Gonzaga picked to win 2024-25 West Coast Conference championship with four preseason All-WCC players

Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Michael Ajayi and Graham Ike were named to the 11-man preseason All-WCC team

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

The Gonzaga men’s basketball team will go into the 2024-25 season as the preseason favorite to win the West Coast Conference.

After their debut at No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll, the Bulldogs were picked to win the WCC regular season title in the league’s coaches’ poll that was released Thursday. Nine of the WCC’s 11 coaches voted for the Zags, who also led the way with four players featured on the preseason all-conference team. Both the preseason poll and the preseason team were voted on solely by the league's 11 head coaches.

Saint Mary’s, which won both the regular season and conference championship last season, was second in the poll with 86 points (Gonzaga led with 99 total). The Gaels also received one first-place vote, while the last remaining first-place vote went to San Francisco. The Dons were fourth in the poll with 77 points, narrowly behind Santa Clara (81) for the third-place spot.

The Zags returned seven of their top eight scorers from last season’s Sweet 16 squad, including Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman and Graham Ike. That trio was named to the All-WCC preseason team, in addition to Pepperdine transfer Michael Ajayi, who was also named to the All-WCC First Team last season with the Waves.

Nembhard who set the program’s single-season assist record and was top 10 in the country with 6.9 per game, hit his stride down the latter half of last season to earn all-league honors in his first season in Spokane. He put up 12.6 points and grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game in addition to leading the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0).

Hickman had a career year as a junior with 14.0 points per game while shooting 41.3% from downtown. That productivity earned him second-team honors last season.

Ike became the sixth player in WCC history to simultaneously lead the league in points (18.4) and field goal percentage (64.0%) in conference-only games. He scored 20 or more points in 11 of 16 WCC games, including a stretch of seven straight to close the regular season. 

Ajayi burst onto the scene with Pepperdine after starring at the JUCO level for the previous two years. The Kent, Washington, native led the conference in scoring at 17.1 points and was second in rebounds with 9.9 per game. The 6-foot-7 wing also shot 47.0% from 3-point range.

Saint Mary’s brought back the WCC Player of the Year, Augustas Marciulionis, and the WCC Defensive Player of the Year in Mitchell Saxen. Both were named to the preseason All-WCC team.

Adama Bal and Carlos Stewart represented the Broncos on the preseason all-conference team. Stewart was an All-WCC selection with Santa Clara during the 2022-23 season before transferring to LSU for his junior year.

2024-25 WCC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll (total points):

1. Gonzaga (99)
2. Saint Mary's (86)
3. Santa Clara (81)
4. San Francisco (77)
5. Washington State (62)
6. Loyola Marymount (60)
7. Oregon State (44)
8. Portland (28)
9. San Diego (28)
10. Pacific (23)
11. Pepperdine (17)

2024-25 Men’s Basketball All-WCC Preseason Team:

Graham Ike (Sr., Gonzaga)
Ryan Nembhard (Sr., Gonzaga)
Michael Ajayi (Sr., Gonzaga)
Nolan Hickman (Sr., Gonzaga)
Mitchell Saxen (Sr., Saint Mary’s)
Augustas Mariculionis (Sr., Saint Mary’s)
Adama Bal (Sr., Santa Clara)
Carlos Stewart (Sr., Santa Clara)
Marcus Williams (Sr., San Francisco)
Cedric Coward (Sr., WSU)
Jevon Porter (Jr., LMU)