2025–26 West Coast Conference men's basketball season

2025–26 West Coast Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportMen's basketball
Teams12
TV partner(s)CBSSN, ESPN, ESPN+
Regular season
Season championsGonzaga and Saint Mary's
Season MVPGraham Ike, Gonzaga
Tournament
VenueOrleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
ChampionsGonzaga
  Runners-upSanta Clara
Finals MVPGraham Ike, Gonzaga
2025–26 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 12 Gonzaga † 16 – 2   .889 31 – 4   .886
No. 22 Saint Mary's 16 – 2   .889 27 – 6   .818
Santa Clara 15 – 3   .833 26 – 9   .743
Oregon State 9 – 9   .500 17 – 16   .515
San Francisco 8 – 10   .444 17 – 16   .515
Pacific 8 – 10   .444 18 – 15   .545
Seattle 8 – 10   .444 21 – 14   .600
Washington State 7 – 11   .389 12 – 20   .375
Portland 6 – 12   .333 15 – 19   .441
Loyola Marymount 6 – 12   .333 15 – 17   .469
San Diego 5 – 13   .278 12 – 21   .364
Pepperdine 4 – 14   .222 9 – 23   .281
† 2026 WCC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 West Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in September 2025 and will end with the 2026 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament in March 2026. This is the 75th season for WCC men's basketball, and the 37th 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. Saint Mary's was the defending regular season champion while Gonzaga was the defending tournament champion.

This season marked the return of Seattle, who rejoined after departing following the 1979–80 season,[1] along with the final season for Gonzaga, Oregon State and Washington State, who leave for the resumption of the Pac-12 in the 2026–27 season.[2]

Head coaches

No coaching changes were made in the offseason.

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years

at school

Overall

record

WCC

record

WCC

Tournament record

NCAA

Tournaments

Sweet

Sixteens

Gonzaga Mark Few Gonzaga (asst.) 27 750–153 (.831) 358–40 (.899) 54–6 (.900) 25 13
Loyola Marymount Stan Johnson Marquette (asst.) 6 72–73 (.497) 32–45 (.416) 3–5 (.273) 0 0
Oregon State Wayne Tinkle Grand Canyon (asst.) 12 160–190 (.457) 10–8 (.556) 0–1 (.000) 2 1
Pacific Dave Smart Texas Tech (asst.) 2 9–24 (.273) 4–14 (.222) 0–1 (.000) 0 0
Pepperdine Ed Schilling Grand Canyon (asst.) 2 13–22 (.371) 4–14 (.222) 3–1 (.750) 0 0
Portland Shantay Legans Eastern Washington 5 57–75 (.432) 24–40 (.370) 3–4 (.429) 1 0
Saint Mary's Randy Bennett Saint Louis (asst.) 24 562–222 (.717) 288–97 (.738) 30–20 (.600) 11 1
San Diego Steve Lavin St. John's 4 35–62 (.361) 13–37 (.260) 2–3 (.400) 8 4
San Francisco Chris Gerlufsen San Francisco (asst.) 4 68–35 (.660) 32–19 (.627) 4–3 (.571) 0 0
Santa Clara Herb Sendek Arizona State 9 160–120 (.571) 77–62 (.554) 6–9 (.400) 8 1
Seattle Chris Victor Seattle (asst.) 5 80–53 (.602) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0
Washington State David Riley Eastern Washington 2 19–15 (.559) 8–10 (.444) 1–1 (.500) 0 0

Notes:

  • Year at school includes 2025–26 season.
  • Overall and WCC records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the 2025–26 season.

Preseason

Preseason poll

2025-26 WCC Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll[3]
Rank Team (First Place Votes) Points
1. Gonzaga (9) 119
2. Saint Mary's (2) 109
3. San Francisco (1) 98
4. Santa Clara 92
5. Oregon State 76
6. Washington State 69
7. Loyola Marymount 61
8. Seattle 53
9. San Diego 36
10. Pacific 32
11. Pepperdine 24
12. Portland 23

All-WCC Preseason Men's Basketball team

Honor Recipient
Preseason All-WCC Team Ryan Beasley, San Francisco
Thierry Darlan, Santa Clara
Braden Huff, Gonzaga
Graham Ike, Gonzaga
Mikey Lewis, Saint Mary's
Elijah Mahi, Santa Clara
Paulius Murauskas, Saint Mary's
Elias Ralph, Pacific
Tyrone Riley IV, San Francisco
Harry Wessels, Saint Mary's

