San Francisco Selected Third in WCC Preseason Poll
10/12/2023 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - With the college basketball season just around the corner, the West Coast Conference officially announced the 2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll and Preseason All-WCC Team on Thursday morning.
After being selected to tie for third place last season, the Dons were picked to finish outright in third place by the league's nine coaches this year.
Having tallied at least 20+ wins each year since 2016-17 (excluding the COVID shortened season in 2020-21), the Dons are hungry to get back to the NCAA Tournament after a successful season in 2022-23 that saw the green and gold compile a 20-14 overall record. Impressively, USF won their opening round game in the WCC Tournament for the fourth straight season last year as the green and gold downed Pacific to advance to the quarterfinal round. Shortly thereafter, San Francisco defeated Santa Clara in double overtime to advance to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the second straight year.
Overall, San Francisco will return eight letter winners from last year's team in addition to a new wave of talent. Notably, former top 100 recruits Mike Sharavjamts and Malik Thomas joined the mix along with versatile Chinese forward Junjie "Barry" Wang and local phenom Ryan Beasley. Entering his second year at the helm of the Dons, head coach Chris Gerlufsen added five Division I transfers and two incoming freshmen this offseason.
Recently, the WCC also announced that the Dons will be featured on national networks ten times this season, including six games on CBS Sports Network and four on ESPN Networks.
For fans, single game tickets are now available via usfdons.com/tickets or by clicking here. Season tickets for San Francisco men's basketball are still available via the San Francisco Athletics box office at usftickets@usfca.edu or (415) 422-2873.
The full 2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll and the 2023-24 Men's Basketball Preseason All-WCC Team can be viewed below:
2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Team (first-place votes) points
1. Saint Mary's – (5) 61
2. Gonzaga – (4) 60 points
3. San Francisco - 45
4. LMU - 42
5. Santa Clara - 41
6. Portland - 27
7. Pepperdine - 22
8. Pacific - 16
9. San Diego - 10
2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Team
Alex Ducas - Saint Mary's
Graham Ike - Gonzaga
Keli Leaupepe - LMU
Aidan Mahaney - Saint Mary's
Houston Mallette - Pepperdine
Ryan Nembhard - Gonzaga
Jevon Porter - Pepperdine
Tyler Robertson - Portland
Mitchell Saxen - Saint Mary's
Anton Watson - Gonzaga
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.
After being selected to tie for third place last season, the Dons were picked to finish outright in third place by the league's nine coaches this year.
Having tallied at least 20+ wins each year since 2016-17 (excluding the COVID shortened season in 2020-21), the Dons are hungry to get back to the NCAA Tournament after a successful season in 2022-23 that saw the green and gold compile a 20-14 overall record. Impressively, USF won their opening round game in the WCC Tournament for the fourth straight season last year as the green and gold downed Pacific to advance to the quarterfinal round. Shortly thereafter, San Francisco defeated Santa Clara in double overtime to advance to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the second straight year.
Overall, San Francisco will return eight letter winners from last year's team in addition to a new wave of talent. Notably, former top 100 recruits Mike Sharavjamts and Malik Thomas joined the mix along with versatile Chinese forward Junjie "Barry" Wang and local phenom Ryan Beasley. Entering his second year at the helm of the Dons, head coach Chris Gerlufsen added five Division I transfers and two incoming freshmen this offseason.
Recently, the WCC also announced that the Dons will be featured on national networks ten times this season, including six games on CBS Sports Network and four on ESPN Networks.
For fans, single game tickets are now available via usfdons.com/tickets or by clicking here. Season tickets for San Francisco men's basketball are still available via the San Francisco Athletics box office at usftickets@usfca.edu or (415) 422-2873.
The full 2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll and the 2023-24 Men's Basketball Preseason All-WCC Team can be viewed below:
2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Team (first-place votes) points
1. Saint Mary's – (5) 61
2. Gonzaga – (4) 60 points
3. San Francisco - 45
4. LMU - 42
5. Santa Clara - 41
6. Portland - 27
7. Pepperdine - 22
8. Pacific - 16
9. San Diego - 10
2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Team
Alex Ducas - Saint Mary's
Graham Ike - Gonzaga
Keli Leaupepe - LMU
Aidan Mahaney - Saint Mary's
Houston Mallette - Pepperdine
Ryan Nembhard - Gonzaga
Jevon Porter - Pepperdine
Tyler Robertson - Portland
Mitchell Saxen - Saint Mary's
Anton Watson - Gonzaga
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballMBB | USF vs. Oregon State Postgame w/ Chris Gerlufsen, Ryan Beasley and Tyrone Riley IV
Monday, March 09
MBB | USF vs. Portland Postgame w/ Chris Gerlufsen, David Fuchs and Tyrone Riley IV
Sunday, March 08
MBB | USF vs. Santa Clara Postgame w/ Chris Gerlufsen
Sunday, February 22
MBB | USF vs. Gonzaga Postgame w/ Chris Gerlufsen
Thursday, February 19
