This article is part of our Conference Preview series.
Gonzaga is coming off the most successful run for a West Coast Conference team in the NCAA Tournament in the conference's history. The Zags broke through their previously set ceiling to advance to the championship before losing to North Carolina in an ugly game that included many, many fouls. Coming off such a successful season, we should just hand the 2017-18 championship to the Bulldogs, right? Gonzaga should be good once again, but they may not be favored against the excellent St. Mary's Gaels, who return their top three scorers from a team that went 29-5. St. Mary's will be looking for revenge after being beaten three times by Gonzaga to account for 60 percent of last year's losses.
Top Three Players
Jock Landale (C)
The Gaels entered the 2016-17 season with a deep and experienced backcourt, but some questions in terms of bigs. Landale answered all of those questions and gave St. Mary's the balance they needed to be a factor in March. The 6-foot-11 native of Australia blossomed into an effective paint player to provide 16.9 points and 9.5 rebounds. He had 17 double-doubles. One of the reasons St. Mary's couldn't topple Gonzaga was that Landale accrued foul trouble in each of the three losses against the massive Bulldog frontline. If Landale can play more than 26 minutes against Gonzaga, we may have a new WCC champion.
T.J. Haws (G) 
The Haws dynasty continues provisionally. BYU received four strong years from Tyler Haws. His younger brother T.J. moved
Gonzaga is coming off the most successful run for a West Coast Conference team in the NCAA Tournament in the conference's history. The Zags broke through their previously set ceiling to advance to the championship before losing to North Carolina in an ugly game that included many, many fouls. Coming off such a successful season, we should just hand the 2017-18 championship to the Bulldogs, right? Gonzaga should be good once again, but they may not be favored against the excellent St. Mary's Gaels, who return their top three scorers from a team that went 29-5. St. Mary's will be looking for revenge after being beaten three times by Gonzaga to account for 60 percent of last year's losses.
Top Three Players
Jock Landale (C)The Gaels entered the 2016-17 season with a deep and experienced backcourt, but some questions in terms of bigs. Landale answered all of those questions and gave St. Mary's the balance they needed to be a factor in March. The 6-foot-11 native of Australia blossomed into an effective paint player to provide 16.9 points and 9.5 rebounds. He had 17 double-doubles. One of the reasons St. Mary's couldn't topple Gonzaga was that Landale accrued foul trouble in each of the three losses against the massive Bulldog frontline. If Landale can play more than 26 minutes against Gonzaga, we may have a new WCC champion.
T.J. Haws (G)
The Haws dynasty continues provisionally. BYU received four strong years from Tyler Haws. His younger brother T.J. moved in last year to continue the brotherly excellence. He averaged 13.8 points with 3.2 assists and hit 40.4 percent of his 3-pointers. Haws had his best scoring game against Gonzaga on Feb. 2 with 29 points in a loss. The Cougars should be able to beat many opponents because of their backcourt excellence with Nick Emery and Elijah Bryant joining Haws. In order to challenge St. Mary's and Gonzaga, the Cougars will need some standup performances from the frontcourt.
KJ Feagin (G) 
There once was a point guard who attended Santa Clara named Steve Nash. He went on to be two-time WCC Player of the Year and two-time NBA MVP. No one is comparing Feagin to Nash yet, but it is worth noting that the 6-1 guard had a more productive freshman season and similar stats as a sophomore compared to the most famous Bronco basketball player. Last year, Feagin scored 14.6 points with 3.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists. He hit 49 percent of his 3-pointers, but was able to play off of Jared Brownridge. The junior will face the teeth of opponents' defenses and will need to stay healthy. He missed the first 12 games of the season after breaking his foot in October, then missed the WCC tournament after suffering a concussion.
Top Newcomers
Isaiah Wright (G)
The WCC is on the rise in general, but the conference still does not attract many top-level recruits. Therefore, teams have to look for transfers to patch holes. Last season, the Toreros did not have a player average more than 2.6 assists and the team averaged just 12.1 assists. Wright, a transfer from Utah, should help the team facilitate the offense. The 6-2 junior came off the bench for two seasons as a Ute and averaged 1.5 assists in 13.4 minutes in 2015-16. He converted 37.3 percent of his 3-pointers and could be a nice surprise for San Diego.
Cullen Neal (G)
As noted above, the Gaels have most of their starters returning. Point guard Joe Rahon played out his eligibility, so the one hole in the starting lineup is in the backcourt. Neal, a graduate transfer from Ole Miss, should step in and provide perimeter support for St. Mary's. The 6-5 guard hit 40.9 percent for the Rebels last season to provide 9.4 points in a support role. He also hit better than 40 percent of his field goals for the first time in his career. Neal won't bring Rahon's playmaking ability, but he should be able to step into the lineup and knock down open treys for the Gaels.
Jesse Wade (G) 
Wade could fit into either the sleeper or newcomer category. The 6-1 guard is returning from a two-year Mormon mission and could factor into the Zag backcourt that will look to replace Nigel Williams-Goss. Josh Perkins will serve as a the starting point guard, but has a 1.5:1.0 assist-to-turnover ratio over his career. Wade is a shoot-first point guard who hit 45 percent of his 3-pointers as a high school senior on his way to 26.8 points. He may need to shake off some rust from his two-year layoff, but he could be a big factor in the Gonzaga backcourt rotation.
Pair of Sleepers
Matthew Atewe (C)
Atewe has been around the college basketball scene since 2013-14 when he was a freshman with Auburn. He suffered a stress fracture and did not play in 2014-15, then transferred to Washington where he never found a consistent place in the rotation before leaving the team. He landed with the Waves and could be a major contributor for coach Marty Wilson. The 6-8 forward averaged 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 14.4 minutes for the Huskies last season and should lead Pepperdine in both categories … if he can stay healthy.
Josh McSwiggan (F) 
I like to go deep for sleepers and McSwiggan is a deep sleeper for the Pilots. The 6-7 redshirt sophomore originally was slated to play for UTEP, but transferred to Casper College last season. He averaged 13.6 points and 5.1 rebounds as a freshman and could fit one of the many empty spaces in the Pilot starting lineup for coach Terry Porter. McSwiggan represented the United Kingdom national team in Under-16 through 20 stages and was the Luol Deng Camp MVP when he was 15. He has played on an international stage and could use those experiences to help Portland reach the upper half of the WCC.
