a purposession basis. They were absolutely rock solid. But Pacific, who they for the second time in three years, had the worst cover rate in all of college basketball. Get in the betting trends at a minute, but my goodness, this Pacific team was just an absolute money burner. Three hundred and sixtieth in all of college basketball in terms of points a lot on a pur possession basis, Like I think five Martians could have taken the floor and played the same amount of defense that they did because it was the OA style defense. And then Pepper nine three hundred and forty second in the country in terms of points a lot on a purpossession basis. Those were really your main outliers, but you saw had quite a few teams that they were not doing the world's greatest job and be all execute on the defensive side of San Diego was well outside the top two hundred in terms of their points allowed on a purposession basis. Loyal Marimunt two hundred and seventy first in all of college basketball. With that regard, you now bring in Oregon State or in Saint Granted it was against Pack twelve competition, but they were right there with San Diego. San Diego two hundred and fifty seventh in the country in terms of points a lot on a purposession basis. Organs State was two hundred and sixty third in the country in terms of points allowed on a purposession basis. And then you had a very interesting team in Santa Clara that was one of your best rebounding teams in all of college basketball. They're looking to build themselves up there. And I will say for San Francisco before we go any further, they were a team that was really able to build themselves up on the defensive side of things as well. For the Dons in terms of all points a lot on a purposession basis, twenty seventh in all of college basketball. But they're gonna have a few issues moving forward with regards to how they do things. Sound low, but for Santa Clara, they are about one hundred and thirty seventh in the country in terms of there points a lot on a purposession basis. Saying the way that allot of these teams that aren't Gonzaga and or Saint Mary's are looking to be able to build themselves up is on the glass. As little does a lot of people know, Saint Mary's was your number one team in the country in terms of rebound rate. Even with Purdue having Zach Eaty in company, Saint Mary's had a better rebound rate than perdue last season. And that's all because nobody got second chances on this team, like absolutely nobody. And then Santa Clara fourteenth in the country in terms of their rebound rate. Gonzaga was sixteenth in the country in terms of the rebound rate. Washington State was seventeenth, but again pretty much everyone from Washington State, the coach, every single one of those players, they are gone, but hey washouton State seventeenth of the country in terms of their overall rebound rate last season. Then the teams that were just absolutely awful in this conference, where the teams that were not able to rebound in general, and you did see some of the more middle of the road teams be okay with regards to the glass. San Francisco, as I was alluding to a little bit before, they were fifty second in the country in terms of their overall rebound rate, and for the Loyal and Marimount they were one hundred and second in the country in terms of their overall rebound rate. Meanwhile, you saw Pepperdine and Pacific not necessarily give you the world's greatest effort on the glass for a Pacific three hundred and sixty second out of three hundred and sixty two teams on the glass Organ State comes in, they were touring sixty fourth in the country with this regard. Pepperdine, they were two hundred ninth in all of college basketball in terms of the rebound rate. For San Francisco, they were able to do a solid job at San Diego three hundred and third in the country in terms of rebound rate. And for Portland, all sorts of issues for them as well, threehunt and fourth in the country with the guards of the rebound rate, they were well outside the top two fifty in terms of their points allowed on a purpossession basis as well. So rebounding very paramount in this conference. And when it comes to this conference not the world's greatest amount of travel, this is still one of those majors that very much holds true to the geographical I guess you'd.
Call it balance.
And you don't have a lot of teams they're having to go like multiple states. Even with now expanding to Washington State and Oregon State joining this conference, you already at Portland in the conference. You already had gone Sega in the conference as well, So it's not really going to be adding a lot of travel, and when it comes to the way that you saw things shake out from it against the spread standpoint in the WCCU did have quite a few teams that were able to make you some good coin, with Santa Clara being the top of them, eighteen twelve and two against the spread. San Francisco went nineteen and fourteen against the spread, Saint Mary's eighteen and fifteen against the spread, And then had a few teams that were a little bit less than profitable Loyal Maryland, Loyo Marrimount twelve eighteen and one against the spread, Pepperdine thirteen and eighteen against the spread, so it sounds pretty bounced. And then Pacific six and twenty four against the spread, dead last in all of college basketball.
I guess what.
During the twenty twenty one twenty two season, Pacific they went four and twenty two and two against the spread. Like you combine these two years, two out of three years, they want to combine ten forty eight and two against the spread, like that is impossible. I'm not even kidding, like you guys can tell right now. It just stuns me that a team can be so unprofitable.
Yet somehow, some way they did it.
They've been to Chicago White Sox of college basketball the last three years. Like if you look at the last three years, they are twenty five sixty two and two.
Against the spread.
If you were a one hundred dollar unit better betting minus one ten against the spread, you're down north of three thousand, eight hundred dollars betting on this sad said team, Like my goodness, gracious, and just for comparison, since the beginning of the twenty twenty one season, your next worst team against the spread, you have to go to Tulsa thirty two to fifty five and four against the spread. Pacific in this timespan covered twenty eight point seven percent of games. Tulsa covered thirty six point eight percent of games. Like my goodness, gracious, talk about a skid mark on the underpants of college basketball. But if you're looking at more of these splits that we've seen at jorg WCCs, we calm down a little bit more. You did see Pacific obviously be awful against the spread at home on the road planet if they went there, they'd be unprofitable there. But you did see home court advantage be pretty big in terms of the conference. We're just gonna leave Pacific out of this for the rest of this because they were just sad and pathetic. But Gonzaga went six and eight and against the spread as the home team, and then he saw San Diego go seven to nine against the spread at home. And the reason why for Gonzaga they had six few home games is because they do play a lot of those just strange neutral court games. But it's not quite a few teams be relatively successful at home. Portland was signing four against the spread at home, Pepperdine and San Francisco both eight and seven against the spread at home. Saint Mary's signed and eight against the spread at homes. He really didn't have dramatic home and Rhodes splits with that regard. And then underdogs in this conference, well they were not once that necessarily barked. Saint Mary's was four and zer against the spread as an underdog. Sam Claire was nine four and one against the spread as an underdog. But there was actually a team that was worse against the spread as an underdog than Pacific. Pepperdine three and thirteen against the spread as in the role of an underdog. Portland was ten and thirteen against the spread as an underdog. San Diego was a and twelve against the spread as an underdog. They did have Santa Claier go nine four to one against the spread as an underdog. But this was very much a favorite heavy conference, as you had Pepperdineba Bulldozer actually against the spread as a favorite at ten and five. Portland won five and three against the spread as a favorite. At San Francisco fourteen and ten against the spread as a favorite. The one team that couldn't come through a shock shock surprize to prize Pacific zero to five against the spread as a favorite. And then you did have Loyo Marymount as well go eight and twelve against the spread as a favorite. But it was very much a favorite heavy conference. And when it comes to the WCC, even though