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El Segundo, Calif. • Tyler Haws isn't surprised.
Gonzaga is again picked to win the West Coast Conference men's basketball race this season, and BYU's sharpshooter says it will probably be that way for the foreseeable future.
"They deserve it," Haws said. "Look at what they've done. They should be No. 1. They're good. So that's the challenge we face."
BYU is picked second and got one first-place vote (coaches aren't allowed to vote for their own teams), followed by Saint Mary's and San Francisco.
San Diego is picked fifth, followed by Portland. Pepperdine and Santa Clara are tied at seventh, followed by Loyola Marymount and Pacific.
Haws and BYU junior Kyle Collinsworth, who is coming off ACL surgery, made the 10-member preseason all-conference team. Haws is the reigning WCC Player of the Year.
"It's an honor, but these things don't matter, obviously," Haws said. "You still have to perform on the court."
Gonzaga put two players on the preseason team as well, guard Kevin Pangos and post Prezemak Karnowski. Other selections were Pepperdine's Stacy Davis, Portland's Thomas van der Mars, Brad Waldow of Saint Mary's, San Diego's Johnny Dee, Santa Clara's Jared Brownridge and USF's Kruize Pinkins. —
West Coast Conference
Men's basketball poll
1. Gonzaga (9)
2. BYU (1)
3. Saint Mary's
4. San Francisco
5. San Diego
6. Portland
7. Pepperdine
7. Santa Clara
9. Loyola Marymount
10. Pacific
First-place votes in parenthesis
All WCC preseason team
Tyler Haws, BYU
Kyle Collinsworth, BYU
Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga
Przemek Karnowski, Loyola Marymount
Stacy Davis, Pepperdine
Thomas van der Mars, Portland
Brad Waldow, Saint Mary's
Johnny Dee, San Diego
Jared Brownridge, Santa Clara
Kruize Pinkins, San Francisco