Surprisingly, the Gonzaga men's basketball team didn't take home any individual West Coast Conference player or coach awards, though five players earned their way onto the All-WCC teams.
Graham Ike, Anton Watson and Ryan Nembhard were named to the conference's first team, Nolan Hickman was named to the All-WCC second team and Braden Huff earned a spot on the league's all-freshman team.
In conference play, Ike led the WCC in scoring at 18.1 points per game while shooting a league-high 64.0% from the field. He's just the sixth player in conference history to lead in both categories and just the second player since the 1980-81 season to pull off that feat. It's also the sixth consecutive season a Gonzaga player has led the WCC in field goal percentage in conference games.
Overall, Ike averaged 16.9 points (second in the WCC), 7.3 rebounds (fourth) and shot 62.0% from the field (second) for the entire regular season. He led the conference with at least 20 points in 16 games this season, which matches Drew Timme's total of 20-point games he had in the 2022-23 regular season, and became the first Gonzaga player to have 20 or more in seven-straight games since Adam Morrison in the 2005-06 campaign.
Watson's first All-WCC honor comes after the fifth-year senior put up career-highs in points (14.2 per game), rebounds (7.1), assists (2.5) field goals made per game (5.7) and field goals attempted (9.7). He ranked second in the league in steals per game with 1.6, just behind Jonathan Mogbo at 1.7, and was fourth in defensive box plus/minus on the season. The Spokane native also logged 30.7 minutes per game and started all 30 games in the regular season.
Per KenPom, Watson led the WCC in effective field goal percentage at 66.1% in conference games and was third in true shooting percentage (66.3%).
Known throughout his career as a utility player and defensive specialist, Watson came up huge in the scoring column time and time again this season. He had five games with 20 or more points highlighted by a pair of 32-point performances away from home against UCLA at the Maui Invitational and at Santa Clara in January. Watson was 14-of-15 from the field in the Bulldogs' 69-65 victory over the Bruins.
Nembhard paced the WCC with 6.4 assists per game to go along with 12.8 points in 35.4 minutes this season. The Creighton transfer gradually improved his stroke from behind the arc in conference play, as he knocked down 46.0% of his 3.1 3-point attempts per game. He had four games with 10 or more assists, including a 20-point, 10-assist night in the win over the Gaels.
Nolan Hickman earned his first All-WCC honor as the third-leading scoring on the Bulldogs with 14.0 points per game and a team-best 68 made 3-point field goals, the fourth-most in the WCC. The junior became the first Gonzaga player since Derek Raivio in the 2006-07 season to knock down four or more triples in four consecutive games, which Hickman did from Feb. 15-24.
Braden Huff was tabbed to the All-WCC freshman team after putting up 9.8 points per game and finishing second on the team in total blocks with 22. The 6-foot-10 redshirt freshman led the Bulldogs in scoring six times off the bench this season, highlighted by a career-high 26 points at San Diego on Jan. 20.
Saint Mary's guard Augustas Marciulionis was named the WCC Player of the Year after averaging 12.4 points, 5.1 assists (second-most in the league) and shot 43.4% from the field. The junior from Lithuania helped the Gaels (24-7, 15-1 WCC) earn their first outright WCC regular season title since the 2011-12 campaign and was a key piece in their 16-game winning streak, which was the longest active streak in the nation until the Bulldogs snapped it with a 70-57 win in the regular season finale on Saturday.
Marciulionis, who became the fourth Saint Mary's player to win the award since 2000, posted the lowest points per game average for a WCC Player of the Year recipient since Gonzaga's Kevin Pangos won the honor in the 2014-15 season when he averaged 11.6 points per game.
Marciulionis' coach Randy Bennett was recognized as the WCC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year and the sixth time overall. Bennett was the mastermind of one of the best defensive units in the country, as the Gaels had the second-best scoring defense in the country (58.5 points allowed per game) and a top-10 field goal percentage defense (39.1%).
The WCC Newcomer of the Year went to San Francisco's Jonathan Mogbo, who averaged 14.7 points and a league-best 10.4 rebounds after transferring from Missouri State last season. The 6-foot-8 forward also led the league in in steals (1.7 per game) and win shares (6.5). Mogbo is the first San Francisco player to win the award since Armondo Surratt earned Newcomer of the Year in the 2005-06 season.
Dons freshman Ryan Beasley won the Freshman of the Year. The 5-foot-10 guard averaged 8.1 points, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals. Deuce Turner of San Diego took home the league's Sixth Man of the Year honor after coming off the bench in 18 of his 29 games played for the Toreros. Turner put up 15.8 points and shot 37.9% from behind the arc.
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