Gonzaga Should Again Be the Toast of the West Coast

Usually a wide open conference heading into the season, the West Coast Conference is far from that beginning the 1999-2000 season.

Thanks to their sweep of the regular-season and conference tournament championships and an NCAA tournament run that ended five points short of the Final Four last season, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are the clear choice to win their third consecutive WCC regular-season crown.

The Bulldogs won the conference by three games last season, but really showed their dominance in the conference tournament, winning three games by an average of nearly 20 points. Their run though the tournament brought them national recognition and put them in the Associated Press preseason poll for the first time at No. 24.

The Bulldogs return four players who have regularly started. Guards Richie Frahm and Matt Santangelo make up one of the best backcourts in the nation. Casey Calvary is an athletic big man who will dominate most WCC teams, and center Axel Dench is ready to move into the starting lineup after the graduation of Jeremy Eaton.

The Bulldogs are the WCC’s lone chance to attract the national spotlight, and they clearly have the conference’s toughest schedule, playing Cincinnati, UCLA and Washington on the road and Temple at home.

If the Bulldogs do get any competition from the WCC, it should come from Pepperdine, which tied for second last season; Santa Clara, last season’s other WCC tournament finalist, which can shoot threes with Gonzaga; or San Francisco, which will be the biggest team in the conference.

A look at the conference in alphabetical order, excluding Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount:

GONZAGA

Coach: Mark Few

1998-99: 28-7, 12-2 WCC, first place, lost in quarterfinals of NCAA tournament

Returning Starters: 3

Key Players: Matt Santangelo (12.7 ppg, 184 assists), Richie Frahm (14.4 ppg, .429 three-point percentage), Casey Calvary (6.9 rpg, .658 field-goal percentage)

Outlook: The biggest question for the Bulldogs isn’t on the floor but on the bench. Few, a 10-year assistant at Gonzaga, takes over for Dan Monson, who left to take over at Minnesota.

PORTLAND

Coach: Rob Chavez

1998-99: 9-18, 3-11 WCC, eighth place

Returning Starters: 4

Key Players: Ryan Jones (10.4 ppg), Travis Andrews (9.1 ppg)

Outlook: The Pilots, who ended last season with a 21-point blowout at the hands of Gonzaga in the opening round of the WCC tournament, had the conference’s youngest team in 1998-99. Jones was the WCC freshman of the year, but Portland has to replace Jimmie Rainwater’s 12.1 points a game and 35% three-point shooting.

SAINT MARY’S

Coach: Dave Bollwinkel

1998-99: 13-18, 5-9 WCC, sixth place

Returning Starters: 3

Key Players: Brad Millard (12.4 ppg, 92 blocked shots in 1996-97), Frank Alloco (12.1 ppg, 152 assists)

Outlook: After having him for only five games the past two seasons because of injuries, the Gaels welcome back Millard, who, at 7-foot-3 and 345 pounds, is the biggest player in Division I. While drawing most teams’ attention with his size, Millard also will have to offset the loss of Eric Schraeder, the WCC’s leading scorer and player of the year last season.

SAN DIEGO

Coach: Brad Holland

1998-99: 18-9, 9-5 WCC, tied second place

Returning Starters: 1

Key Players: Dana White (9.7 ppg, 102 assists)

Outlook: The Toreros lost four starters but do have White, an all-WCC honorable mention pick, and the conference coach of the year in Holland. Though they haven’t made much of a name for themselves, the Toreros do have the conference’s longest string of seasons with double-digit victories at 10.

SAN FRANCISCO

Coach: Philip Mathews

1998-99: 12-18, 4-10, seventh place

Returning Starters: 4

Key Players: Ali Thomas (10.4 ppg, 58 three-point baskets), James Lee (10.0 ppg, 6 rpg)

Outlook: The Dons got a lot bigger, doubling their number of players 6-9 or bigger to six. Included in that group is 7-footer Hondre Brewer and 6-10 Cal transfer Kenyon Jones, the team’s only senior. The Dons did lose guard Gerald Zimmerman, the conference’s No. 2 scorer last season.

SANTA CLARA

Coach: Dick Davey

1998-99: 14-15, 8-6 WCC, fourth place

Returning Starters: 5

Key Players: Nathan Fast (15.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Brian Jones (15.6 ppg in 1997-98)

Outlook: A year after Fast established himself as a scoring threat, finishing fourth in the conference, the Broncos get back all-WCC guard Brian Jones, who missed last season because of a knee injury. Santa Clara, picked by coaches to finish second, has 13 returning letter-winners, most by any team in the conference.