you didn't necessarily have a lot of teams that played super duper up tempo, as a matter of fact, there was a departure in terms of the clickness of the conference. Many of these teams. If you added up everyone in the conference, it was about fifty to fifty in terms of overs and unders. Your best team to be under was Portland eighteen unders, twelve overs and one push. Pacific went seventeen hundreds and thirteen overs, Santa Clara sixteen unders, fourteen overs and two pushes, and then you had San Diego eighteen and thirteen to the over, Loyal Marrimount fifteen overs, fourteen unders. San Francisco Saint Mary's they both had eighteen overs to fifteen unders. And when you looked at things in terms of the non conference portion of these schedule, that's where you saw a lot of these teams be able to hit those unders, because it was a little bit shocking to see teams like Pepperdine to see teams like Loyal Marrima really slowed down. And that's where you were able to make your money on these unders. And then in conference play, when the efficiency for these offenses kick back up, that's where you were able to make some money on over It's the only team that had played more than fifty percent of their non conference games to the over wisconzag and nine overs, seven unders, and then you had Santa Clara Loyal Marrimunt both be seven and seven in non conference games to the over Pacific ten hunderds three overs. Outside the conference Portland nine unders of four overs. You had San Francisco go nine unders to six overs, seven unders to six overs for both San Diego Pepperdine and then Saint Mary's eight unders to seven overs. Meanwhile, once you got to conference play, that's where you were able to hit quite a few of those overs. San Diego Francisco twelve and six to the over in conference place, Saint Mary's eleven over, seven hunders, and then you have Pepperdine, Loyal or marriamunth Pacific. I'll either go ten overs to seven hunders or ten over seven hunders and a push on your loan. Teams that were successful to the under in the conference was Santa Clara nine unders, seven overs and two pushes, Gonzaga ten unders, eight overs, and then Portland nine unders, eight overs and a push. So very interesting conference with one big, giant, rusty anchor in Pacific, which it can't get much worse for them, But how much better is it going to get for so many of these other teams in the conference. We're going to be looking at every single one of these teams in the conference. Next with our good friend conro Op, who does amazing workover at Echex CBB and he joins me on the flip side here on sus with Myself, Greg et Speederson now part of the Decent Family podcast Seas Don't need some seap comforts for you lead a ship Coller Rag you love you, Boss Zagas because gusts with myself, Greg Eats Speederson now part of the VS and Family podcast. This is gonna becc Conference Previe edition and this has become a tradition on this fine podcast getting Connor Hope to preview it. He does such a great job over at ECHECHCBB taking a look at this great game of college basketballs. He does a lot of tremendous rita and work for them. On top of that, he is one of the coasts of the heat Check CBB hangout.
He Brian Roff, Riley Davis.
They do a tremendous job on that front as that's a fun show slash podcast that they put together over there as well. You're able to follow Connor on Twitter, slide checks at hoops Ope CBB altogether and Connor ohways, great to get you bored.
Thank you yeah, thanks for having me.
Thank you for joining me, Connor, and it is going to be a really interesting conference. And how about if we start with what has changed first in Oregon State and Washington State joining the conference. And we'll start with organ State, because let's call what it is, it's a lesser of the two teams that we've seen in Oregon State have some not so great runs out there last few seasons.
In the PAC twelve.
How does this step down to the WCC make you be this team one that ever since at Elite dight run, they just have not been able to find it. But I actually do think that this could be a little bit of positive for them, just to be able to get a few more wins than they've gotten the last few seasons.
I think it's gonna be tough for Oregon State because, let's be honest, the Elite eight run was great for that season. It might have been the worst possible outcome for the long term prospects of Oregon State. Obviously, they gave Wayne Tinkle a long term deal an extension because he got them that far.
That's great.
I don't necessarily view him as the coach worthy of that extension because everything that Oregon State has done outside that Elite eight run under Wayne Tinkle has been subpar at best coming to the WCC. They're still at bottom half of the conference team. That's the issue. They have some intriguing pieces, I would say, obviously DeMarco Minor coming in. You have seven foot one Matthew marsh coming in from Wake Forest, talented enough to be on on acc roster. Have Falla coming from Southern Utah. They have some pieces coming in from some teams that have been competitive, but I think for the most part, this is still a team that has maybe one or two guys you think can be competitive at a top half level in the WCC, and a lot of unknowns, a lot of pieces that don't necessarily fit together, and frankly a coach that I think is a bottom half coach in this conference.
With Dwayne Tinkle.
It was a great run that he had, but he was relying a lot on coaches kids in those glory years with Oregon State. When that started to dry up, that's when we've been seeing this yuars pop up for Oregon State. And certainly do have high expectations for Washington say not that they're going to be necessarily on the same level of gonzagainst Saint Mary's, but a team that went to the NCAA Tournament a season ago. It's going to be very much a fresh team with David Riley coming in from Eastern Washington and bringing a lot of friends with them, Dane Eric Struff, Cedria Coward, Ethan Price, Lahan Watts. I'm pretty sure that the tow Boy is going to be coming with them as well. As this has become pretty much what Eastern Washing was a season ago, says a few interesting players like Nate Calmezzi.
I think that's a little bit of an upside.
How do you take a look at this Washington State team that is in a lot of transition over the last few months.
Yeah, You've also got ndokafor out of cal who I think is an intriguing pick to be pretty solid, not necessarily like all conference in the WCC, but pretty solid in the WCC. I like this team. I think they're going to be competitive. I think Riley is a fantastic coach. The brand of basketball he plays is exciting, it's fun, a little Gonzaga esque in the way he likes to get up and down the court. To me, it just falls down to can these guards play at an elite level, A top half level in the WCC if they can, if they can handle Saint Mary's in a game that starts to get down into that kind of sixty to seventy point threshold, if they can go up against the back court of Santa Clara and hold their own, this Washington State team should be pretty competitive. And again, unlike Wayne Tinkle, who I think as an ex's and o's coach, isn't that great, I think Riley the sky's the limit for him, especially in the WCC. We'll see when Washington State makes their decision whether or not to move on or where they're going to move on from. They only have like a really a two year commitment with the WCC. But we'll see. But I like this team to finish kind of top five ish range in the WCC.
YEP, I'm in agreement with you, not on par with Saint Mary's or Gonzaga, but I like this Washington State team and tier point. David Riley, a young Hungary coach, I did a great job being able to retain his own from Eastern Washington as Conra Hophu does great work over at each CBB joining me for this WCC Conference Previe edition right here on Cosco Sep said, I think that this team is fascinating because when Shaun day Legans got to Portland Ironicle Enough, another former Eastern Washington coach, You're number one, was great for him. But ever since then things have went down the toilet bowl. There's been a lot of injuries with this team. But they bring back Chris Austin. I like Lucas and Met such a nice double figure six with five, little bit of a combo player. But this team gets ravaging the transfer portal once again. So they're gonna be looking at Max McKinnon, who comes in from you one guy that I really do like. And they've got size on this rosser with Jeremiah Beal Sega well web hopefully I said that correctly. They bring in a freshman in Todd Jones. I think has a little bit of upside as well, but just feels like after year one for Portland under the Chante Legans regime, things just have knocked one right ever since then.
