SAN MATEO, Calif. – With the men's basketball season on the horizon, the West Coast Conference officially announced the 2021-22 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll and the Men's Basketball Preseason All-WCC Team on Thursday morning.
 
For San Francisco, guards Jamaree Bouyea and Khalil Shabazz were selected to the Preseason Team while the Dons were picked to finish fifth as a team in the conference.
 
"It is a sign of respect to be picked fifth in this league, but transparently we wouldn't be satisfied with that result," said third year head coach Todd Golden. "It is also nice to see Jamaree and Khalil recognized on the Pre-season All-WCC team.  I believe we will have some other student-athletes recognized for their accomplishments at years end as well."
 
Overall, Gonzaga, the 2020-2021 NCAA National Runner-Up, was picked to win their tenth consecutive regular season conference championship by the league's ten head coaches. Notably, Gonzaga received nine first place votes. BYU (received one first place vote), Saint Mary's, LMU and USF round out the top five.
 
Using his extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bouyea returns to The Hilltop as a Preseason All-WCC pick for the second straight year after being named to the team in 2020-21. Suiting up as one of the most versatile guards in the conference, he will aim to build on last year's campaign in which he was named to the All-WCC First Team and the NABC All-District Second Team. Impressively, Bouyea was one of just 17 players in the country to make 170 or more field goals and shoot 50.0 percent or better from the field last season - of that list, Bouyea was one of two guards, the rest being forwards and centers. Individually, he averaged 17.3 points per game, good for the 20^th most in a single season in USF history. In total, he played and started in all 25 games, leading the Dons in minutes played (33.7), field goal percentage (.500), three-point field goal percentage (.370), assists (94), points (432), and points per game (17.3). Prior to last season, Bouyea also earned Honorable Mention honors in 2019-20. Heading into this year, he currently ranks fourth in program history in steals (145), seventh in games played (127) and 26^th in career points (1, 131).
 
For Shabazz, the redshirt senior will also look to continue his dominance following a successful campaign in 2020-21 in which he was named to the All-WCC Second Team. Playing and starting in all 25 games for USF, the Seattle native finished second on the team in scoring (15.0 points per game), tallying double figures in all but six contests. Notably, he poured in 20 or more points seven times, totaling 375 points to give him back-to-back seasons with 350+ points. Defensively, Shabazz led the Dons with 48 total steals, which was good for second in the WCC. Within conference play, his 2.0 steals per game led the league. Last season, Shabazz tied for the fourth most three-point field goal attempts in a single season (189) in program history while also tying for eighth in three-point field goals made (62). Heading into 2021-22, he currently ranks eleventh all-time at USF in three-point field goal attempts with 357.
 
This year, Bouyea is also one of five student-athletes to be named to the Preseason Team for the second consecutive year, joining Alex Barcello of BYU, Eli Scott of LMU, Drew Timme of Gonzaga and Josip Vrankic of Santa Clara. Additionally, USF is one of four schools to have two players selected to the 2021-22 All-WCC Preseason Team as BYU, Gonzaga and Santa Clara each have two selections as well.
 
The 2022 UCU WCC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will take place March 3-8 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
 
The full 2021-22 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll and the 2021-22 Men's Basketball Preseason All-WCC Team can be viewed below:
 
2021-22 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

Place	Team	First Place	Points
1.	Gonzaga	9	81
2.	BYU	1	72
3.	Saint Mary's		63
4.	LMU		56
5.	San Francisco		49
6.	Santa Clara		45
7.	Pepperdine		31
8.	Pacific		24
9.	San Diego		20
10.	Portland		9

 

2021-22 Men's Basketball Preseason All-WCC Team
Name	Yr.	Pos.	School
Alex Barcello	Sr.*	G	BYU
Jamaree Bouyea	Sr.*	G	San Francisco
Logan Johnson	Sr.	G	Saint Mary's
Caleb Lohner	So.	F	BYU
Andrew Nembhard	Sr.	G	Gonzaga
Eli Scott	Sr.*	G/F	LMU
Khalil Shabazz	Sr.	G	San Francisco
Drew Timme	Jr.	F	Gonzaga
Josip Vrankic	Sr.*	F	Santa Clara
Jalen Williams	Jr.	G	Santa Clara

 
For updates and more information on the USF men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.