West Coast Conference midseason awards predictions: Drew Timme clear favorite for player of the year
Making predictions is difficult. Making predictions about how a college basketball season will go, though, is impossible. There’s an entire month dedicated to the madness, so it makes sense that nothing really goes according to plan.
Now at the unofficial midway point of the 2022-23 season, there are plenty of unforeseen wrinkles that go beyond preseason expectations.
How will Gonzaga’s early season losses prepare them for March? Has BYU turned a corner heading into conference play? Will Santa Clara still finish in the top three of the standings in what was supposed to be a down year?
There are more questions than answers right now, and the same goes for individual performances and accolades. Sure, Drew Timme has been everything as advertised and then some, but outside of the WCC Player of the Year award, the rest of the West Coast Conference accolades are still up for grabs.
Here are some midseason favorites to win the WCC awards:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: DREW TIMME, GONZAGA
Photo by James Snook, USA TODAY Sports
No surprises here. The two-time All-American has been the lifeblood of Gonzaga’s offense as expected. Averaging a career-high and conference-best 22.1 points per game, Timme is not only the heavy favorite to win the conference’s POY award — he’ll be strongly considered for the Naismith Trophy as well by season’s end.
As great of a post-technician as he is, Timme has found more ways to impact the game other than getting buckets. Along with scoring, he’s on pace to set a career-best in rebounds per game (8.3) while being one of the more consistent playmakers on offense with 3.3 assists per game, second-most on the team.
Many expected Gonzaga’s offense to run through its star big man, yet there were concerns about how he would fare on defense without the services of 7-foot-1 center Chet Holmgren protecting the rim. The defense hasn’t quite been the same as a whole, with Timme averaging almost a block and steal per game to lead KenPom’s 56th-ranked defense.
Still, Timme’s gaudy numbers on offense ensure he’s a lock for the conference’s POY award. In fact, should he keep up his stellar scoring pace, he’ll enter the top three in program history for career points by the end of the regular season. That means he’ll have a shot to break Frank Burgess’ mark during the WCC and NCAA Tournaments.
COACH OF THE YEAR: RANDY BENNETT, SAINT MARY'S
Photo by Troy Wayrynen, USA TODAY Sports
Who would’ve thought that the Gaels, who lost All-WCC first-teamers Matthias Tass and Tommy Khuse over the offseason, would have had a higher NET ranking than Gonzaga at any point this season? Though the slate has been easier for Randy Bennett’s squad, a strong start to nonconference play followed by respectable performances against stiffer competition has the Gaels (10-4) competing for recognition among the national landscape.
Having the 88th-ranked strength of schedule won’t provide many opportunities for signature wins, but Saint Mary’s took advantage when it could during nonconference play with three combined Quad 1 and 2 wins, which is more than Texas and as many as West Virginia.
Much of the early season success can be attributed to a stifling defense combined with a controlled, slowed pace on offense. Bennett’s strategy of limiting the number of possessions his opponents have continues to generate results, as his team allows just 57.4 points per game, a historically low number that would be the fewest by a WCC team since 1980.
It isn’t guaranteed Saint Mary’s replicates its success from last season, but even a top-10 seed in the NCAA Tournament would be considered a job well done for Bennett in his 22nd season in Moraga, California. That’s exactly what happened the last time he was named the conference’s COY when the Gaels earned a No. 7 seed back in the 2016-17 season.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI
Herb Sendek landed a gem in the transfer portal this offseason when Podziemski headed west from Illinois to Santa Clara. The former four-star recruit went from being buried on the depth chart as a freshman to a full-time starter and go-to guy for the Broncos (12-3), who finished with the second-most nonconference wins in program history.
Averaging 18.3 points per game, scoring hasn’t been a problem for the left-handed sharpshooter. He kicked off his Broncos career with a 30-point bomb on Eastern Washington before dropping 34 points and 11 rebounds on Georgia Southern three days later. No one in the WCC has attempted more shots than Podziemski, who shoots 45.2% from the field and 37.8% from deep.
Putting the ball in the basket isn’t the only way he impacts the game — the 6-foot-5 guard is also second in the WCC with 8.4 rebounds per game and leads the conference in steals with 2.4 per game. A case for being named Defensive Player of the Year is valid, as Podziemski is top-3 in defensive win shares and defensive box plus/minus.
The do-it-all guard is the lifeblood of a 12-win Broncos squad that is on pace to finish near the top of the WCC standings. There are plenty of talented newcomers this season, but few have had a greater impact than Podziemski has had on Santa Clara.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: MITCHELL SAXEN
Photo by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports
It’s hard not to give the DPOY award to a Gael — deciding which one is the challenging part. The aforementioned defense is on a historic pace to start the 2022-23 season, and arguably at the forefront is Saxen, the 6-foot-10 center from Seattle, Washington.
After coming off the bench behind Tass as a sophomore, Saxen has done his best to fill the shoes of his former frontcourt teammate, averaging a team-best 8.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Though he isn’t an elite shot-blocker, there’s no denying the effect he has roaming the paint — Saint Mary’s has allowed its opponents to shoot 48.9% at the rim this season, the 12th-best in the country.
He’s tied with teammate Logan Johnson with 1.4 defensive win shares, the most in the WCC.
Between Saxen, Johnson and Kyle Bowen, there’s a trio of Gaels worthy of consideration for the league’s best defensive player.