Yeah, And I mean, if you look at at Portland, the turnover is the name of the game for them. There's gonna be a ton of it. They don't have their fallback options anymore like Tyler Robertson did a ton. Losing a fallback option like that, I think it's gonna be some growing pains. They are still pretty big down low, but I need to see more from Legans as a coach before I actually give them top half ceiling. But for now, I think I probably have more trust in them than I do in a guy in Oregon State, for example, to bring it all together. But just losing Robertson to me, is perhaps the most impactful loss in the WCC all things considered, because what he did for Portland in his three years there, especially last year as a fifth year senior, you know, seventeen points per game, rebounder, kind of you had to respect him from the three point line. They lose that, I think it kind of hurts everyone else that's returning to not have that focal point of the offense taking a defense's entire attention.
Yeah, that is going to be a massive loss for them, and I am very verys sean Portland as a result of that, And I think that this is going to be interesting as well. With Pepperdine moving on from Lorenzo Romar. In the offseason, they bring in Ed Schilling, a guy that really hasn't had a lot of head coaching opportunities, but this guy's been an assistant Darnear everywhere. He's a John cal Perry disciple, followed him along at a few stops both at the college and the pro level.
He's been a part of.
Grand Danyon, Memphis, UCLA, Indiana. I'm pretty sure he spent some time at uw Osh Gosh as well. Like this guy's been a little bit of everywhere. And while this team doesn't necessarily have the sizzle of what we've seen in past years in terms of the names, I do think that he's a guy that understands the game, has been around for a very long time. Loan fears that there might be some big time growing paints here in year number one for Pepperdine.
The issue with Pepperdine is that they were all flash and no substance under Romar, and that's kind of been Romar's mo during the last probably half decade of his time at you Dub and then his second stint at Pepperdine when they had Maxwell Lewis. He's had number one overall draft picks in the NBA Draft and just nothing. I think bringing in a coach that can be an X's and O's guy. Even if the flash of the names on the roster aren't there, it's huge. I think it's going to bring a change to Pepperdine. You know, they're not going to be musty TV for NBA people, but I think they're going to provide a lot more of a h to their game against the WCC. They have a lot of experience on this roster. And then some guys that I think you know can can do something. Aaron Clark coming in from Wake average ten points five rebounds like that. That's that's huge for a six to six wing if you can get him to reach his potential. Mo Odom coming in from Pacific kind of doing his things as the primary point guard. Those two I think can provide enough for you offensively that the rest of the roster, with the length that it has, can be competitive in the middle of this conference.
I agree with you as joining me on the show.
We do have Connor Hope, who does such great work over a d chech CBB joining me on Costco soups, and we'll see how this team responds to the disappointment of last year. And that'd be loyal and Marimount had some of my expectations for them, and they just simply did not deliver on them. Sam Johnson, though he's done a good job in my opinion of retooling this roster. Bringing a Meyron Amy Junior over at San Jose State was a guy that I really like was able to fill the sat nice, reliable scorer. Jevon Porter, we were talking about those guys that I've flashed over at Pepperdheim. He's a relation to Michael Porter in the NBA. He comes in Alex Merkfield as is back. You bring back Will Johnson, so you bring back some of the key pieces from last year your revamp things, especially in the backcourt with having Caleb stone Carewell coming in as well for Loyal Marimount. I do think that there's quite a bit of upside with this roster.
You have what four double digit scorers. I think stone Carowell can threaten to be that on this roster if he needs to. Jon Vida I think has been somewhat underappreciated, maybe not good enough to play at the UCLA level, the PAC twelve or now Big ten level, but like he could be a solid wing in his sophomore season for this roster, and I agree with you. I think Stan Johnson's next league coach. I think there's been a lot that has gone on in that program that has kind of put him behind the eight ball. And I don't want to make too many excuses for some of the disappointments that Loyola Mariamount has had, But this is a roster. I think middle of the conference is probably the floor, and I think they can compete for that. Probably fourth is their ceiling in this in this conference this year. But they've got some talent on that roster, and I like the direction it's going.
I do like the direction it's going as well. And then I take a look at what Santa Clair is bringing back and I absolutely love it. They bring back a Domo ball, six foot seven, do it all sort of player that I think can absolutely tear it up in this conference. Carlos Stewart is back. Johnny O'Neil at six foot ten, is able to pop it from three. Christoph Tilly is a seven footer that offers a lot of options. They bring back Brendon Napper. There is not too many mid majors in the same age that bring back the level of production and bring back the amount of minutes that Santa Clara does. And I'm not sure you via this scene, but I think that this is the dark course that could really make things interesting in the WCC.
Santa Clara might be the one team besides Gonzaga that got better this offseason, or at least the proper got better than what they were what they ended up finishing last year, and again last year they beat Gonzag at home. They had some solid talent that they're losing. But what they do bring back, you know, outside of Carlos Marshall leaving, I think they bring back enough to compete and I think they're probably the favorite to finish third right now. If you look at this roster you mentioned Adama Ball could have easily maybe not I mean not obviously not NBA, but he could have easily gone and played pro anywhere he wanted. He comes back as a bigger guard. You mentioned Johnny O'Neil, Christoph Tilley. I think we've only scratched the surface of what his ceiling can be. We've seen him play really well in big moments in the WCC. Look down this roster, I mean even Cam Tungu who you look at him, three points, one and a half rebounds a game, and you know, as a WCC player, doesn't seem great, but he's a fantastic offensive option and just hasn't gotten the minutes. And I think if you give him the minutes at the at the three to four, he can compete with some of the top wings in this conference. You know, outside of Gonzaga and Saint Mary, He's a pretty solid player. So I like this Santa Clara team. I think Herb Sendek has really sold me on what he does, especially in his backcourt. Hyree Bryan I think can go off. Carlow Stewart can be really good. Even Knapper can have some solid play. So this backcourt has always been one that sells me. You know, bringing Carlos Stewart back, I think was huge to really convincing me that this team is a top three team in the WCC.
YEP, I am right there with you.
I absolutely love the fact that they bring back so many backcourt pieces. They've got so much size in this conference, so I'm pretty fired up for them. And then for San Francisco, they bring back a lot of guys from a season go as well, Marcus Williams, he has been around college basketball here in the West Coast for a very long time. He's going to be back. The one big loss, so Jonathan Mogbo. I thought that that was one of the most significant draft decisions out there. He was pretty much the only for San Francisco that averaged north of four rebounds per game for a team that was very rock solid on glass. They're gonna be looking to replace him with Carlton Lingard junior Saba Gigabria. He's gonna need to step up quite a bit as well as seven foot one big man. So I want to give your thoughts on San Francisco because even though they return a lot, I do think that that loss of Mogbo was very significant.
