Drew Timme is clear choice for WCC men's basketball player of the year
The West Coast Conference regular season ended with a bang, as No. 12 Gonzaga defeated No. 15 Saint Mary's to earn a share of the league title on Saturday.
With the WCC Tournament set to begin on Thursday, it won't be long before the conference's 10 head coaches vote on the end-of-the-year awards.
Here are Gonzaga Nation's picks for some of the WCC's top individual honors:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: DREW TIMME, GONZAGA
Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
If the WCC's most-prestigious award was given out a month ago, it would've sparked an intense discussion over the rightful recipient.
Timme, the conference's reigning Player of the Year, was going through an up-and-down stretch of games, while Cam Shelton of Loyola Marymount and Aidan Mahaney of Saint Mary's were thriving for teams that had recently upset Gonzaga.
The debate cooled off when Timme and the Zags avenged their only WCC losses with a 43-point win over the Lions on Feb. 16 and an 11-point victory against the Gaels on Saturday.
Defeating Saint Mary's marked Gonzaga's (25-5, 14-2) sixth consecutive win, an undefeated span during which Timme is averaging 21.3 points per game on 68.1% shooting.
With one game remaining before the WCC Tournament, Timme is posting career-highs in points, rebounds and assists per game this season.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI, SANTA CLARA
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Herb Sendek struck gold in the transfer portal when he landed Brandin Podziemski from Illinois this offseason.
After playing 4.3 minutes per game last season at Illinois, Podziemski’s transfer to Santa Clara didn’t get much attention across the WCC.
That quickly changed when he had back-to-back 30-point games to open the season and helped the Broncos get off to an 8-2 start in nonconference play.
The rest is history for Podziemski, who is now the WCC's third-highest scorer at 19.9 points. Podziemski is also averaging 8.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game, all team-highs for Santa Clara.
Simply put, there isn't a newcomer to the WCC with better numbers.
COACH OF THE YEAR: HERB SENDEK, SANTA CLARA
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When a mid-major program loses three of its top four scorers, expectations usually aren't high for the following season.
Santa Clara was in that exact scenario after losing NBA lottery pick Jalen Williams, five-year standout Josip Vrankic and starting point guard PJ Pipes from a third-place team in the WCC. The conference's preseason coaches poll picked the Broncos to finish No. 6.
However, under Sendek's leadership, Santa Clara (23-8, 11-5) captured third place after winning the highest percentage of WCC regular-season games in program history since the 2006-07 season. It marked the first time the Broncos repeated as 20-game winners in almost three decades.
It's also worth considering that four of Santa Clara's five WCC losses came against either Gonzaga or Saint Mary's, the top two seeds in the upcoming WCC Tournament.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: MITCHELL SAXEN, SAINT MARY'S
Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
The centerpiece of one of the nation's top defenses, Mitchell Saxen isn't a difficult pick for Defensive Player of the Year.
After coming off the bench last season, Saxen stepped into a starting role and turned out to be a perfect fit in head coach Randy Bennett's system.
Saxen's 1.2 blocks per game are tied for No. 1 in the WCC, and his presence in the paint has helped the Gaels hold opponents to 44.8% shooting on 2-point attempts. He's also averaging 8.0 rebounds per game, the third-highest mark in the conference.
If this award doesn't go to Saxen, it'll likely go to another Gael since their team is ranked sixth in adjusted defensive efficiency by KenPom. The second-best WCC team by this metric is BYU at No. 39.
