WCC game preview: Gonzaga hoping to avoid letdown at Pacific

Of the record-number 68 men’s basketball programs that made a head coaching change this past offseason, Pacific bringing in the most successful head coach at the Canadian college level to rebuild the Tigers basketball program was arguably the most intriguing hire of the coaching carousel cycle.

In 18 seasons with Carleton University in Ontario, Dave Smart compiled a 591-48 record and won 13 national championships in the U Sports, which is essentially Canada’s equivalent of the NCAA. There are some slight differences between the two leagues in how they’re structured, but based on the Ravens’ success against Division-I schools while under Smart, it’s safe to say there isn’t much of a skills gap between the American and Canadian games.

“I think our last 80 games against Division-I teams — from teams that made the Final Four to lower level teams — our record was 65-15,” Smart told Gonzaga on SI in October. “We were good. I mean we had some talented kids. We got a lot of guys who are still playing in the highest league for Europe.”

Smart believes that those skilled youths from north of the border will be recruited by NCAA coaches more frequently in the future. In that case, the Kingston, Ontario, native would be considered slightly ahead of the times, as Smart’s first roster as a head coach in the U.S. is infused with some Canadian flavor. Likewise, the Tigers coaching staff: assistant coach Craig Beaucamp won five conference titles and seven coach of the year awards in 21 seasons at the helm of Victoria, while director of player development Zach Angelini spent the past two years as an assistant at Carleton.

Smart took over a Pacific men’s basketball program that went 6-26 overall and 0-16 in West Coast Conference play in 2023-24. The final game of the season was the most forgettable, as the Tigers got thumped by Pepperdine, 102-43, in the conference tournament after trailing 56-9 at halftime. Pacific finished the season ranked 358th out of 362 Division-I teams on KenPom.com.

To say the Tigers fanbase is hungry for more wins in 2024-25 would be an understatement. Smart certainly isn’t ruling out immediate success in year one, though not at the price of building the foundation of Pacific’s culture.

“The culture is the key the first year,” Smart said. “Obviously the talent is important, but the first year, the culture is probably more important by a small margin. There’s things that have to go into play in terms of building a program in 2024, and building culture is huge for us.”

With a clean slate to work with, Smart and the coaching staff brought in 12 scholarship players, including three who transferred from power conference programs.

“We did a decent job of getting guys who … put us in a position to recruit guys within the culture that we want to build,” Smart said.

GUARDS

Lamar Washington might not be considered a prototypical point guard, though Smart's optimism in the 6-foot-4, 200-pound junior's ability to dictate the pace of a game has certainly paid off to this point. Washington, who averaged just over 2 points at Texas Tech last season, ranks No. 3 in the WCC with 6.0 assists per game and chips in 12.7 points and 4.9 rebounds.

“He’s not the prototypical point, but he’s also a matchup nightmare,” Smart said of Washington. “I think he can do a ton of good things at the point for us, but the fact that he's improved his shot at the level that he's approved is incredible.”

Washington's been primarily tasked with stirring the pot on offense, but that doesn't mean he can't fill up the scoring column every now and again. He scored 40 points while going 16-of-22 from the field in Pacific's upset on the road against Washington State in January.

Jefferson Koulibaly, a 6-foot-3 transfer from SMU, is one of five Canadian players on the 2024-25 roster. Koulibaly grew up in Lasalle, Montreal, about an hour from where Smart lived. Injuries have derailed his college career going back to his freshman year at Washington State in 2021, but when healthy, Koulibaly can wreak havoc on the defensive end of the floor.

Koulibaly has appeared in all 26 games for the Tigers this season and puts up 6.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He also records 1.0 steals per contest, which ranks second on the team.

Canada certainly isn’t the only country represented in Pacific’s backcourt. Petar Krivokapic, a 6-foot-4 senior from Budva, Montenegro, and Eddie Jallow Hedqvist, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Stockholm, Sweden, join the mix as well.

Krivokapic is known for his shotmaking but likes to mix it up inside as well. The transfer from Florida International leads the Tigers with 36 made 3-pointers made this season.

Seth Jones, a 6-foot-2 junior from Texas, has an opportunity to make an immediate impact upon making the jump from the JUCO to the Division-I level. He was ranked No. 94 in the nation in the 2024 JUCO Top-100 player rankings after averaging 16.0 points for Tallahassee Community College.

“He's got a chance to be really good for us,” Smart said of Jones. “He's an explosive scorer. He's tough to keep in front of, he can get in the paint at will. He can really shoot it.”