Yeah, and I think last year the team relied a little bit too much on Mobo down the stretch. Look, this was a team that last year we thought was built to be a tournament team. They looked like it during parts of the season last year, but I mean it never really quite gelled. I don't know if we see that this year. I really like Gurlsen as a coach, but I think if you were sold on him as like a disciple of that lineage at San Francisco. He's just not the same as the last two coaches. I like that they still have size. You know, they still have two seven footers that promised to be pretty involved victually when they play against a team like Gonzaga. Marcus Williams and Newberry I think can do a lot from an offensive perspective. You throw in Malik Thomas too, can do quite a bit coming in. He was great last year coming in from USC. It's a team that I think has the talent. My issue is that if you want to compete in the WCC, unless your name is Saint Mary's or Gonzaga, I think you need a little bit more size in the backcourt because I don't think you're going to beat either of those teams on skill or athleticism, and the San Francisco team, I think just doesn't have that. You've got five eleven Ryan Beasley six to one, Marcus Williams like Malik Thomas, probably going to play a lot at the two, but doesn't really give you a ton of size there. And then you've got the two seven footers obviously at the five, but one through four they're a little bit undersized, and that worries me a little bit. I think the one thing that you can hope for is that last year for Issa Silva was an abarition and if he can kind of find his way as a former pac twelve player who kind of failed in some respects at Long Beach State, they're a good pick for fourth or fifth right there with Washington State. But I don't know if I'd go any higher than that.
Yep, I'm feeling that way as well. Middled upper half of the conference, but not really able to bust through as a man that always busts.
Through with his great information.
That'd be count rope of he chex be joining me for this WCC Conference Previe edition right here on Costco Seepson. Let's talk about a team as absolutely but people's money on fire. That'd be the Pacific Tigers worst team against the spread in all of college basketball the last three seasons, worst team two out of three years, which when you've got north of three year and sixty teams, to be dead last against the spread two out of three years is like getting struck by lightning twice. But that Zep for Pacific, it's a nude on and a New Day as they looked at Dave Smart was a very accomplished coach out there in Canada at Carlton University. This guy won north of six hound and fifty games, spent a little bit of time over at Texas Tech the Transfer Portal Hall. I'm not going to to be calling it amazing or anything like that, but just getting the stink out of what happened after you saw Damon Sadelmayer take a job in the NBA. From there, Pacific was in Matt scramble mode. Clearly it did not go well. I think that this time around, just having a clean slate, bringing in a guy like a jazz gardener from Nevada, I do think it's going to allow Pacific to just take baby steps as this year probably not going to be their year, but building for twenty twenty five, twenty six and beyond.
I do like the prospects.
Yeah, I mean talk about it. Undersized roster. You've got seven foot jazz gardener. I don't know how much ron Bert Smith is going going to get at six to eleven, and then Elijah Fisher's the only other player listed at over six four that I think gets significant run in this rotation. But you're right, I think Pacific is going to be a slow rebuilt. It has to be. But you bring in Lamar Washington from Texas Tech, who I think instantly in Jeck's offense into this rotation. Elijah Fisher was at Texas Tech, and then Paul he can do quite a bit. So this is a I mean that I think gets back, you know, maybe not to the levels they were under Damon Stodamayer, but I think they get back a little bit to that scrappiness you saw under Damon Stodamyer because I don't think Pacific can win any other way the hurdles they have to jump through to recruit talent, I think they need to recruit scrappiness and I think that's what this team has that it's kind of lacked the last couple of years. But again, you're talking about a slow rebuild. I don't know if a team's that consistently bad against the spread, is it really lighting people's money on fire when they can kind of safely bet against the team. But it's a team that's going to be quite rough this year, but only have two seniors I guess on the rosters. So as long as they can keep some of that talent, they should be pretty competitive in the middle of the conference the following year.
Yeap, we're staring at a team that's probably gonna be at the bottom this year, and it's just all about taking those baby steps forward. And this team, as we know, they are not going to need to take baby steps forward because they've been towards the top of the WUCC for just oh so long. Saint Mary's is going to be losing quite a bit from a season ago, as we know, with losing their top score from last year, that is going to be hurting them. In Mahany deciding that he's going to be going to Yukon, but he still have a lot of heart and soul pieces. Mitchell Sex and Verry rock solid down low. I always get the last name wrong, but Augustus Mira Salinis. He's just a very versatile guy that's able to dole out the ball and they brought in a few nice pieces as well. I like what Mikey Lewis is able to bring to the table. I think that he can come in right away and be a little bit of a contributor for this team. And even though you lose Mahani in the offseason. Saint mary should still be rock solid, and we know that Randy Bennett is going to get this team playing that slow, methodical style, playing efficiently on offense, and being rock solid on defense.
Part of the reason why Saint Mary's is almost like talent proof in terms of losing talent getting it back. You know what talent's on the roster, As long as they're kind of top fifty in talent, they should be pretty good. Is because they keep it slow, like they're always within striking days in you know, ninety percent of the games they play. We're talking about a team they returned the WCC Player of the Year, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, and we're still talking about them as if they had some awful offseason because they lost Aiden Mahaney to the two time defending national champions. We knew that Alex Dukes was leaving, right so that leaves Josh Jefferson going home to UNLV as like the one loss that's tough to swallow. But look at what they bring in. You mentioned Mikey Lewis. I think he can contribute right away, but also you have Liam Campbell coming in, who should be really maybe not this year, but at least within the next two years, it'd be really good. Jordan Ross showed a lot of promise last year, and I think he's not Aiden Mahoney, but he can be really solid offensively for this team alongside Marshall Onis. Ashton Hardaway comes in as a transfer. But for me, Paulias Morawskis might be the most intriguing player in this conference that doesn't play for Gonzaga because he transfers in as a promising kind of stretch four option from Arizona that didn't get a lot of run because Arizona's really good. But I think he could play that Joshua Jefferson stretch four role, maybe better than Jefferson did, at least more consistently than Jefferson did. If he gets going and you put him with Mitchell Saxon being a really good low post scorer, with Marshall Loona's handling the ball, you've got Jordan Ross who's also a threat to score. Morowski's gonna have a ton of space to work and I think that's going to benefit him. If I had to choose a Newcomer of the Year just off the bat, that wasn't a Gonzaga newcomer because I think a Gonzaga newcomer wins that award this year. Morowskis would be my pick. And that's why I think Saint Mary's is still a very safe bet to finish second in the conference, perhaps even threatn Gonzaga in Maraga and make the tournament as like nine ten seed. I just think we're over blowing the loss of Aida Mahaney and not appreciating what this team brings in to replace him.
I always like to use this saying on the show, but it holds oh so true for Saint Mary's. A whole is greater than the sum of its parts when it comes to this team. As Connor Rope does great work over at each XCBB joined me right here on Coscos soupsin we got two teams left it one is obviously Krem Dayla Kram and then let's take a look at the San Diego bunch where Steve Flavin, he's been trying to get things online for this team as an sign his way in the first few years, but he does return two main guys Steven Jamerson, top rebounder down low at six foot ten. I think that he's going to do a rock solid job there. Wayne McKinney of the third nice bucket getter in the backcourt. Lots of uncertainty outside of that. They've been looking to the transfer port over the last few years and after he got in, just a whole bunch of like Power five Conference transfers in the first few years. Not as much of that this year. But when it comes to San Diego, my biggest fear is that they're just a little bit top heavy, because I look at Jamerson and McKinney. Those guys are rock soid what does everyone else provide is my question with them.