Regular season

Rankings

See also: 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball 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		 Wk
20		 Final
Gonzaga AP 21 19 13 12 11 8 7 7 7* 8 9 8 6 6 12 11 9 12 12 12
C 20 19 12 10 11 7 7 7 7 8 9 8 6 5 11 8 9 12 12 10
Loyola Marymount AP *
C
Oregon State AP *
C
Pacific AP *
C
Pepperdine AP *
C
Portland AP *
C
Saint Mary's AP RV RV RV RV RV RV * RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 21 21 22
C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 21 21 22
San Diego AP *
C
San Francisco AP *
C
Santa Clara AP RV * RV RV RV RV
C RV RV
Seattle AP *
C
Washington State AP *
C

*AP did not release a week 9 poll.

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.[4]

Team Tournament Dates Result
Gonzaga Players Era Festival November 24–26 2nd
Loyola Marymount Sunshine Slam November 24–25 3rd
Oregon State Paradise Jam November 21–24 8th
Pacific Sunshine Slam November 24–25 1st
Pepperdine Acrisure Series November 26 ―
Portland Portland Invitational November 21–23 2nd
Saint Mary's Battle 4 Atlantis November 26–28 2nd
San Diego Acrisure Series November 25 ―
San Francisco Acrisure Holiday Classic November 27–28 4th
Santa Clara Acrisure Invitational November 27–28 3rd
Seattle Resorts World Classic November 27–28 2nd
Washington State Maui Invitational November 24–26 4th

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:

Week Date Player of the Week School Freshman of the Week School
1[5] November 10, 2025 Josiah Lake II Oregon State Joel Foxwell Portland
2[6] November 17, 2025 Graham Ike Gonzaga Liam Campbell Saint Mary's
3[7] November 24, 2025 Myron Amey Jr. LMU Joel Foxwell (2) Portland
4[8] December 1, 2025 Paulius Murauskas Saint Mary's Ace Glass Washington State
5[9] December 8, 2025 Braden Huff Gonzaga Allen Graves Santa Clara
6[10] December 15, 2025 Graham Ike (2) Joel Foxwell (3) Portland
7[11] December 22, 2025 Braden Huff (2) Ace Glass (2) Washington State
8[12] December 29, 2025 Elijah Mahi Santa Clara Dillan Shaw Saint Mary's
9[13] January 5, 2026 Paulius Murauskas (2) Saint Mary's Joel Foxwell (4) Portland
10[14] January 12, 2026 Graham Ike (3) Gonzaga Joel Foxwell (5)
Sash Gavalyugov Santa Clara
11[15] January 19, 2026 Christian Hammond Santa Clara Allen Graves (2)
12[16] January 26, 2026 Paulius Murauskas (3) Saint Mary's Ace Glass (3) Washington State
13[17] February 2, 2026 Graham Ike (3) Gonzaga Allen Graves (3) Santa Clara
14[18] February 9, 2026 Joel Foxwell Portland Allen Graves (4)
Joel Foxwell (6) Portland
15[19] February 16, 2026 Graham Ike (4) Gonzaga Allen Graves (5) Santa Clara
16[20] February 23, 2026 Elijah Mahi (2) Santa Clara Joel Foxwell (7) Portland
17[21] March 2, 2026 Mikey Lewis Saint Mary's Allen Graves (6) Santa Clara

Honors and Awards

All-WCC Major Awards

On March 3, 2026, the West Coast Conference announced the following awards:[22]

2026 All-West Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Major Awards
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Graham Ike, Gonzaga
Coach of the Year Herb Sendek, Santa Clara
Defensive Player of the Year Will Heimbrodt, Seattle
Newcomer of the Year David Fuchs, San Francisco
Sixth Man of the Year Allen Graves, Santa Clara
Freshman of the Year

