SAN FRANCISCO — Gonzaga University, ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press preseason national poll, has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2024-2025 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, with 99 points and nine first-place votes for this season.
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 WCC Basketball Championship last season, is second in the poll with 86 points and 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 during 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 with 16.5 ppg.
Ike, Nembhard, Jevon Porter (LMU) and Mitchell Saxen (Saint Mary's) were all named to the preseason team for the second straight year.
2024-25 WCC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Gonzaga: 9 votes, 99 points
2. Saint Mary's: 1 vote, 86 points
3. Santa Clara: 81 points
4. San Francisco: 1 vote, 77 points
5. Washington State: 62 points
6. LMU: 60 points
7. Oregon State: 44 points
8. Portland: 28 points AND San Diego: 28 points
10. Pacific: 23 points
11. Pepperdine: 17 points
