The 2021–22 West Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in September 2021 and ended with the 2022 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament in March 2022.[1] This will be the 71st season for WCC men's basketball, and the 33rd 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, the then coach at Eastern Washington University, revealed via Twitter that he had accepted the position as the head coach at the University of Portland.[2] Then, on July 7, 2021, the University of the Pacific announced that associate head coach Leonard Perry would become the new head coach of the Tigers.[3] The former head coach, Damon Stoudamire, accepted a position as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics under Ime Udoka.[4] Perry was previously the head basketball coach at the University of Idaho from 2001 to 2006.[5]
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, Houston, and UCF) that accepted invitations to join the Big 12 Conference beginning with the 2023–24 athletic season.[6] Therefore, BYU remained a member of the WCC for this season and the 2022–23 season, with the WCC potentially dropping to nine teams for the 2023–24 season.[7] 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.[8]
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
Final
BYU
AP
RV
RV
18
12
24
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
C
18
13
23
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
Gonzaga
AP
1 (55)
1 (55)
1 (55)
3 (1)
5
5
4
4
4
2
1 (25)
2 (15)
2 (12)
2 (13)
1 (56)
1 (61)
1 (46)
1 (52)
1 (54)
C
1 (29)
1 (29)
1 (30)
3
5
5
4
4
4
2
1 (23)
1 (18)
1 (16)
1 (18)
1 (30)
1 (32)
1 (20)
1 (27)
1 (31)
Loyola
Marymount
AP
C
Pacific
AP
C
Pepperdine
AP
C
Portland
AP
C
Saint
Mary's
AP
RV
RV
22
RV
23
19
17
18
C
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
22
RV
23
20
17
16
San
Diego
AP
C
San
Francisco
AP
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
C
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
Santa
Clara
AP
C
Regular season
Conference matrix
BYU
Gonzaga
Loyola Marymount
Pacific
Pepperdine
Portland
Saint Mary's
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Clara
vs. BYU
–
2–0
0–2
1–1
0–2
0–1
1–1
0–1
1–1
1–0
vs. Gonzaga
0–2
–
0–1
0–1
0–2
0–1
1–1
0–1
0–2
0–2
vs. Loyola Marymount
2–0
1–0
–
1–1
0–1
1–1
2–0
2–0
1–0
2–0
vs. Pacific
1–1
1–0
1–1
–
1–1
2–0
0–0
2–0
1–0
2–0
vs. Pepperdine
2–0
2–0
1–0
1–1
–
2–0
2–0
2–0
2–0
1–0
vs. Portland
1–0
1–0
1–1
0–2
0–2
–
1–0
1–1
1–1
1–0
vs. Saint Mary's
1–1
1–1
0–2
0–0
0–2
0–1
–
0–2
0–2
1–1
vs. San Diego
1–0
1–0
0–2
0–2
0–2
1–1
2–0
–
2–0
2–0
vs. San Francisco
1–1
2–0
0–1
0–1
0–2
1–1
2–0
0–2
–
0–2
vs. Santa Clara
0–1
2–0
0–2
0–2
0–1
0–1
1–1
0–2
2–0
–
Total
9–6
13–1
3–12
3–11
1–15
7–7
12–3
7–9
10–6
10–5
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.