COLLEGE BASKETBALL 1992-93 : WCC PREVIEW : Gonzaga Set to Challenge for the Title

Last season, Pepperdine was the consensus choice to win the West Coast Conference basketball title, a feat the Waves accomplished by a five-game margin.

This season, there is no runaway favorite.

“It’s folly to predict a winner in the conference,” Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said. “You might as well pencil us in at No. 8, because I really don’t know how good we’re going to be.”

Only once has a non-California team won the conference title--Nevada Las Vegas in 1975, before it left for what is now the Big West--but the experts say that could change this season. Gonzaga has appeared at the top of most polls, with Pepperdine getting most of the other first-place votes.

Asbury compares it to the 1986-87 season, when fourth-place Santa Clara beat seventh-place Pepperdine in the final of the conference tournament for a berth in the NCAA tournament. Such a race could make for an interesting conference tournament March 6-8 at the University of San Francisco.

For the ninth consecutive year, there have been coaching changes in the WCC. John Olive has replaced Jay Hillock at Loyola Marymount and Dick Davey has taken over for Carroll Williams, who became Santa Clara’s athletic director after coaching the Broncos to a 344-274 record in 22 seasons.

A look at the WCC, excluding Pepperdine and Loyola:

GONZAGA

1991-92 record: 20-10, 8-6. Conference finish: Third (tie).

The Bulldogs won 20 games for the first time last season, two years after having lost 20. Gonzaga achieved another first by winning a WCC tournament game and advancing to the final, where it lost to Pepperdine, 73-70.

With the return of three starters, the Bulldogs have their sights on the school’s first WCC title and NCAA appearance.

All-conference center Jeff Brown, a 6-foot-9 junior, led Gonzaga in scoring, rebounding and shooting percentage last season, his 61.7% shooting ranking first in the WCC and 13th nationally. He averaged 17.9 points and 6.2 rebounds. Brown’s supporting cast is led by returning point guard Geoff Goss, a junior who beat out senior Jamie Dudley for the starting job last season, and shooting guard Felix McGowan, a 6-4 senior.

PORTLAND

1991-92 record: 10-18, 3-11. Conference finish: Eighth.

After two consecutive last-place finishes, the Pilots are hoping a strong group of returning players will forge a turnaround.

Portland is the only WCC team with its top two scorers back--senior guard Peter McKelvey, who averaged 19.6 points, and 6-6 senior forward Grant Tracy, 15.1. McKelvey ranked fourth nationally with 106 three-point baskets last season. Forward Brenton Moore, a 6-7 senior, also returns to the starting lineup after leading the WCC in blocked shots with a 1.3 average and ranking sixth in rebounding at 6.4.

ST. MARY’S

1991-92 record: 13-17, 4-10. Conference finish: Sixth (tie).

The Gaels haven’t had much luck lately with transfers. Forward Booker Newberry, the WCC freshman of the year last season, left St. Mary’s for Westminster College, an NAIA school in Pennsylvania.

And sophomore guard Chris Johnson, a transfer from West Valley College in San Jose and a projected starter, recently suffered bruised knees when he pulled an uncooperative vending machine on top of himself. The joke around campus is that Johnson was practicing taking a charge from teammate Jumoke Horton, a 6-9, 285-pound freshman.

The Gaels have three starters back, led by junior point guard Darrell Daniels, who had the best turnover-to-assist ratio in the WCC last season.

SAN DIEGO

1991-92 record: 14-14, 6-8. Conference finish: Fifth.

With Carroll Williams stepping down at Santa Clara, San Diego’s Hank Egan becomes the dean of WCC coaches with 22 years’ experience. Egan welcomes back three starters, led by 6-5 senior forward Gylan Dottin. The only Torero to start all 28 games last season, Dottin averaged 11.8 points and ranked fifth among conference rebounders with a 6.5 average.

Also back are senior point guard Geoff Probst and center Brooks Barnhard, a 6-9 junior. San Diego has the WCC’s fewest letter winners, six, none of whom shot better than 50% last season.

SAN FRANCISCO

1991-92 record: 13-16, 4-10. Conference finish: Sixth (tie).

The Dons have the conference’s top point guard in junior Orlando Smart, who has a chance to become the first player to lead the WCC in assists and steals in three seasons. He averaged 8.3 assists, third-best in the nation, and 2.8 steals last season.

Shooting guard Tomas Thompson, a 6-5 senior, was virtually unknown before making 14 of 19 three-point shots in last year’s WCC tournament, including an NCAA-record eight for eight in the Dons’ first-round upset of Loyola. Alvin Brown, a 6-6 senior, is the team’s most experienced front-court player.

Coach Jim Brovelli will count on several newcomers, including freshman guard Gerald Walker and 6-5 junior forward Tyrone Paul, a transfer from El Camino College by way of Clemson.

SANTA CLARA

1991-92 record: 14-15, 9-5. Conference finish: Second.

Dick Davey, who was Carroll Williams’ top assistant for the last 15 years, inherits a team with only one returning starter and two seniors.

The Broncos have seven freshmen, the most in the conference. Forward DeWayne Lewis, a 6-5 junior, is the only returning starter, but five of seven lettermen started at least twice last season. One of them was 6-9 junior forward Pete Eisenrich, who will join Lewis in Santa Clara’s front court.

Phil Von Buchwaldt, a 6-11 freshman from France, has been the early starter at center.