Graham Ike honored while Gonzaga was otherwise snubbed for WCC Awards

It was not the first time Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs were disrespected by the WCC when it comes to conference awards.

But it was the last.

The West Coast Conference announced winners of the six major end-of-season awards on Tuesday, along with the All-WCC First Team, Second Team, Freshman Team, and honorable mentions.

Graham Ike was the lone Zag to win a major award, earning the conference Player of the Year for the first time after leading the conference in scoring (19.7) and field goal percentage (56.4) while finishing second in rebounding (8.3) and leading Gonzaga to the No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament.

Ike averaged 25.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, while shooting 62.1% from the field and 50% from three, in four games against Saint Mary's and Santa Clara. Gonzaga was missing star forward Braden Huff in three of those matchups, yet went 3-1 thanks to the effort of Ike.

After losing out to Saint Mary's guard Augustas Marciulionis the past two seasons, Ike finally takes home the Player of the Year Award from the West Coast Conference - in a year where he could earn All-American honors as well.

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike. | Photo by Myk Crawford

The only other honors given to Gonzaga were for Mario Saint-Supery and Davis Fogle, who were among the six players named to the All-Freshman Team alongside Joel Foxwell (Portland), Ace Glass (Washington State), Allen Graves (Santa Clara), and Dillan Shaw (Saint Mary's).

Saint-Supery averaged 8.4 points, 3.6 assists, and 1.3 steals in the regular season, shooting a team-leading 44.4% from three while starting 13 out of 31 games and playing 22.3 minutes per night.

Meanwhile Fogle displayed an innate scoring ability right out of the gate, and gradually morphed into a versatile two-way wing while taking on a bigger role following Braden Huff's injury. The 6'7 wing averaged 8.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in 15.7 minutes while shooting 58.1% on twos and 35.5% from three.

Blatant direspect?

Gonzaga was otherwise wildly disrespected by the WCC coaches, earning no other major awards and - even more shockingly - not having a single other player named to the All-WCC First Team, Second Team, or even as an honorable mention.

Despite Gonzaga boasting the best defense in the conference - significantly ahead of Saint Mary's and Seattle U - the WCC Defensive Player of the Year went to Seattle's Will Heimbrodt, rather than either of GU's elite wing defenders in Jalen Warley and Emmanuel Innocenti.

Tyon Grant-Foster was snubbed for both Newcomer and Sixth Man of the Year. He lost NCOY in favor of David Fuchs - who scored nine points on 3-12 shooting in two losses against Gonzaga while playing for the seventh place San Francisco Dons - and was snubbed for Sixth Man by Santa Clara's Allen Graves, who also won Freshman of the Year somewhat surprisingly over Portland's Joel Foxwell.

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Tyon Grant-Foster. | Photo by Myk Crawford

All told 23 players received All-Conference honors - 10 on the first team, five on the second team, and eight among the honorable mentions. Ike was somehow the only Gonzaga player included on any of those teams, earning First Team honors for the third year in a row.

Those 23 players were split among 11 of the 12 teams in the league, with only San Diego being snubbed entirely. Gonzaga's one representative tied them with Portland (Foxwell) and Pepperdine (Aaron Clark) who finished 10th and 12th, respectively, in league play.

Saint Mary's (2nd), Santa Clara (3rd), San Francisco (7th), and LMU (9th) each had three honorees, while Pacific, Seattle, Washington State, and Oregon State had two each. That included former Zag Jun Seok Yeo, who was named an honorable mention after averaging 11.9 points and 3.9 rebounds for the Redhawks.

Few snubbed too

It goes without saying that Gonzaga's injury situation played a role in the team's lack of recognition. Huff went down with a knee injury after only playing five WCC games, while Warley dealt with a quad injury over the past month of conference play that impacted his performance and cost him two games.

But surely a team that only has one deserving All-Conference candidate, that battled injuries to two key players - and still finished in first place in the league - would have a coach deserving of the league's Coach of the Year Award? Right?

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few. | Photo by Erik Smith

Nope. Santa Clara's Herb Sendek - who finished third in the league with a 1-3 record against Gonzaga and Saint Mary's - was instead given the honor. The Broncos had a great season, to be sure, but what Few managed to do to keep this team afloat after Huff and Warley's injuries is arguably his best coaching job ever.

Don't just take my word for it either:

“I told him this before the game and after the game. It might have been one of the best coaching jobs he’s done," SMC coach Randy Bennett said after the game on Saturday. "(Braden) Huff’s a heck of a player. They lose Huff and they just kept winning. They only lost two games coming into this."

Zags fans have felt frustrated with WCC Award voting the past few seasons, but this year's lack of recognition is the final straw - literally. Gonzaga will move into the new look Pac-12 in July, alongside Oregon State, Washington State, Texas State, and five Mountain West programs in San Diego State, Boise State, Colorado State, Utah State, and Fresno State.

WCC Major Awards

Coach of the Year: Herb Sendek - Santa Clara

Player of the Year: Graham Ike - Gonzaga

Defensive Player of the Year: Will Heimbrodt - Seattle

Newcomer of the Year: David Fuchs - San Francisco

Sixth Man of the Year: Allen Graves - Santa Clara

Freshman of the Year: Allen Graves - Santa Clara

All-Conference First Team

Graham Ike, Gonzaga

Joshua Dent, Saint Mary's

Joel Foxwell, Portland

Allen Graves, Santa Clara

Christian Hammond, Santa Clara

Josiah Lake II, Oregon State

Mikey Lewis, Saint Mary's

Elijah Mahi, Santa Clara

Paulius Murauskas, Saint Mary's

Elias Ralph, Pacific

All-Conference Second Team

Ryan Beasley, San Francisco

David Fuchs, San Francisco

Ace Glass, Washington State

Brayden Maldonado, Seattle U

Tyrone Riley IV, San Francisco

All-Conference Honorable Mention

Myron "MJ' Amey Jr., LMU

Rodney Brown Jr., LMU

Aaron Clark, Pepperdine

ND Okafor, Washington State

Jalen Shelley, LMU

Isaiah Sy, Oregon State

TJ Wainwright, Pacific

Junseok Yeo, Seattle U

All-Freshman Team

Davis Fogle, Gonzaga

Mario Saint-Supery, Gonzaga

Joel Foxwell, Portland

Ace Glass, Washington State

Allen Graves, Santa Clara

Dillan Shaw, Saint Mary's