Yeah, I'm not sure how to answer that, because I think there are just so many question marks outside of those two that we're really just gonna have to see see what happens, right, And I remember when Lavin first came to San Diego, My comment to you was, it's all about getting eyes on the television screen. It's all about getting butts in the seats, and he hasn't had them good enough to maintain that. Like, there was some excitement coming in the first year, and they've had stretches of games where you thought maybe they were starting to break through But you know, after a very promising start to last year where I think they won like ten of their first fifteen games or something like that, they started off WCC play, granted, tough stretch, started off with six straight losses, then when six and one, and then finished with three straight losses and I'll win at home against Pacific. So this is a very hot and cold team last year that I just want to see be a little bit more consistent. And if they do that, they can creep up into that kind of six seven range in the conference. But you're right, I mean, if there's no consistency and they're just relying on Jamerson and McKinney to do everything for them offensively, this is a team that I think is going to be a little bit floundering for most of the season.
Yeah, right there with you. Those top two are big. Can they get a number three? Can they just get some consistency the rest of those guys, And let's say go look at the team that if you don't have them number one, you'll let me know why. Because Gonzaga, even though they got the bad news about a week and a half two weeks ago that Steele Venters is going to be out for the year. You absolutely love what they've got coming back. Graham k was able to do a nice job down low and really improved his range ever since he was over at Wyoming. They bring back Nolan Hickman Ryan Nemart into the back court. You've got a fifty percent three point shooter, Michael Azhaiu has familiar already within the conference. They bring a k Leaf battle and so much more. And I'll give you the flour here on your expectations for Gonzaga, because I think the real question is not whether or not they're going to be able to win the conference, but what they can do on the national landscape. Yeah.
Absolutely.
And last year when Vents got hurt, he got hurt the day before the season started, like four days before their first game. I moved them down. I think I had them eleven or twelve. I moved them down to nineteen entering the season. They obviously started worse than that and eventually creeped their way back up to the point where they were a Sweet sixteen team. When Venters got hurt this time around, not that you you ever want someone to get hurt, it certainly isn't good for Gonzaga. But I didn't move them at all. I still have them in that seven to eight range nationally. I just think they have so many weapons that losing basically just a pure shooter doesn't really impact my view of them. We've seen Nolan Hickman be a good three point shooter. We've seen Ryan Nemhart be a good three point shooter. We've seen Caleff Battle in the past be a good three point shooter. Obviously, Michae Lajai shot really well last year. Dusty Stromer was a freshman last year, rustin to a position that he shouldn't have been asked to be. It moved him to the bench. Was a very good effort defender. I think kind of started finding his way offensively, but he came in as a promising shooter. Ben greg can stretch the floor. Brandon Huff Grammy e K have both shown the ability to shoot quite a bit. Like the only rotational piece on this roster that I don't trust at all shooting the three is a manual INNOCENTI and I think he's going to be kind of if they need to go nine deep and use him defensively, that's where he's going to find his minutes. But there's so much offensive firepower around Grammy K be one of the best low post scorers and Ryan Emhard being one of the best ball distributors and playmakers for others in the country that if Gonzaga isn't top two in offensive efficiency this year, I'd be surprised. And I don't know if that's bold anymore because they're generally top two in good years. But if they're not number one, they're probably a close second. They just have too many weapons for me to doubt them nationally. Defense could be an issue because Ben Greg Dusty Schromer are more effort defenders than they are like innately good defenders. Dusty Schromer can be a good on ball defender at times, but he lacks the athleticism against really athletic guards. So you're gonna need to see Michael Lajai step up a little bit because he wasn't a great defender last year. But part of me feels like that might be a Romar issue, and I think Grammy K, if he can defend without fouling, can be pretty good. We'll see, but this team is going to be just as exciting as always to watch. They bring everybody back pretty much except for an Todd Watson, which was good and immediately so like everyone in that locker room after the loss said they were coming back. That level of chemistry to me says that this could be a special season for Gonzaga.
Yep, right there with you.
In a day and age where we see so much turnover, with Gonzaga bringing back some guys, I think that's gonna be a great year for them, just like I know that it's gonna be a great year for all of you guys over at eat chech CBB Connor. I know that you're doing such great work taking it like at college basketball, so love the good people at home know it's all in deaf for you and how people can fall along on social media and other platforms.
Yeah, right now, a couple of Gonzaga graz and I started up a Gonzaga podcast. I'll start linking that when the first one is released, which should be I think this Monday, this upcoming Monday, just talking about expectations for the season and stuff like that. We're working on our season previews for heat Check, so those will start rolling out sometime in mid October. Other than that, just you can follow me on Twitter at hoops Hope CBB and follow all the work that we're doing at heat check over at heat CHECHCBB dot com. I think we're gonna we're gonna start putting out a lot of content over the next couple of weeks.
Absolutely we now have clarity on all these rosters. It figures to be an absolutely amazing year one where we now have three hundred and sixty four D one teams and very strange to be seeing the WCC with a few headed teams. But Connor does a great job rolling with all the punches and every single time he joins me win such great insights.
So big thanks to Connor for.
Joining me on seeps now part of the Visa Family podcast and coming back. This is an WCC conference previewedition, so you gotta give you guys by protector or finish for.
The conference every ranking.