There’s an expected learning curve given the differences in game speed between the JUCO and Division-I level, but Jones’ athleticism could make his transition to the West Coast Conference a smooth one. Pacific’s other JUCO transfer, 6-foot junior Donyae May, brings a winning pedigree with him to Stockton, California. While ranking top 10 in the country in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio, May helped guide Connors State College to a 34-3 record and a trip to the NJCAA Division-I Final Four as a No. 19 seed in the tournament.

“I think the big thing with him is he's he's won, and I think, you know, you're trying to get talent, but you're also trying to get guys to understand what he looks like on a consistent basis,” Smart said. “He understands what it looks like and he understands how hard it is.”

WINGS/FORWARDS

Perhaps the player with the most pro potential on the roster is 6-foot-6 junior Elijah Fisher. After standing out as one of the few bright spots during another down year for DePaul, the Toronto native's blend of high basketball IQ, physicality and shotmaking is now working wonders in Pacific's offense. Fisher is sixth in the WCC with 16.2 points per game on 49.1% shooting from the field.

“He's just not going to get physically dominated by many people [in the WCC],” Smart said of Fisher.

Fisher’s skillset with his size makes him a candidate to play numerous positions in Pacific’s lineup. That kind of versatility is highlighted in Smart’s flexible offensive schemes, whether it be out on the perimeter against a slower big or down on the low block against a smaller guard.

Elias Ralph, a 6-foot-7 Alberta native, is one of Smart’s many “wild cards” in the rotation. The senior averaged 15.8 points and 8.2 rebounds last season at Victoria, earning him Canada West All-Star honors, and shot 60-of-148 (40.5%) from 3-point range.

“I don't think they're prepared for just how good he is,” Smart said of Ralph. “And when they see how good he is, I think next year, everybody's gonna be trying to get guys from Canada.”

Division-I scouts better have their passports in order then, because Ralph just might start a trend based on how he's translated his game to the NCAA level. Ralph has recorded eight double-doubles, which ranks 31st in the country, and averages 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He's also fifth in the WCC with 2.5 offensive rebounds per game.

Another under-the-radar add for Smart and company was Minnesota transfer Kris Keinys, a 6-foot-8 forward from Lithuania who has the physical toolkit to have a productive college career. Similarly, 6-foot-8 Nigerian forward Solomon Ominu has the frame to compete with the rest of the bigs in the WCC.

Andrew McKenna, a 6-foot-7 sophomore from Ontario, figures to be a cornerstone piece in the foundation of Pacific’s culture. Last season with Brock University he averaged 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in six games as a starter.

“He will trust the process,” Smart said of McKenna. “So to me, there's not a lot of guys like that.”

CENTERS

The Tigers have another wild card stashed in their frontcourt in the form of 7-foot center Jazz Gardner, a sophomore who transferred after playing a limited role at Nevada last season. A former four-star recruit from West Ranch High School (California), Gardner had strong performances out of the gate for the Wolfpack, including an 8-point, 7-rebound game against Pacific last November, though his role fluctuated throughout Nevada’s run to the NCAA Tournament.

With the Tigers, Gardner puts up 4.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game.

Rounding out the center spot for the Tigers is the lone returner from last season’s team, 6-foot-11 redshirt senior Burke Smith. The Virginia native hasn't seen the floor as much as he did last season, playing just 8.0 minutes as a reserve off the bench. Smith did make two starts against Saint Mary's and Pepperdine earlier in WCC play.

WRAP IT UP

Pacific has had just one season where it finished above .500 in WCC play since it joined the conference in 2014. The program’s three previous coaches particularly struggled in their first year; Ron Verlin’s 6 WCC wins in 2014 are the most by a Tigers coach in their first year at the helm. In an ever-changing landscape dictated by NIL and the transfer portal, Smart understands there are other opportunities for players to make more money elsewhere. But all that’s not about to stop him and the Tigers from shocking a few people out West in his first year as head coach.

“We're trying to win as many games as we can win, but I want to make sure that our guys understand how good the best teams are and give us the best chance to be in a place if they're healthy, to compete at the conference tournament,” Smart said. “I know the league. I know how good it is, how good the coaches are, but I also don't know why you do something unless the goal is to win.

"But there's a lot of things to take care of … bringing the community together, the boosters together, getting NIL … you do not win a high level [in] Division-I basketball unless you’re a community.”

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