The West Coast Conference released its all-conference teams today and senior
Ronnie Boyce earned second team honors while
Charles Minlend and
Jordan Ratinho were selected to the All-Freshman team.
Gonzaga's Nigel Williams-Goss was named the WCC's Player and Newcomer of the Year, Joe Rahon of Saint Mary's landed Defender of the Year honors while Gonzaga's Mark Few was named the WCC's Coach of the Year.
All four individual awards – along with the All-West Coast Conference Teams and the All-Freshman Team – were voted on by the league's 10 head coaches.
Boyce leads the Dons and ranks 14th in the conference in scoring average with a 12.8 per game mark. The junior has come off the bench for the last 22 games and has developed into one of the most productive sixth-man in the nation. He has scored 20 or more points in seven games this season, capped off by a career high 31 point outburst against UC Santa Barbara in the second game of the season. His scoring prowess has led one of the deepest bench's in college basketball this season which has accounted for 48.2 percent (1070 of 2217) of USF's total point production.
Minlend is the Dons' third-leading scorer averaging 10.1 points a game and his 312 points on the season places him seventh on USF's all-time freshman single-season scoring list. He also ranks as the third-highest scoring freshman in the WCC behind BYU's TJ Haws (13.9) and Gonzaga's Zach Collins. A native of Concord, N.C., Minlend has 16 double-figure scoring games this season topped off by a 20-point effort in the WCC opener against San Diego. He has led/shared team-high scoring honors 16 times this season and was named to the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic all-tournament team after averaging 13.3 points in USF's three games, including 18 points against San Diego State.
Ratinho, a product of De La Salle High School in Concord, joins Minlend on the WCC's All-Freshman Team after averaging 8.6 points a game in 31 regular season contests. He has scored in double figures 10 times this season including a season-high 20-point outing against Gonzaga. Ratinho, who has drawn 22 starts this season, currently ranks second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 44.0. He ranks second on USF's all-time freshman list for most three-pointers made (55) and three-point percentage.
USF (20-11, 10-8 WCC) will begin play in the West Coast Conference Basketball Championships on Saturday against Santa Clara (16-15, 10-8 WCC). Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The game will be televised in the Bay Area on CSNBA and nationally in BYU.tv.
WCC Major Award Winners
Player of the Year: Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
Coach of the Year: Mark Few, Gonzaga
Defensive Player of the Year: Joe Rahon, Saint Mary's
Newcomer of the Year: Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
2016-17 All-WCC Men's Basketball First Team
Jared Brownridge, Santa Clara; Sr., Guard
TJ Haws, BYU; Fr., Guard
Calvin Hermanson, Saint Mary's; Jr. Forward
Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga; Sr. Center
Jock Landale, Saint Mary's; Jr., Center
Eric Mika, BYU; So., Center
Lamond Murray, Jr., Pepperdine; Sr., Guard
Joe Rahon, Saint Mary's; Sr., Guard
Johnathan Williams, Gonzaga; Jr., Forward
Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga; Sr., Guard
2016-17 All-WCC Men's Basketball Second Team
Brett Bailey, San Diego; Sr. Forward
Ronnie Boyce, USF; Sr., Guard
Brandon Brown, LMU; Sr. Guard
Zach Collins, Gonzaga; Fr., Center
KJ Feagin, Santa Clara, So., Santa Clara
2016 All-WCC Men's Basketball Freshman Team
Yoeli Childs, BYU; Forward
Zach Collins, Gonzaga; Center
TJ Haws, BYU; Guard
Charles Minlend, USF; Guard
Jordan Ratinho; USF, Guard
WCC Honorable Mention Selections
Olin Carter III, San Diego; Jazz Johnson, Portland; Nate Kratch, Santa Clara; Jordan Mathews, Gonzaga; Emmett Naar, Saint Mary's; Josh Perkins, Gonzaga; Chris Reyes, Pepperdine; Buay Tuach, Loyola Marymount; T.J. Wallace, Pacific; Alec Wintering, Portland.