Let me Las Vegas for gust and good seeps with myself Gregaps Peterson now part of the Vson Family Podcast. Was great to be able to get Connor Opabord. He does such an incredible job over at echech CBB taking a look at this great game that we all know and love. I get him on every single year for the WCC Conference Pree edition because he delivers every single time. I know that he is hard at work getting set for what is going to be a tremendous upcoming season, and it's always great to be able to get his insights. So big thanks to Connor for joining me in the last segment. Now it is that time of the podcast I give you by projector or Finish for the EWCC. And since I am doing a conference preview edition today, that means that the past forty eight hours of college basketball news and notes that we saw that it is going to be polished up on the podcast tomorrow. So anything that I missed from Thursday that is going to be taken care of. Because we want to give as much sparkle and shine to the teams when we do a conference previous much as seemingly possible. And how about if we dive in right now with our projector or finished dead last team, and that would be Pacific. And for Pacific, I think that things are going to be moving in the right direction for them. I think that they made a hire that is going to be able to help them out a little bit more in the long term. And Dave Smart a guy that only is very smart in terms of the game of basketball. But you had a team that didn't have a single double figure scorer last year. They bring back darn here or nothing from that team last year other than Burke Smith who's six foot eleven. As we were talking about with Connor Hope, you just not have a lot of size for the team. They bring in Jazz Gardner, who was on the bench for Nevada last season. I think they'll be able to come in. He'll be able to give the team some good contributions. And you bring in Lamar Washington from Texas Tech. Wasn't able to see a whole bunch of minutes, but you know what, he should be a nice shining star for the Seam. But it's going to be based around he and Elijah Fisher to help out a team that I still cannot believe that Pacific was dead last in the country in terms of their overall cover rate two out of the last three years, Like, how is that even possible? And you don't have a lot of three point shooting with the team as well. Elijah Fischer is a former Top one or recruit. He Texas Tech pipeline is certainly strong on this one. Was smart serving as a little bit of an assistant over there and for Fisher. He was able to be a starter for DePaul last year ten points per contest, but also shot about twenty six percent from three point range. The team has honestly a little bit of depth. Peter Kestra Topick hopefully has said that correctly. He's on that six F four. He's going to be coming in after he spent some time with Florida International. Florida International was so poor on defense that he's saying even funny as well, Jefferson cool BALI should be able to give you a little bit of something off the bench. But having no sign to speak of other than Jazz Gardner and having just a complete rebuild over there at Pacific, I think that it's going to be a rough year. Number one, I've got them dead last in terms of my projector or finish, and number ten I'm going to be going with Portland. It was said very well by our good friend Conrad Portland, a team that is ranked in the bottom seventy five in terms of points a lot on a per possession basis. Really, since he'son number one under Chante Legans, it doesn't get a whole lot of lot better with Tyler Robertson being out of the fold. Now, if they can get Chris Ausen to be what he was a few seasons go. Is he missed the two thousand and twenty two to twenty three season dude injury. Was able to come back during the twenty twenty three twenty four season, but you could tell that he was in his normal self. He was averaging about seven points per contest last season, did shoot about thirty six percent from three. But during that twenty twenty one twenty two campaign he was putting up fourteen and a half points, four boards, shipping in there two assists. If they're able to get a little bit more out of him, that's going to be very beneficial. And for case in message is someone I really like. He began his career out there in the northeast part of the country, became a really nice to it all sort of player for this team. Twelve and a half points, three assists, four rebounds per game for a Portland Bunchet. They were an okay team at being able to vombit from three part range, but they played relatively fast. They play zero defense, whatsoever. You lose Tyler Harris, who had good versatility. He was able to shoot up at about thirty six percent for three parrange. Juan Sebastian Gorosito was very good at being able to hop out in the back court as well. You lose all these guys and you really don't replace them with a lot of substance. Max McKinnon was an able figure score over at Elon, but he was pretty much a guy that on some nights he was going to be a number one option. On some nights he was going to be a number three option as a versatility at six foot five to be able to grab a few rebounds. And Todd Jones as a true freshman at six foot eight, I do think that he's going to be able to come in once a versatility, be able to grab a few rebounds, But have my question marks download with this team, they really just didn't bring in a lot other than McKinnon in the transfer Portland they needed to bring in quite a bit. In my opinion, I just think that Portland likes the talent to be able to ascend in this conference. I've got them number ten in terms of my projector or finish and number nine, I'm gonna be going with Pepperdine. With Pepperdine, they bring in at Chilling, a guy that has been a big time grinder in college basketball for a very long time. But he's left with let's call it what it is, on to see a ton of talent. I actually really liked mootum Modum was a part of that Pacific team that once again was a flaming dumpster fire a season ago, but he was pretty much the only guy on that team I thought was genuinely playing hard. Eight and a half points, four an aphasis. Not a guy that's gonna light it up from three part range. That's a departure from what Pepperdine has been like. They have Michael Chai last year shoot about fifty percent from three part range. Now you're looking at a little bit of a new look group. They bring in Javon Cooley. He was playing over at Mari's last few seasons, and he's a guy that's able popping from three part range. Wasn't the same explosive scorer, but he's a guy that is going to break his lunch pale. He's part of one of the better mid major defenses in all of college basketball. Zion Bethay, He's a guy that has played at the northeast part of the country in so many different capacities. Was at Saint Francis of New York Hofstra, Delaware, so this is going to be school number four in four years from he was passing around like a basket of bread six and for Zion Bethay, this is just a little bit of a rehab year for him as well. He was limited a fewer than five games a season ago. So if Zion Bethee is able to pick up where he was, I would say about two years ago with Saint Francis of New York, where he was getting ten and a half points, was a nice forty two three point shooter. You're looking at something. But it was a pretty gruesome injury that he suffered last season. And then we've got Bubba Khar Coolbali. He was over at USC to begin his career, just has been having issues staying out there on the court. Has never played more than fifteen games in all four of his seasons. A lot of upside with him eight and a half points, five and a half rebounds, one point seven blocks per game when he was actually out there on the court. Question is is he going to be staying out there on the court. You've got a lot of injury concerns when it comes to this Pepperdine team. You've got someone in Sefan Torvich who just has never necessarily a big time role, whether that was with SMU, whether that was with the Dons of San Francisco. So you've got some interesting piece. I just don't know it's gonna come together. And you're number one, Fred Schilling. I think that he's brought in the right guys to be able to help this team as send moving forward. But do you think that's going to be a rough season?
Number one?
So to have Pepperdine at number nine in my projector or finished and number eight I'm gonna be going to Oregon State for Oregon State, stepping down the level is going to be big for them because this team the last few seasons ever since an Elite eight run, just kept getting blow torch time and time again. But you have to pick up all the pieces from his season goal. No longer do you have Jordan Popo. He was a really nice go to score, shot thirty seven percent for three seventeen and a half points, per game, and then Tyler Blowdo. He was very much the just guy that would do a little bit of everything for the team fourteen points, five and a half rebounds per game. Losing him is big Michael Rotash.
He's going to be back.
He's able to give you right around about six boards eight points per game, and you've got some size with him being right around about six foot nine. You've been able to do a nice job for taking a lot of the big men from the team. But it's not like the big ben were necessary skilled. They're not guys they're necessarily going to be spacing the floor. You bring in Matthew marsh someone at stand six foot one. It's been a little bit there miss for him throughout his college basketball career as he was over at wake Forest and just didn't get a lot of run while he was over at wake Forest. Pursa Fallah. He comes in from Southern Utah. While he was over at Southern Utah relative we saw rebounder, but not a guy that's gonna be spacing the floor. And now you're having a trust in the offense to DeMarco Minor. DeMarco Minor was a solid player over at SIU Edwardsville. How he's going to be translating to the WCC is a big giant question, and we've just seen it with Oregon State. They've got a massive home court advantage. Going to Corvallis is a very tough place to play. When this team meets the road, it goes all the way down the tubes for them, and for this bunch, even though they do have quite a bit of size, they don't nessily do a great job down low, and you're gonna need to have mister Minor come up very, very major for the team, as he is a little bit of a do it all sort of player. Fifteen a half points, eight and alf boards three assists per game, but again that was at the OBC level.
Now he's going to be seeing.
