2016–17 West Coast Conference men's basketball season
# 2016–17 West Coast Conference men's basketball season

The 2016–17 West Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices on September 30, 2016 and ended with the 2017 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament March 2–7, 2017. The regular season began on November 11, 2016, with the conference schedule starting December 29, 2016. This was the 66th season for WCC men's basketball, and the 28th under its current name of "West Coast Conference". The conference was founded in 1952 as the California Basketball Association, became the West Coast Athletic Conference in 1956, and dropped the word "Athletic" in 1989.

On February 18, 2017, Gonzaga clinched a share of the regular season title with win over Pacific. The title was Gonzaga's 16th title in the prior 17 years. Gonzaga clinched the outright regular season conference title on February 24 by beating San Diego.

For the ninth consecutive year, the West Coast Conference tournament was held at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada from March 3 through March 7, 2017. Gonzaga, appearing in the conference final for the 20th consecutive year, defeated Saint Mary's to win the conference championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Gonzaga's Nigel Williams-Goss was awarded Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year by the conference. Gonzaga's Mark Few was named coach of the year for the 11th time.

Two WCC schools received bids to the NCAA tournament: Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. Gonzaga received the No. 1 seed in the West region. Gonzaga advanced to the National Championship for the first time in school history, losing to North Carolina. The conference's record in the Tournament was 6–2. BYU also received a postseason bid to the National Invitation Tournament while San Francisco received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational tournament.

## Head coaches

### Coaching changes

* On March 3, 2016, it was announced that Pacific head coach Ron Verlin was no longer employed by the university. Interim coach Mike Burns was also released from his employment with the school. On March 16, the school announced that Damon Stoudamire would be the new head coach.
* On March 7, 2016, head coach Kerry Keating was fired by Santa Clara. On March 29, the school hired Herb Sendek as head coach.
* On March 9, 2016, San Francisco head coach Rex Walters was fired. On March 30, the school hired Kyle Smith as head coach.
* On March 15, 2016, Portland fired head coach Eric Reveno. He finished at Portland with a 10-year record of 140–178. On April 1, the school announced that Terry Porter had been hired as head coach.

### Coaches

| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | WCC record | WCC Tournament record | NCAA Tournaments | Sweet Sixteens |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| BYU | Dave Rose | Dixie State | 12 | 283–99 (.741) | 61–25 (.709) | 6–5 (.545) | 8 | 1 |
| Gonzaga | Mark Few | Gonzaga (asst.) | 18 | 466–111 (.808) | 226–28 (.890) | 36–4 (.900) | 17 | 6 |
| Loyola Marymount | Mike Dunlap | Charlotte Bobcats | 3 | 22–40 (.355) | 10–26 (.278) | 1–2 (.333) | 0 | 0 |
| Pacific | Damon Stoudamire | Memphis Grizzlies (asst.) | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 |
| Pepperdine | Marty Wilson | Pepperdine (assoc.) | 7 | 76–91 (.455) | 39–61 (.390) | 3–6 (.333) | 0 | 0 |
| Portland | Terry Porter | N/A | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 |
| Saint Mary's | Randy Bennett | Saint Louis (asst.) | 16 | 333–131 (.718) | 154–68 (.694) | 17–13 (.567) | 5 | 1 |
| San Diego | Lamont Smith | New Mexico (asst.) | 2 | 9–21 (.300) | 4–14 (.222) | 0–1 (.000) | 0 | 0 |
| San Francisco | Kyle Smith | Columbia | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 |
| Santa Clara | Herb Sendek | Arizona State | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 8 | 1 |

Notes:

* Year at school includes 2016–17 season.
* Overall and WCC records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the 2016–17 season.

## Preseason

### Preseason poll

Source

| Rank | Team |
| - | - |
| 1. | Gonzaga (7) |
| 2. | Saint Mary's (3) |
| 3. | BYU |
| 4. | Pepperdine |
| 5. | Santa Clara |
| 6. | Loyola Marymount |
| 7. | Pacific |
| 8. | Portland |
| 9. | San Francisco |
| 10. | San Diego |
| (first place votes) ||

### All-WCC Preseason Men's Basketball team

| Recipient | School |
| - | - |
| Jared Brownridge | Santa Clara |
| Nick Emery | BYU |
| Przemek Karnowski | Gonzaga |
| Eric Mika | BYU |
| Lamond Murray Jr. | Pepperdine |
| Emmett Naar | Saint Mary’s |
| Josh Perkins | Gonzaga |
| Dane Pineau | Saint Mary’s |
| Joe Rahon | Saint Mary’s |
| Alec Wintering | Portland |

Source

## Rankings

Legend :

| | Improvement in ranking |
| - | - |
| | Drop in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll |
| (Italics) | Number of first place votes |
| | | Pre/ Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Post |
| BYU | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| BYU | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Gonzaga | AP | 14 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 (46) | 1 (59) | 1 (60) | 1 (60) | 4 (2) | 4 (1) | 2 (6) | |
| Gonzaga | C | 13 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 (3) | 3 (3) | 1 (24) | 1 (28) | 1 (29) | 1 (29) | 4 (1) | 4 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 |
| Loyola Marymount | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Loyola Marymount | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pacific | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pacific | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pepperdine | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pepperdine | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Portland | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Portland | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Saint Mary's | AP | 17 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 21 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 22 | |
| Saint Mary's | C | 19 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 21 | NR |
| San Diego | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| San Diego | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| San Francisco | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| San Francisco | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Santa Clara | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Santa Clara | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## WCC regular season

### Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

| | BYU | Gonzaga | LMU | Pacific | Pepperdine | Portland | Saint Mary's | San Diego | San Francisco | Santa Clara |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| vs. Brigham Young | – | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| vs. Gonzaga | 1–1 | – | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| vs. Loyola Marymount | 2–0 | 2–0 | – | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. Pacific | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Pepperdine | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Portland | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Saint Mary's | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| vs. San Diego | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. San Francisco | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | – | 1–1 |
| vs. Santa Clara | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | – |
| Total | 12–6 | 17–1 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 5–13 | 2–16 | 16–2 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 10–8 |

## All-WCC awards and teams

On February 28, the conference announced conference awards.

| Honor | Recipient |
| - | - |
| Player of the Year | Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga |
| Coach of the Year | Mark Few, Gonzaga |
| Newcomer of the Year | Joe Rahon, Saint Mary’s |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga |
| All-WCC First Team | Jared Brownridge, Santa Clara |
| All-WCC First Team | T. J. Haws, BYU |
| All-WCC First Team | Calvin Hermanson, Saint Mary's |
| All-WCC First Team | Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga |
| All-WCC First Team | Jock Landale, Saint Mary's |
| All-WCC First Team | Eric Mika, BYU |
| All-WCC First Team | Lamond Murray Jr., Pepperdine |
| All-WCC First Team | Joe Rahon, Saint Mary's |
| All-WCC First Team | Johnathan Williams, Gonzaga |
| All-WCC First Team | Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga |
| All-WCC Second Team | Brett Bailey, San Diego |
| All-WCC Second Team | Ronnie Boyce III, San Francisco |
| All-WCC Second Team | Brandon Brown, Loyola Marymount |
| All-WCC Second Team | Zach Collins, Gonzaga |
| All-WCC Second Team | K. J. Feagin, Santa Clara |
| All-WCC Freshman Team | Yoeli Childs, BYU |
| All-WCC Freshman Team | Zach Collins, Gonzaga |
| All-WCC Freshman Team | T. J. Haws, BYU |
| All-WCC Freshman Team | Charles Minlend, San Francisco |
| All-WCC Freshman Team | Jordan Ratinho, San Francisco |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | Olin Carter III, San Diego |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | Jazz Johnson, Portland |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | Nate Kratch, Santa Clara |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | Jordan Mathews, Gonzaga |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | Emmett Naar, Saint Mary’s |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | Josh Perkins, Gonzaga |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | Chris Reyes, Pepperdine |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | Buay Tuach, Loyola Marymount |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | T. J. Wallace, Pacific |
| All-WCC Honorable Mention | Alec Wintering, Portland |

## Postseason

### West Coast Conference tournament

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup | Score | Television |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| First round – Friday, March 3 ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 6:00 PM | No. 8 Pepperdine vs. No. 9 Pacific | 84–89 | BYUtv |
| 1 | 2 | 8:00 PM | No. 7 San Diego vs. No. 10 Portland | 55–60 | BYUtv |
| Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 4 ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 1:00 PM | No. 3 BYU vs. No. 6 Loyola Marymount | 89–81 | BYUtv/RTRM/CSNBA |
| 2 | 4 | 3:00 PM | No. 4 Santa Clara vs. No. 5 San Francisco | 76–69 | BYUtv/RTRM/CSNBA |
| 3 | 5 | 7:00 PM | No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 9 Pacific | 82–50 | ESPN2 |
| 3 | 6 | 9:00 PM | No. 2 Saint Mary's vs. No. 10 Portland | 81–58 | ESPN2 |
| Semifinals – Monday, March 6 ||||||
| 4 | 7 | 6:00 PM | No. 1 Gonzaga vs No. 4 Santa Clara | 77–68 | ESPN |
| 4 | 8 | 8:30 PM | No. 2 Saint Mary's vs No. 3 BYU | 81–50 | ESPN2 |
| Championship – Tuesday, March 7 ||||||
| 5 | 9 | 6:00 PM | No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 2 Saint Mary's | 74–56 | ESPN |
| *Game times in PT. Rankings denote tournament seeding. ||||||

### NCAA tournament

The winner of the WCC tournament, Gonzaga, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Saint Mary's received an at-large bid to the Tournament.

| Seed | Region | School | First Four | First round | Second round | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | West | Gonzaga | N/A | defeated (16) South Dakota State 66–46 | defeated (8) Northwestern 79–73 | defeated (4) West Virginia 61–58 | defeated (11) Xavier 83–59 | defeated (7 E) South Carolina 77–73 | eliminated by (1 S) North Carolina 65–71 |
| 7 | West | Saint Mary's | N/A | defeated (10) VCU 85–77 | eliminated by (2) Arizona 60–69 | | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 0–0 (–) | 2–0 (1.000) | 1–1 (.500) | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) Total: 6–2 (.750) |
