The 2021–22

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

men's basketball season will begin with practices in September 2021 and will end with the 2022

West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament The West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual concluding tournament for the NCAA college basketball in the West Coast Conference (WCC). The winner of the tournament each year is guaranteed a place in the NCAA Division I men's ...

in March 2022. This will be the 71st season for WCC men's basketball, and the 33nd 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.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Two new head coaches will lead their team in the WCC during the 2021-22 season. On March 22, 2021,

Shantay Legans Shantay Andrade Legans (born July 30, 1981) is an American college basketball coach who is currently men's basketball head coach at Portland Pilots men's basketball, Portland. Legans grew up in Goleta, California and played college basketball at ...

, the then coach at

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington. It also offers programs at a campus in EWU Spokane at the Riverpoint Campus and other campus locations throughout the state. Founded in 1882, the university is ...

, revealed via Twitter that he had accepted the position as the head coach at the University of Portland. Then, on July 7, 2021, the University of the Pacific announced that associate head coach

Leonard Perry Leonard Perry Jr. (born June 13, 1968) is an American college basketball coach, currently head coach at the University of the Pacific. Originally from Dallas, Perry played college basketball at McLennan Community College and the University of Id ...

would become the new head coach of the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

. The former head coach,

Damon Stoudamire Damon Lamon Stoudamire (born September 3, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) The , point guard was selected ...

, accepted a position as an assistant coach with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

under

Ime Udoka Ime Sunday Udoka ( ; born August 9, 1977) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), currently suspended by the team for the 2 ...

. Perry was previously the head basketball coach at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

from 2001–2006.

Coaches

''Notes:'' * Year at school includes 2021–22 season. * Overall and WCC records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the 2021–22 season.

Preseason

Conference realignment

On September 10, 2021, BYU was one of four schools (the others being

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

) that accepted invitations to join the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

beginning with the 2023-24 athletic season. Therefore, BYU will remain a member of the WCC for the current season and the 2022–23 season, with the WCC potentially dropping to 9 teams for the 2023-24 season. West Coast Conference commissioner Gloria Nevarez indicated that the conference is open to adding additional schools to the conference to ensure "continued success" for the league.

Preseason poll

All-WCC Preseason Men's Basketball team

Rankings

Regular season

Conference matrix

Early season tournaments

The following table summarizes the multiple-team events (MTE) or early season tournaments in which teams from the West Coast Conference will participate.

WCC Player/Freshman of the Week

Throughout the year, the West Coast Conference names a player of the week and a freshman of the week as follows:

National Awards and Teams

All-Americans

The following WCC players were named as national All-Americans as follows:

Other National Awards

The following WCC players were named to national award watch lists and received awards as follows:

Wooden Award - Player of the Year

Naismith Award - Player of the Year

Lute Olson - Player of the Year

Bob Cousy Award - Point Guard

Jerry West Award - Shooting Guard

Julius Erving Award - Small Forward

Karl Malone Award - Power Forward

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award - Center

All-WCC Awards and Teams

On March 2, 2022, the West Coast Conference announced the following awards:

Postseason

West Coast Conference tournament

Gonzaga defeated Saint Mary's 82–69 in the Championship game to win the tournament on March 8. Mark Few was the winning coach and Andrew Nembhard was named the MVP of the tournament.

NCAA tournament

Three teams from the WCC participated in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga received the automatic bid from the WCC and the #1 overall seed. Gonzaga advanced to the Sweet 16, where they were defeated by Arkansas 74–68. Saint Mary's received a 5 seed as an at-large selection and advanced to the second round where they were defeated by UCLA 72–56. San Francisco received a 10 seed as an at-large selection but was defeated in overtime in the first round 92–87 by Murray State.

National Invitation Tournament (NIT)

BYU and Santa Clara participated in the 2022 NIT. BYU received a 2 seed and advanced to the Quarterfinals where they lost to Washington State 77–58 while Santa Clara lost in the first round to Washington State 63–50.

College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournament

No teams from the WCC participated in the 2022 CBI Tournament.

The Basketball Classic (TBC)

Portland received an invitation to and participated in the 2022 TBC. Portland defeated New Orleans in the first round but lost to Southern Utah in the quarterfinals 77–66.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 West Coast Conference men's basketball season 2021–22 West Coast Conference men's basketball season