Much more competition, much more versatility. Shot only about thirty one a half percent from three partrange. Losing that scoring pop that they had from last season, which was really a saving grace for Oregon State. I think is gonna be a big deal and one that is not gonna be great for them. So I do have Oregon State as a result at number eight in terms of my projector finish at number seven, I'm gonna take a leap of faith here.
I'm gonna be going with San Diego.
For San Diego, they've got two really nice building blocks from a bunch of a well and they were not great on defense. They were once again in the bottom seventy five inturns, the points a lot on a per possession basis, didn't do a bad job of being able to guard the three. They really got just handled when they were down low. But you do have coming back. Wayne McKinney number two score from a season goo thirteen and a half points, shot thirty four percent from three part range. And Steven Jamerson missed the first few games of the season last year by eight and a half points, eight boards block per contest. And Keon Kenzie I think is a little bit of an upside guy. He was able to give the team about three and a half points, a little bit over two boards per contest on a guy that's gonna go out there pop it from three part range or anything like that. Was a little bit surprised though that San Diego didn't make more moves in the transfer portal than they did. They've got a few freshmen there coming in that should be able to give you out a little bit of something, But the question becomes, which of these guys out of like a Cody Klowe. They went to the junior college level to bring in a few guys. Which of these guys are really going to be able to pop? Are you going to be able to get anything out of Santiago trut who is from the roster a season ago, comes in from Argentina. He's another guy that's able hit the class about four rebounds per contest. Are you going to be able to see him at sid after he was limited to eleven games last year? But I do like the fact that they've got two tough, light guys that are going to be returning. I think that they're gonna be able to do a nice job download This team is just chalk full size. You pretty much have two guys on the roster that are shorter than six foot five, and I think that that's going to be a little bit of an issue for a lot of these teams out there.
In the WCC.
Steve Laman saw that there was a lot of weakness sound low. He was able to address that. So I did think that San Diego going to be able to make some inroads to be able to get towards the middle of the conference, especially with the bottom teams very much general rebuild. So do have San Diego at number seven in terms by projector or finish at number six.
So I'm gonna be going with Loyal and Marima.
I'm starting to be a little bit more out on our man stand the man Johnson, but I love the fact that he brings him Mayron Amy Junior. Myron Amy Junior. This guy was a double figure score over at San Jose State. He's someone that I think is really going to be able to elevate this program.
After last season.
They head on paper really nice pieces and I thought that they were going to be in the upper half of the conference. Went straight down the toilet poll for them. But Amy mj Amy. He's able to give you a fifteen half points, five boards free assistans in the Mountain West shot thirty six percent from three point range. I think that he's going to be a good floor general for the seam, a guy that's sort of been there, done that. And then Alex Murkfeld does just year in a year out. He's able to give you about ten points per game. And Jevon Porter was a little bit banged up, but he is someone that knows all about this conference. He was over at Pepperdine last year. I was talking with Connor Hope about his just pedigree, him being a relation to Michael Porter. And he's at six foot eleven, a guy that last year had sixteen points per game. Didn't Nessy shoot a grade from three, but he's still able to pop it from three point range. This guy, if he can just play a lick of defense, I do think that coach Johnson gonna be able to get a little bit more defense into this team. I do think that there's quite a bit of upside here for Loyal and Marimount. For Merimount, I just feel like they haven't necessary found their style. Like one year they go fast, one year they go slow. I feel like Stan Johnson is just sort of guessing in terms of what his team has. And they were a good three point shitting team last year. They were a top thirty five team in all of college basketball. With the guards there are three point shooting percentage, but they just couldn't generate any turnovers whatsoever. They were a bottom ten team in the country in terms of turnovers sports on a per game basis. I think that they did a nice job be able to help out with that. John Vede should be able to help out there. Caleb Son Carewell is a guy that has played for some relatively solid defenses. Over at Utah Valley last year, they were able to do a relatively rock solid job there, and he was a nice go to score over at Austin p a few seasons ago as well. I think that there's some relatively solid depth salt Loio Marrimount number six in terms of my projector or finish, and number five, I'm going with San Francisco. The Downs of San Francisco were a top thirty five team in the country in terms of rebound rate last season. That despite the fact that they had only one guy pulling in north of four rebounds per game last season, and that was Jonathan Mogbo. Guess who's out for them, Jonathan Mogbo. Now, I like Carlton lining guard what he's able to provide. He's a seven footer that last year was able to stretch a floor like Carlton Inguard shot right around about thirty four to thirty five percent from three point range. This guy is one that I really liked. Began his career over at Kansas State. He last year was over at utsa meet meat for the road Runners, where he had nine and a half points, shot relatively okay from three part range. He's able to give you about six rebounds per game, but block and a half per contest. So he's going to be able to help out this team. But we were mentioning it with Connor, the fact that you don't necessarily have a ton of size.
I do like the.
Fact that you bring back Marcus Williams, who he had that really good freshman year at Wyoming and now he spent about fifteen additional years in college basketball's never really captured that same magic, shooting about thirty four percent for three par range. But the guy that really needs to step up for them, need we do Newbery. He was able to shoot forty percent for three par range, nine and a half points, three point seven rebounds per game. I like what he's able to bring to the table. But losing out guy in Mongoli and Mike as well, who was just able to do a little bit of everything. He wasn't necessarily that go to score, but just whatever you needed out of him, he was able to provide it. That's going to be a little bit of a loss, and Malik Thomas is going to need to pick up a lot of that as well. I'm just out on East of Silva, EASTA Silva. Began his career at Stanford, did nothing there. At Long Beach Shady was about as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop, So there's some issues there. Robbie Beasley is a guy that's never really been able to form into what I was expecting, as well as both of the Beasleys to have a few question marks there. So as a result with San Francisco to have them at number five in terms of my projector or finished and number four I'm going with Washington, say this might as well be Eastern Washington two point zero because that's the way that the roster shook out, and you've got the coach of that fine team and David Riley, but I do like what he's able to bring to the table with so many of these guys. Dan Eric Strump is a guy that at six point eleven is able to pop it from three part range. Ceter Coward he had six foot four, six foot five, is oh so fearless as He's able to do such a nice job finding a way to be able to get a rebound, get second chances, he's able to pop it from three par range himself. It's really positionless basketball. It's a team that I think is going to be playing quite a bit more up tempo than they did under Kyle Smith a season ago. You're bringing Ethan Price, who does a nice job being able to give you twelve points a little bit over two assists per game. The one thing that I would say with his team is who's going to be the main guy that facilitates Because Elias Magnuson was the only guy from that Eastern Washington team a season going. Yes, I'm pretty much gonna call it Easter Washington hit this point because that's where most of these guys are coming from. That average north of two point two assists per game, So you do have to wonder who's going to be that main facilitator. Are you going to be getting a little bit more out of someone like in Isaiah Watts? Is that going to be perhaps a freshman and Marcus Wilson we shall see. By a cal Mezzi, I think is really the X factor, as I still remember when he was over in the Cuthland a few seasons ago. This guy was a microwave scorer, was limited due to