TerpZag
10-26-2015, 03:32 PM
MBB Picked to Win WCC, Three Named Preseason All-WCC
Gonzaga enters the season with three straight conference titles
Oct. 26, 2015
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The Gonzaga men’s basketball team received all nine possible first-place votes to rank at the top of the West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Monday by league officials.
Along with being selected to win the league, three players were named to the Preseason All-WCC Team with senior center Przemek Karnowski, senior forward Kyle Wiltjer and sophomore forward Domantas Sabonis.
Gonzaga enters the season having won 14 of the last 15 WCC regular season titles and the last three in a row. The other nine league coaches all picked Gonzaga first (81 points), while BYU (72) was picked second in the poll and received the remaining first-place vote. Coaches cannot vote for their own team or players. Pepperdine was picked third with 63 overall points, just four ahead of fourth-place Saint Mary’s.
Wiltjer returns for his senior season after following up his redshirt year with a breakout performance, leading the team with 16.8 points per game and shooting a team-best .466 from behind the arc while making 68 three-pointers. The Portland, Ore., native led the team in scoring 18 times and had a team-best 30 games with double-digit points, including 11 with more than 20. His highest-scoring game of the season came at Pacific on Feb. 19, when he poured in 45 points, the third-highest single-game total ever at Gonzaga. Wiltjer became the seventh Zag to earn the WCC Newcomer of the Year Award and was named a USBWA and NABC Second Team All-American, AP Third-Team All-American, First Team All-WCC selection and WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
Karnowski returns to the Zags for his senior season after averaging 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds and earning All-WCC First Team honors. The Poland native was first on the team in blocks with 39 and second on the team with a .622 field goal percentage. Karnowski also spent the latter part of the summer and early fall with the Polish National Team playing in the European Championships, where his squad advanced out of the group stage.
Sabonis enters his second season with the Zags after leading the team with a .668 field-goal percentage as a freshman, including seven games where he was perfect from the field. The Lithuania native also led the team in rebounding at 7.1 per game and scored 9.7 points per game, while earning All-WCC Second Team honors. Sabonis hit double figures in scoring 20 times and rebounding six times. He also played for the Lithuanian National Team in the European Championships, helping his squad advance all the way to the title game, which also earned the team berth in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Last season, the Zags put together a school-record 35 wins, second-ever berth in the Elite Eight and school-record 22-game win streak. GU also captured its third straight WCC regular season and tournament titles, while advancing to a 17th consecutive NCAA Tournament, the fourth-longest active streak in the nation.
The season officially gets underway with an exhibition against Eastern Oregon at home on Nov. 7, followed by the regular-season opener in Okinawa, Japan, against Pittsburgh in the Armed Forces Classic on Nov. 13...
Gonzaga Article Link includes 2015-16 WCC Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll and 2015-16 All-WCC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team
(http://www.gozags.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/102615aaa.html)
Gonzaga enters the season with three straight conference titles
Oct. 26, 2015
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The Gonzaga men’s basketball team received all nine possible first-place votes to rank at the top of the West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Monday by league officials.
Along with being selected to win the league, three players were named to the Preseason All-WCC Team with senior center Przemek Karnowski, senior forward Kyle Wiltjer and sophomore forward Domantas Sabonis.
Gonzaga enters the season having won 14 of the last 15 WCC regular season titles and the last three in a row. The other nine league coaches all picked Gonzaga first (81 points), while BYU (72) was picked second in the poll and received the remaining first-place vote. Coaches cannot vote for their own team or players. Pepperdine was picked third with 63 overall points, just four ahead of fourth-place Saint Mary’s.
Wiltjer returns for his senior season after following up his redshirt year with a breakout performance, leading the team with 16.8 points per game and shooting a team-best .466 from behind the arc while making 68 three-pointers. The Portland, Ore., native led the team in scoring 18 times and had a team-best 30 games with double-digit points, including 11 with more than 20. His highest-scoring game of the season came at Pacific on Feb. 19, when he poured in 45 points, the third-highest single-game total ever at Gonzaga. Wiltjer became the seventh Zag to earn the WCC Newcomer of the Year Award and was named a USBWA and NABC Second Team All-American, AP Third-Team All-American, First Team All-WCC selection and WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
Karnowski returns to the Zags for his senior season after averaging 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds and earning All-WCC First Team honors. The Poland native was first on the team in blocks with 39 and second on the team with a .622 field goal percentage. Karnowski also spent the latter part of the summer and early fall with the Polish National Team playing in the European Championships, where his squad advanced out of the group stage.
Sabonis enters his second season with the Zags after leading the team with a .668 field-goal percentage as a freshman, including seven games where he was perfect from the field. The Lithuania native also led the team in rebounding at 7.1 per game and scored 9.7 points per game, while earning All-WCC Second Team honors. Sabonis hit double figures in scoring 20 times and rebounding six times. He also played for the Lithuanian National Team in the European Championships, helping his squad advance all the way to the title game, which also earned the team berth in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Last season, the Zags put together a school-record 35 wins, second-ever berth in the Elite Eight and school-record 22-game win streak. GU also captured its third straight WCC regular season and tournament titles, while advancing to a 17th consecutive NCAA Tournament, the fourth-longest active streak in the nation.
The season officially gets underway with an exhibition against Eastern Oregon at home on Nov. 7, followed by the regular-season opener in Okinawa, Japan, against Pittsburgh in the Armed Forces Classic on Nov. 13...
Gonzaga Article Link includes 2015-16 WCC Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll and 2015-16 All-WCC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team
(http://www.gozags.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/102615aaa.html)