Gonzaga Basketball Players Paid the Latest Petty Price of Conference Realignment

The West Coast Conference on Tuesday announced its all-conference teams and major award winners after the conclusion of its regular season.

And one thing was immediately noticeable.

Just one Bulldogs player—Graham Ike—made the All-West Coast Conference first team, no players made the second team or were honorable mentions, and just two players—guards Davis Fogle and Mario Saint-Supery—were named to the freshman team. Ike, the conference’s leading scorer, took home Player of the Year honors. But the Bulldogs were otherwise noticeably absent from the rest of the six major awards.

For a Bulldogs team that went 28–3, finished first in the conference and was statistically one of the 20 best defensive teams in the country, it's pretty shocking that just three players were honored. Two of the Bulldogs best players, forward Braden Huff and guard Jalen Warley, dealt with some injuries throughout the year, undoubtedly impacting their likelihood of taking home an award or making one of the all-conference teams. But the fact that neither Huff, Warley nor defensive ace Tyon Grant-Foster earned even an honorable mention is fishy.

And there may be an explanation for it.

Did the West Coast Conference get a parting shot in at Gonzaga before move to Pac-12?

We’ll never know for sure, but it sure seems like it. A member of the WCC since 1979, in October 2024 Gonzaga announced it had accepted an invitation to join the rebuilt Pac-12 as a member in all sports it participates in beginning in July 2026. The conference released a statement acknowledging the news and recognizing Gonzaga’s contributions to the conference, which benefited from the men’s basketball program’s streak of reaching 26 consecutive NCAA tournaments—a run that will soon extend to 27.

WCC commissioner Stu Jackson told The Colorado Springs Gazette in January that he still believed his conference could be a hoops power sans Gonzaga.

“I believe it can, but it’s not gonna be without a challenge,” Jackson said. “We recognize Gonzaga leaving our conference [is] a loss for us. It’s a loss in terms of our brand, it’s a loss competitively. I don’t know that there’s another institution that has ever or ever will be a mid-major school like Gonzaga [and] perform at the level they did [and do].

“I don’t think it’ll ever happen again. We wish them well. They’ve been great for our conference. We’re left with the question, what do we do now to maintain [ourselves] as a multi-bid conference.”

Given that the all-conference teams and major awards are voted on solely by the other coaches in the WCC, it’s difficult to not think that there might be some hard feelings involved, particularly given Gonzaga’s rich history in the conference accolades.

Gonzaga hadn’t finished with fewer than two All-WCC honorees during Mark Few’s head coaching tenure until this year

The WCC had one, 10-player all-conference team when Few took over the Bulldogs in 1999–2000 until 2014–15, when it began releasing first- and second-teams. Here's a look at every Gonzaga All-WCC honoree since 2000.

Season	Gonzaga All-WCC Honorees	Gonzaga Record, Finish
1999–2000*	Casey Calvary, Matt Santangelo, Richie Frahm (3)	26–9 (11–3 WCC); NCAA tournament Sweet 16
2000–01*	Casey Calvary, Dan Dickau (2)	26–7 (13–1); Sweet 16
2001–02*	Cory Violette, Dan Dickau, Zach Gourde (3)	29–4 (13–1); Round of 64
2002–03*	Blake Stepp, Corey Violette, Ronny Turiaf (3)	24–9 (12–2); Round of 32
2003–04*	Blake Stepp, Corey Violette, Ronny Turiaf (3)	28–3 (14–0); Round of 32
2004–05*	Adam Morrison, Derek Raivio, Ronny Turiaf (3)	26–5 (12–2); Round of 32
2005–06*	Adam Morrison, JP Batista (2)	29–4 (14–0); Sweet 16
2006–07*	Derek Raivio, Jeremy Pargo (2)	23–11 (11–3); Round of 64
2007–08*	David Pendergraft, Jeremy Pargo, Matt Bouldin (3)	25–8 (13–1); Round of 64
2008–09*	John Heytvelt, Matt Bouldin (2)	28–6 (14–0); Sweet 16
2009–10*	Elias Harris, Matt Bouldin, Steven Gray (3)	27–7 (12–2); Round of 32
2010–11	Robert Sacre, Steven Gray (2)	25–10 (11–3); Round of 32
2011–12	Elias Harris, Kevin Pangos, Robert Sacre (3)	26–7 (13–3); Round of 32
2012–13	Elias Harris, Kelly Olynyk, Kevin Pangos (3)	32–3 (16–0); Round of 32
2013–14	Kevin Pangos, Sam Dower (2)	29–7 (15–3); Round of 32
2014–15	First Team: Kevin Pangos, Kyle Wiltjer, Przemek Karnowski; Second Team: Byron Wesley, Domantas Sabonis, Gary Bell (6)	35–3 (17–1); Elite Eight
2015–16	First Team: Domantas Sabonis, Kyle Wiltjer (2)	28–8 (15–3); Sweet 16
2016–17	First Team: Johnathan Williams, Nigel Williams-Goss, Przemek Karnowski; Second Team: Zach Collins (4)	37–2 (17–1); National Runner-up
2017–18	First Team: Johnathan Williams, Josh Perkins, Rui Hachimura; Second Team: Killian Tillie (4)	32–5 (17–1); Sweet 16
2018–19	First Team: Josh Perkins, Zach Norvell, Rui Hachimura (3)	33–4 (16–0); Elite Eight
2019–20	First Team: Corey Kispert, Filip Petrusev, Killian Tillie (3)	31–2 (15–1); NCAA tournament canceled (COVID-19)
2020–21	First Team: Corey Kispert, Drew Timme, Jalen Suggs, Joel Ayayi; Second Team: Andrew Nembhard (5)	31–1 (15–0); National Runner-up
2021–22	First Team: Chet Holmgren, Andrew Nembhard, Drew Timme (3)	28–4 (13–1); Sweet 16
2022–23	First Team: Julian Strawther, Drew Timme (2)	31–6 (14–2); Elite Eight
2023–24	First Team: Graham Ike, Ryan Nembhard, Anton Watson; Second Team: Nolan Hickman (4)	27–8 (14–2); Sweet 16
2024–25	First Team: Nolan Hickman, Graham Ike, Ryan Nembhard (3)	26–9 (14–4); Round of 32

The Bulldogs have never had fewer than two all-conference team members (without counting freshman and honorable mention selections) until now, their final season in the WCC. While the men's team largely got snubbed, the Gonzaga women's basketball team garnered two first-team selections—Allie Turner and Lauren Whittaker—two freshman team selections and three of the major awards, perhaps making Bulldogs fans feel a little bit better about the whole situation.

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