injury and just stepping up a level last season while he's over at Washington. Only average four point one points per contest last season two seasons ago. Came up from the junior college level at fifteen and a half points, drilled thirty six a half percent of its series. Never though really a true facilitator, only about to assist per game while he was over at Lamar. So the question mark of who's going to facilitate it is there. But you've got guys that are able to shoot. You've got nice positionless basketball team that is going to be very much willing to play up tempo. I do think that David Riley won the good young coaches in all of college basketball get things going year at Washington safe. I've got them number four in terms of my protector or finished and number three I'm going with Santa Clara. Santa Clara brings back so much from last season. In a day and age where you see so many departures, you see so many guys decide that they're not coming back, they bring back pretty much three quarters of their scoring, including a Dama Ball. A Dama Ball is someone that I really like, a gentleman that was an international recruit of Arizona way back in the day. This past season, he was able to put up a nice syble figure amount of points per game and from three part range can be a little bit intermiss, but shot about thirty five and a half percent from three part inch is able to give you about three assists per game. And at six foot six, he's just so hard to guard and so crafty in the way that he's able to dole it out. And Santa Clara one of the better teams in terms of hitting the glass in this conference with seven foot chrisoff Tilley. I you've got a six foot ten, six foot eleven gentlemen and Johnny O'Neil who is able to pop it from three part range. Last year shot about thirty two and a half percent for three eleven points five and a half rebounds per contest. The team as a whole, they were really good at guarding the three point arc as well, top fifty team in terms of opponents three point shooting percentage. They did a nice job being able to win the battle on the last time a time again, a top fifty team in terms of their overall rebound rate as well, that I think is going to be able to win out. And then you bring back Carlos Marshall as well, Carlos Marshall thirteen points, forty two and a half percent three point shooter. As a matter of fact, each of your top four scores and five out of your top six scores from my season are back. As You've got Brenton Napper, who's missing for about ten games last season. He returns. He's a thirty eight alf percent three point shooter. You've got size, you've got rebounding, and you've got three point shooting. And in the WCC that's going to give you a shot. I've got Santa Clara as a result, number three in terms five projector or finished at number two. This should come as no surprise. It's going to be Saint Mary's. Saint Mary's a top five team in the country in terms of points a lot on a purposession basis once again last season, and it was a little bit of tough sledding in the first few games with regards to the offense. They were just missing a lot of threes early on and the schedule just lent them with a few bad matchups in general and just in general, I mean not to make excuses for them, but they just didn't play very well and then they were able to find their form. That's what Saint Mary's does. You've got Randy Bennett, one of the more respected and one of the better coaches in all of college basketball, and now he has to replace ad to Mahaney. That is going to be a very difficult task. But if there is a coach that's able to do it, it is him. And we were talking about with Conrope, the hole is greater than some of its parts with Saint Mary's because while talking about Mahine being out, and he was the top scorer for the team last season with about fourteen points, shot thirty five and a halve percent from three point inch, but Augustus mirislinis twelve and a half points, five point three assists. Does a nice, rock solid job there for a team that just doesn't beat themselves, only about ten turnovers per contest a season, goo they do such a good job on the glass in terms of percentage of opponent shots that result in an offensive rebound. Top ten team in the country. They do not give you second chances. And that top rebounder from a season ago, Mitchell Sackson, he is back in the fold after he was able to get the team right around about eleven a half points seven point six rebounds per game.
Now they do.
Lose a few pieces from the season goo not having Joshua Jefferson, that is going to hurt a little bit. But Harry Wessels is a seven foot one big man that I think is going to be able to step in take his place. Mikey Lewis is someone that's a little bit underrated as a freshman as well at six foot three. I think that he's going to be able to make so many contributions as well. And the guy that I'm really looking out for this season, I think that Jordan Ross is going to be able to have a nice season as well. And also keep in mind Ash and Hardaway, yes, of that, I had Hardaway bet agree from Memphis. He's going to be coming in and I do think that there's quite a bit of upside there as well if he's able to buy into a little bit more of a defensive approach, and I think that he's going to be able to do so the same Mary's team. They always play super duper slow, they always do a great job on defense, they always execute their stuff. I've got them number two it terms by protector or finish, and let's call it what it is. Number one in terms by protector or finish. We're going to be going with Gonzaga. Gonzaga they finished number two in the conference last year, which was a big, giant upset, but you can tell that things were just a little bit disjoined it Early on the season you had Ryan Nembar just really needing to learn the offensive general and then once he was able to find it, boy, oh boy, was he able to find it. Seven assists per contests, a top ten mark and un qualifying Division one players a season go, and really, other than Anton Watson, everyone is back Brat Enough as a freshman was able to give you nine points per contest.
He was a nice fine for the seam. Graham Ek.
He was able to work on his range last season. He didn't take a lot of threes, but when he took him, he made him. He shot thirty seven percent from three parts. Nickman was a forty one percent three point shooter a season ago. He's able to facilitate when Needa but was very good off the ball, and now you've got Michael Jai, a fifty three point shooter for within the conference, coming in as well. This team was once again back in the top ten in terms of two point shooting percentage. That's what I love about Gonzaga because we always talk about the offensive efficiency back in the top ten. It turns the points scored on a purposession basis, oh home. That happens every single year. But what is always consistent with Gonzaga because some of their teams from three point range, they're never bad from three part range, but some of them are a little bit more milk toe. Some of them are just a little bit more generous. They always do a good job driving that ball down low. They're always doing a good job being able to get good wide open two point shots. This team was able to do a very rock solid job on the glass towards the back half the season. And certainly the defense probably gonna have its question marks at not having the man of steel steal venters hurts. But when you bring in someone like a k Leaf Battle who has been a double figure scorer and multiple stuffs, was able to average fifteen points per game, albeit on an Arkansas team that was a little bit less than savory last season. But he's a career thirty five and a half percent three point shooter. I still remember that small sample size that he had at Temple Go Owels during the twenty twenty one twenty two season where you average twenty one a half points per contest. Not a guy that you need to facilitate, but you're not going to need him to. I think that he's a perfect fit for a Gonzaga team that has all sorts of weapons of great depth. I've got Gonzaga number one in terms of my protector or finish And that'll wrap things up for the WCC Conference Preview edition right here on Good Seeps now part of the VS and Family Podcasts. A big thanks to Connor Hopo of he checks Ebb for joining me and la segment. If you do like to hear him from this fine podcast, Cuts Goodsoops. Be able to subscribe over your podcast Apple Podcasts, Google Bli, Spotify, sit you're on tune in if you have a question, comment segment idea what I have be for this podcast? You have one of two baysbo for those in first one is my Twitter slash x timeline at Tuna under thirty one. Keep in mind learns them they mean does that matter, So, as per usual, please send these into the timeline. The other way is fuying an Apple podcast review if you rate this podcast so I serves it is very much appreciated, and then from there you're a fire and whatever you'd like here on this podcast via that five star review. And I'll be with you guys every single day on this podcast.
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