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For the first time in many years, the WCC Mbb and Wbb are not congregating in Las Vegas in person to kick off the college basketball season. It appears this year a WCC sports columnist put together a written summary of the league overall and each team individually.
You can read the individual team summaries and see the pictures here: https://wccsports.com/news/2021/11/9...n-preview.aspx
ZagDad
2021-22 Women's Basketball Season Preview
Jeff Faraudo (WCC Columnist)
For the first time in nine seasons, the Gonzaga women are not projected as West Coast Conference champions by the league’s coaches. BYU gets that honor, and deservedly so.
But few are counting out the Zags.
“They’re not going anywhere,” Santa Clara coach Bill Carr said.
Saint Mary’s coach Paul Thomas believes BYU is the favorite but laughed at the notion Gonzaga will fade from contention. “I’m never fooled by that kind of stuff.”
“BYU has its whole team coming back. They have to be everybody’s top pick,” USF’s Molly Goodenbour added. “But Gonzaga is Gonzaga — they kind of reload. Even though they lost some players, they have a great system.”
Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier, whose team graduated three elite players including a pair of former WCC Player of the Year honorees, said that’s all part of how this works.
“I’ve said it before, the sign of a good program is you lose good players every year,” Fortier said. “The goal doesn’t change.”
To achieve that goal and stay on top, Gonzaga will need to overcome a BYU squad that Carr says is underrated nationally. “I saw the AP poll and they weren’t even receiving votes. I was shocked by that,” he said. “A team that had a chance to beat the runner-up in the NCAA tournament.”
The Cougars lost 52-46 in the second round of the NCAAs to an Arizona squad that went on to lose by just one point to Stanford in the national championship game.
BYU, like so many teams around the country, is deeper and more experienced this season because players were given the chance by the NCAA to play another year due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic the past two seasons.
BYU coach Jeff Judkins loves his team, but he knows the WCC won’t be forgiving. “This is my 11th year [in the WCC] and this is the best we’ve been from 1 to 10,” he said of the league’s depth. “Everybody’s got everybody back.”
Almost everybody, anyway.
Jeff Faraudo (WCC Columnist)
For the first time in nine seasons, the Gonzaga women are not projected as West Coast Conference champions by the league’s coaches. BYU gets that honor, and deservedly so.
But few are counting out the Zags.
“They’re not going anywhere,” Santa Clara coach Bill Carr said.
Saint Mary’s coach Paul Thomas believes BYU is the favorite but laughed at the notion Gonzaga will fade from contention. “I’m never fooled by that kind of stuff.”
“BYU has its whole team coming back. They have to be everybody’s top pick,” USF’s Molly Goodenbour added. “But Gonzaga is Gonzaga — they kind of reload. Even though they lost some players, they have a great system.”
Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier, whose team graduated three elite players including a pair of former WCC Player of the Year honorees, said that’s all part of how this works.
“I’ve said it before, the sign of a good program is you lose good players every year,” Fortier said. “The goal doesn’t change.”
To achieve that goal and stay on top, Gonzaga will need to overcome a BYU squad that Carr says is underrated nationally. “I saw the AP poll and they weren’t even receiving votes. I was shocked by that,” he said. “A team that had a chance to beat the runner-up in the NCAA tournament.”
The Cougars lost 52-46 in the second round of the NCAAs to an Arizona squad that went on to lose by just one point to Stanford in the national championship game.
BYU, like so many teams around the country, is deeper and more experienced this season because players were given the chance by the NCAA to play another year due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic the past two seasons.
BYU coach Jeff Judkins loves his team, but he knows the WCC won’t be forgiving. “This is my 11th year [in the WCC] and this is the best we’ve been from 1 to 10,” he said of the league’s depth. “Everybody’s got everybody back.”
Almost everybody, anyway.
ZagDad
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