WCC Releases Preseason All-WCC Team
By Mark Kramer
In addition to releasing the Preseason Coaches’ Poll during the WCC Hoops Tip-Off event on Monday, the conference also released it’s Preseason All-WCC Team. Here is the full list of players:
| Name | Institution | Yr. | Pos. |
| Jared Brownridge | Santa Clara | So. | G |
| Kyle Collinsworth | BYU | Jr. | G |
| Stacy Davis | Pepperdine | Jr. | F |
| Johnny Dee | San Diego | Sr. | G |
| Tyler Haws | BYU | Sr. | G |
| Przemek Karnowski | Gonzaga | Jr. | C |
| Kevin Pangos | Gonzaga | Sr. | G |
| Kruize Pinkins | San Francisco | Sr. | F |
| Thomas van der Mars | Portland | Sr. | C |
| Brad Waldow | Saint Mary’s | Sr. | C |
We matched up pretty well as our team we released over the weekend had eight of the ten players on the official list. The only variations were the WCC having Thomas Van der Mars and Kyle Collinsworth where we had Jeremy Major and Kyle Wiltjer. Although Van der Mars and Collinsworth were two of the top players that just missed the cut on our list. Let’s look more into why there was that variation as well as some other observations.
Overall our list is mostly the same because many of the picks were obvious. Haws, Pangos, Waldow, Davis, Karnowski, Dee, and Pinkins are some of the best players in the league. And all of them are coming off big seasons. Of that group, only Pinkins and Karnowski didn’t receive All-WCC honors at the end of last season. And their additions made a lot of sense as Pinkins could now be the best player on an up and coming Dons squad and Karnowski is one of the best centers in the league and should do a lot of growing from last year.
March 8, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Santa Clara Broncos guard Jared Brownridge (23) dribbles against Gonzaga Bulldogs guard David Stockton (11) during the second half in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The other three were a bit less obvious. Brownridge probably less so as the reigning WCC Newcomer of the Year, but the polls don’t normally like first and second year players. Brownridge was dominant last year, but he didn’t make the All-WCC Team. In fact just two sophomores and no freshmen made the list last season, and this year’s preseason team features Brownridge as the only player who is not a junior or senior.
As you can guess based on all the veteran players, it’s a pretty safe list. Not much speculation here, these are some of the best in the WCC. And really, our ability to speculate a bit is the only reason we differ at all from the official list. We like Witjer to burst onto the scene and Major to take a big step forward as a sophomore and lead a good Pepperdine team, and those things could very well happen. But with the speculation involved with those pics, no reason at all to fault the official team for going with more established players.