SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The Gonzaga Bulldogs were unanimously selected as the West Coast Conference favorite in the WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, the league office announced on Thursday. The conference's ten head coaches submitted predictions and selected the 10-player 2021-22 Preseason All-WCC Team.
The BYU Cougars picked up the other first-place vote and were picked second, followed by Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount and San Francisco rounding out the top five.
Portland was picked to finish in 10th place and did not have a representative on the Preseason All-WCC Team. Freshmen and incoming transfers were not eligible for selection.
The Pilots are looking to turn things around under first-year head coach Shantay Legans, who comes to The Bluff after a highly successful run at Eastern Washington and has built nearly an entirely new roster. Just three players return from the 2020-21 roster: Clythus Griffith Jr., Miles Turner and Wyatt Watson.
Legans has welcomed seven transfers, with three joining him from Eastern Washington – Mike Meadows, Tyler Robertson and Jack Perry. Matheus Silveira, Moses Wood, Chris Austin and Kristian Sjolund have also all transferred in from other Division I programs. Legans has also brought in seven freshmen in Yaru Harvey, Coleman Lemke, Nikola Milosevic, Chika Nduka, Matija Svetozarevic, Vasilije Vucinic and Skylar Wilson.
Portland opens the season with a Nov. 1 exhibition against Lewis & Clark at the Chiles Center and then tips off the regular season at Arizona State on Nov. 9. Portland men's basketball season tickets, group packages and youth team experiences are available now. For more ticket information, visit
PortlandPilots.com or call Dave Taylor at (503) 943-8619 to sign up for season tickets or reserve a group experience today.
2021-22 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
| Place |
Team |
First Place |
Points |
| 1. |
Gonzaga |
9 |
81 |
| 2. |
BYU |
1 |
72 |
| 3. |
Saint Mary's |
|
63 |
| 4. |
LMU |
|
56 |
| 5. |
San Francisco |
|
49 |
| 6. |
Santa Clara |
|
45 |
| 7. |
Pepperdine |
|
31 |
| 8. |
Pacific |
|
24 |
| 9. |
San Diego |
|
20 |
| 10. |
Portland |
|
9 |
| 2021-22 Men's Basketball Preseason All-WCC Team |
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
| Alex Barcello |
Sr.* |
G |
BYU |
| Jamaree Bouyea |
Sr.* |
G |
San Francisco |
| Logan Johnson |
Sr. |
G |
Saint Mary's |
| Caleb Lohner |
So. |
F |
BYU |
| Andrew Nembhard |
Sr. |
G |
Gonzaga |
| Eli Scott |
Sr.* |
G/F |
LMU |
| Khalil Shabazz |
Sr. |
G |
San Francisco |
| Drew Timme |
Jr. |
F |
Gonzaga |
| Josip Vrankic |
Sr.* |
F |
Santa Clara |
| Jalen Williams |
Jr. |
G |
Santa Clara |
*COVID Senior
