Gaels Selected to Finish atop the WCC by Conference Coaches

Coming off of their stellar 2022–23 campaign, and aided by another solid recruiting class, the Saint Mary's Men's Basketball team has been selected to win the WCC by the conference coaches in the 2023–24 preseason poll. This is the first time since the start of the 2017–18 season that the Gaels were selected as preseason conference favorites. The Gaels edged out Gonzaga, with whom they split a share of the 2022–23 regular season WCC title, by one first-place vote and one total voting point. The entire WCC Preseason Coaches Poll is as follows:

Team (first-place votes) points
1. Saint Mary's – (5) 61
2. Gonzaga – (4) 60
3. San Francisco – 45
4. LMU – 42
5. Santa Clara – 41
6. Portland – 27
7. Pepperdine – 22
8. Pacific – 16
9. San Diego – 10

Three Gaels individually earned recognition on the 2023–24 WCC Preseason All-Conference list, as returning starters Aidan Mahaney, Alex Ducas, and Mitchell Saxen all earned their way onto this distinguished list. Saint Mary's tied with Gonzaga for the most preseason all-conference selections, as the Bulldogs also placed three on the list. 

"We appreciate the recognition from the conference," said SMC Head Coach Randy Bennett. "The WCC is a conference full of talent, and we will prepare to play against strong competition in every single matchup."

The Gaels continue to creep closer to the start of the season, as their November 6 opener against Stanislaus State is now less than three weeks away. WCC play will tip off in the first week of January. 

#GaelsRise

READ MORE: This story as it was originally published at SMCGaels.com.

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