All-WCC teams

2026 Big East Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams[23]
First Team Second Team Freshman Team Honorable Mention
Joshua Dent, Saint Mary's
Joel Foxwell, Portland
Allen Graves, Santa Clara
Christian Hammond, Santa Clara
Graham Ike, Gonzaga
Josiah Lake II, Oregon State
Mikey Lewis, Saint Mary's
Elijah Mahi, Santa Clara
Paulius Murauskas, Saint Mary's
Elias Ralph, Pacific 		Ryan Beasley, San Francisco
David Fuchs, San Francisco
Ace Glass, Washington State
Brayden Maldonado, Seattle
Tyrone Riley IV, San Francisco
 Davis Fogle, Gonzaga
Joel Foxwell, Portland
Ace Glass, Washington State
Allen Graves, Santa Clara
Mario Saint-Supéry, Gonzaga
Dillan Shaw, Saint Mary's 		Myron Amey Jr., Loyola Marymount
Rodney Brown Jr., Loyola Marymount
Aaron Clark, Pepperdine
ND Okafor, Washington State
Jalen Shelly, Loyola Marymount
Isaiah Sy, Oregon State
TJ Wainwright, Pacific
Junseok Yeo, Seattle

Postseason

WCC Tournament

Main article: 2026 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament
First round
Thursday, March 5		Second round
Friday, March 6		Third round
Saturday, March 7		Quarterfinals
Sunday, March 8		Semifinals
Monday, March 9		Championship
Tuesday, March 10
112 Gonzaga65
4Oregon State784Oregon State56
5San Francisco825San Francisco77112 Gonzaga79
8Washington State689Portland653Santa Clara68
9Portland779Portland74221 Saint Mary's71
12Pepperdine683Santa Clara763Santa Clara76
6Pacific616Pacific68
7Seattle587Seattle58
10Loyola Marymount6211San Diego56
11San Diego66

Source:[24]

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Seed Region School First round Second round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship
3 West Gonzaga W 73–64 vs. (14) Kennesaw State L 68–74 vs. (11) Texas DNP
7 South Saint Mary's L 50–63 vs. (10) Texas A&M DNP
10 Midwest Santa Clara L 84–89 (OT) vs. (7) Kentucky DNP
W–L (%): 1–2 (.333) 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–)
Total: 1–3 (.250)

NIT

Main article: 2026 National Invitation Tournament
Seed Region School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
4 Auburn Seattle W 67–52 vs. St. Thomas L 85–91 vs. (1) Auburn DNP
W–L (%): 1–0 (1.000) 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–)
Total: 1–1 (.500)

References

  1. ^ "Seattle University Officially Rejoins The West Coast Conference". wccsports.com.
  2. ^ "Gonzaga Accepts Invitation to Join Pac-12 Conference". Gonzaga University.
  3. ^ "Gonzaga Picked to Win 2025-26 WCC Men's Basketball Championship". wccsports.com. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
  4. ^ Dobbertean, Chris (June 28, 2025). "2025-26 Men's College Basketball Exempt Multi-Team Event (MTE) Tracker". SB Nation. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  5. ^ "Lake II And Foxwell Win First West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Players Of The Week In 2025-26". wccsports.com. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
  6. ^ "Ike And Campbell Win West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  7. ^ "Amey Jr. And Foxwell Win West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  8. ^ "Murauskas And Glass Win West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved December 1, 2025.
  9. ^ "Huff And Graves Win This Week's West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  10. ^ "Ike And Foxwell Win Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  11. ^ "Huff and Glass Win Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  12. ^ "Mahi And Shaw Win Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  13. ^ "Murauskas And Foxwell Win Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  14. ^ "Ike Wins Men's Basketball Player Of The Week For Third Time This Season". wccsports.com. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  15. ^ "Santa Clara Sweeps Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
  16. ^ "Murauskas Once Again Wins Men's Basketball Player Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  17. ^ "Ike And Graves Win Men's Basketball Players Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved February 2, 2026.
  18. ^ "Foxwell Wins Two Men's Basketball Player Of The Week Awards". wccsports.com. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  19. ^ "Ike Tabbed Men's Basketball Player Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved February 16, 2026.
  20. ^ "Mahi Wins Men's Basketball Player Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
  21. ^ "Lewis Wins Men's Basketball Player Of The Week". wccsports.com. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  22. ^ "West Coast Conference Announces 2025-26 Men's Basketball All-Conference Awards". March 3, 2026.
  23. ^ "2025-26 All-BIG EAST Teams Announced". www.bigeast.com. March 9, 2025.
  24. ^ "2026 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship - West Coast Conference". wccsports.com. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
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