Washington State was picked to finish sixth.
LAS VEGAS — Heading into their final season in the West Coast Conference, the Gonzaga men’s basketball team was picked to win the conference. Washington State was picked to finish sixth.
Gonzaga forwards Graham Ike and Braden Huff were both named to the preseason All-WCC team.
Saint Mary’s led the way with three players on the All-WCC team: guard Mikey Lewis, forward Paulius Murauskas and center Harry Wessels.
One of the biggest keys to Gonzaga winning the conference this season may be the Bulldogs’ defense. Mark Few and his staff put a premium on getting bigger and more athletic at the guard position in the offseason.
The Zags did just that bringing in freshmen Davis Fogle and Mario Saint-Supéry along with transfer wing Jalen Warley to help boost the Zags defensively.
GU now can deploy an all-defense lineup featuring the three guards above along with Emmanuel Innocenti and either Ike or Huff to close out games.
Coach Few has been adamant that his team will need to improve on the defensive end this season and believes his additions will help in that goal.
“It’s very evident that our size is different on the perimeter. We move better, we are more physical and more athletic. Across the board we are bigger, longer and more athletic and hopefully we can add Tyon (Grant-Foster) to the mix and that would give us a team with really nice size. I have been after these guys that that needs to show. It needs to be very impactful and show on the glass, in our rim protection, deflections and our defensive ball pressure,” Few said.
Both Ike and Huff have put an emphasis on improving on the defensive end as well and have been pushed by Few to rebound more.
“Defense has been a big part of the offseason and preseason just harping on getting stops every time we can and trying to string along kills. I feel like everybody has really bought into the defensive side this year. We definitely look to hang our hats on that end. We know we can score the ball, but we definitely want to pride ourselves on playing great defense,” Ike said.
As for the Cougs, David Riley has a roster featuring nine new players and despite the roster turnover, he is hoping to see his team buy in to what it means to play Cougar basketball especially early on.
“The big thing is making sure our identity shows. Are we going to be an unselfish, fast paced team on offense and a tough inside-out defensive team? I think that is something that we are just making sure that the identity we have been working on this summer and fall is going to show up in these first few games,” Riley said.
The Zags have another exhibition game against Western Oregon on October 27 before opening the regular season November 3 against Texas Southern.
WSU opens the regular season November 3 against Idaho.