WCC Coaches Poll: Pilots picked 2nd

Portland Picked 2nd in WCC Coaches Poll

SAN BRUNO, Calif. --- The University of Portland was picked to finish second in the league behind Gonzaga University in the 2009-10 West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Zags received six first place votes and tallied 48 points to narrowly edge out the Pilots, which received the remaining two first place votes and collected 44 overall points. Portland’s senior backcourt of T.J. Campbell and Nik Raivio were each selected to the 10-player preseason all-conference team, joining Gonzaga’s Matt Bouldin and Stephen Gray as the only teammates on the list.

Second place is the highest the Pilots have ever been predicted in a WCC Preseason Coaches Poll. Portland finished third in the league standings last year with a 9-5 record and returns all five starters and its top 12 players this season. The best regular season finish in school history for the Pilots was tied for second with a 10-4 mark in 1995.

The 2008-09 Pilots finished 19-13 overall and advanced to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), marking the first postseason appearance for the program since 1996. Four Pilots earned All-WCC awards last season, tying for the most in school history. Campbell shared WCC Newcomer of the Year honors with Santa Clara’s Kevin Foster. Campbell was joined on the 10-player All-WCC First Team by Raivio, while junior guard Jared Stohl and senior forward Robin Smeulders were honorable mention selections.

Following Gonzaga and Portland in the preseason poll was Saint Mary’s College (34). The University of San Francisco and Santa Clara University tied for fourth with 26 points. Rounding out this year’s poll is the University of San Diego in sixth place with 21 points, followed by Pepperdine University in seventh place with 13 points, and Loyola Marymount University in eighth place with 12.

Gonzaga enters the season having won nine consecutive WCC regular season titles, marking the longest active conference title winning streak in the nation. The Zags streak is also tied for the fourth longest streak in NCAA Division I history, knotting the Bulldogs with the University of Kentucky, which won nine straight Southeastern Conference crowns from 1944-52.

The Zags will have a different look this season as 11th-year head coach Mark Few welcomes in seven newcomers and 10 players who have never played a minute of collegiate basketball. The Zags will have a few familiar faces to lead them this season, headlined by senior guard Matt Bouldin, a 2009 All-WCC and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 9 first-team selection. Bouldin, a 2009-10 John R. Wooden Award Pre-Season Top 50 Watch List member, is one of the most versatile players in the country, averaging 13.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, and handing out 3.4 apg. Bouldin is joined by junior guard Steven Gray, sophomore point guard Demetri Goodson, redshirt sophomore center Robert Sacre, and senior center Will Foster. Gray, who made 11 starts last season, averaged 9.1 ppg, to go along with 3.2 rpg, and 2.1 apg, while Goodson hit one of the most memorable shots of the 2009 NCAA Tournament to send Gonzaga to the Sweet Sixteen. Sacre, 7-0, and Foster, 7-5, give Gonzaga size up front.

Saint Mary’s, coming off a school-record 28 wins, will look toward returning starters Omar Samhan, Wayne Hunter and Mickey McConnell to lead the squad this season. Samhan, who is a fifth-year senior, enjoyed a standout junior season in which he averaged 14.1 ppg and 9.4 rpg, en route to All-WCC first team honors.

The Dons and the Broncos return two of the best players in the league. San Francisco will be led by senior forward Dior Lowhorn, who has paced the conference in scoring in each of the last two seasons, while Santa Clara returns sophomore guard Kevin Foster, who was named the WCC Co-Newcomer of the Year in his rookie season.

San Diego, Pepperdine, and Loyola Marymount round out this year’s poll and each team landed a player on the preseason all-conference team. The Toreros welcome senior guard Brandon Johnson, who was granted a medical redshirt last season, while the Waves and the Lions bring back sophomore guards Keion Bell and Jarred Dubois to lead them in 2009-10.


2009-10 WCC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Gonzaga – 48 (6)
2. Portland – 44 (2)
3. Saint Mary’s – 34
4. San Francisco – 26
Santa Clara – 26
6. San Diego – 21
7. Pepperdine – 13
8. Loyola Marymount – 12
(First place votes)

2009-10 WCC Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference
Keion Bell, PEP
Matt Bouldin, GON
T.J. Campbell, POR
Jared DuBois, LMU
Kevin Foster, SCU
Steven Gray, GON
Brandon Johnson, USD
Dior Lowhorn, USF
Nik Raivio, POR
Omar Samhan, SMC