All WCC Teams: Campbell, Smeulders 1st Team; Stohl, Sikma HM

2010 West Coast Conference Awards

Player of the Year
Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga

Defensive Player of the Year
Omar Samhan, Saint Mary’s

Newcomer of the Year
Elias Harris, Gonzaga

Coach of the Year
Mark Few, Gonzaga

All-WCC First Team
Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga
T.J. Campbell, Portland
Steven Gray, Gonzaga
Elias Harris, Gonzaga
Dior Lowhorn, San Francisco
Mickey McConnell, Saint Mary’s
Omar Samhan, Saint Mary’s
Robin Smeulders, Portland
Vernon Teel, Loyola Marymount
Drew Viney, Loyola Marymount

Honorable Mention
Keion Bell, Pepperdine
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary’s
Brandon Johnson, San Diego
Luke Sikma, Portland
Jared Stohl, Portland
Mychel Thompson, Pepperdine
Marc Trasolini, Santa Clara

All-Freshman Team
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary’s
Ashley Hamilton, Loyola Marymount
Elias Harris, Gonzaga
Chris Manresa, San Diego
Robert Smith, Santa Clara

Wow, I'm impressed that Sikma was able to make honorable mention coming off the bench. He has been playing great this year and definitely deserves it.

I can't say enough about how well Stohl has come in and played in the absence of Ravio. We all know how well he can shoot the three, but he has really improved the rest of his game.

Congratulations to all 4 Pilots.

It is sad not to see Nik on there. He is still in a boot and I'd be surprised to see him play in Vegas.

Congrats to those 4 though! Portland is well represented on these teams!

Just a quick note on Stohl... in WCC play, he averaged 14.4 ppg and shot 51.9% (!) from three point range to easily lead the conference, and he hit an astounding 54 (of 104) threes, nearly 4 a game. Mickey McConnel of SMC hit the next most at 31. Think abou that... Jared was close to doubling the number of made threes for the next-closest guy. Pretty incredible.

Also, he played 33 minutes a game and really stepped up his defense and passing... he really developed into a lot more than just a good shooter. He is now truly a good all-around player.

Oh, and I suppose I should mention this... he is currently #1 in the nation in three-point shooting:

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/ncaa-m-baskbl-div1-ind-three-point-field-goal-percentage.html

I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

I certainly am pleasantly surprised by the Sikma selection. He played well certainly deserves to be there. It was also nice to see Smeulders get 1st team recognition. He started out so hot in the first 2 or three games, but tailed off a little towards the end (conference games I am refering to). Stohl was probably a tough one for the coaches, he was sooo good after Raivio went down. You have to think that if he had started every game he would have been a first teamer. TJ, clearly deserving of first team, and if we had finished a little higher, a contender for POY.

Oh man, how great is it to see 4 players make all-WCC (same amount as last year?). It wasn't that long ago that we were lucky to get one, maybe two honorable mentions.

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

Don't their fans already travel there in numbers? I thought they would have been pushing for a neutral site to get them out of Spokane for a weekend.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

I was wondering how long it'd take for you to bring that up. Again.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season.

I actually dont have a problem with this, in theory... and like it better than the so-called rotating method (what was the percentage of games played @ SCU & USD?!) the WCC had previously. But in practice, its a disaster... take a look at the Big Sky tourney, hosted by the regular season champion... if the home team loses, the games are played in completely empty gyms, as few people form other schools can travel, due to the short notice...

I'm also pretty sure the facilities folks on all 8 campuses are glad they dont need to block out the tourney weekend every year "in case" their team hosts... therefore missing out on the ability to host state tourneys, etc...

But in practice, its a disaster... take a look at the Big Sky tourney, hosted by the regular season champion... if the home team loses, the games are played in completely empty gyms, as few people form other schools can travel, due to the short notice...

I'm also pretty sure the facilities folks on all 8 campuses are glad they dont need to block out the tourney weekend every year "in case" their team hosts... therefore missing out on the ability to host state tourneys, etc...[/quote]

Your always so practical Pilotnut, congrats to Luke too--his HM was somewhat of a surprise to me.


MesaPilot1

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

A) that will NEVER happen.

B) Gonzaga was one of the ringleaders in pushing for a neutral site. They got what they asked for. They originaly asked for two years in Spokane and declined the second year because they saw what a pain in the a$$ it was to try and keep their season ticket holders happy. In fact they couldn't do that and they were terrible hosts to the rest of the conference because of it. That's why the second year was in Portland.

C) Gonazaga was THE team that pushed for the tournament format we have now, so if they bitch about that this year... screw 'em.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

Let's see: forget selling tickets in preseason, early booking of rooms and flights, and any attendance other than for the home team. Yeah, those guys really thought through that idea.

up7587 wrote:

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

Let's see: forget selling tickets in preseason, early booking of rooms and flights, and any attendance other than for the home team. Yeah, those guys really thought through that idea.

You presume Ehlo can think.

Purplegeezer wrote:

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

A) that will NEVER happen.

B) Gonzaga was one of the ringleaders in pushing for a neutral site. They got what they asked for. They originaly asked for two years in Spokane and declined the second year because they saw what a pain in the a$$ it was to try and keep their season ticket holders happy. In fact they couldn't do that and they were terrible hosts to the rest of the conference because of it. That's why the second year was in Portland.
C) Gonazaga was THE team that pushed for the tournament format we have now, so if they bitch about that this year... screw 'em.

----------------
I am very curious. Why did you feel the need to make up a bold face lie? Was it to try to make Gonzaga look bad in the eyes of this message board? Or to make you feel better? I'm curious. Why?

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2006/2/28/96490.aspx?path=mbball

From www.portlandpilots.com -- prior to the event being played at Gonzaga.

"The 2006 WCC Tournament marks the first time that the conference’s premier event has been held at Gonzaga University. This season is the first of a two-year site rotation in the Pacific Northwest for the WCC Tournament. The 2007 event is scheduled to be held at Portland, while the tournament is slated to move to Southern California for the 2008 and 2009 seasons before returning to the Bay Area in 2010 and 2011"

up7587 wrote:

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

Let's see: forget selling tickets in preseason, early booking of rooms and flights, and any attendance other than for the home team. Yeah, those guys really thought through that idea.

I suppose the Horizon League (Butler et al) and the Big Sky could benefit from the forward thinking here. After all, those 2 conference reward their regular season champ by hosting the tourney.

In my opinion, neutral (i.e. Vegas) and handicapping (byes, etc) are the best possible scenarios for our conference. Will see some of you this weekend (on Monday night, perhaps?)

GoZags wrote:

Purplegeezer wrote:

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

A) that will NEVER happen.

B) Gonzaga was one of the ringleaders in pushing for a neutral site. They got what they asked for. They originaly asked for two years in Spokane and declined the second year because they saw what a pain in the a$$ it was to try and keep their season ticket holders happy. In fact they couldn't do that and they were terrible hosts to the rest of the conference because of it. That's why the second year was in Portland.
C) Gonazaga was THE team that pushed for the tournament format we have now, so if they bitch about that this year... screw 'em.

----------------
I am very curious. Why did you feel the need to make up a bold face lie? Was it to try to make Gonzaga look bad in the eyes of this message board? Or to make you feel better? I'm curious. Why?

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2006/2/28/96490.aspx?path=mbball

From www.portlandpilots.com -- prior to the event being played at Gonzaga.

"The 2006 WCC Tournament marks the first time that the conference’s premier event has been held at Gonzaga University. This season is the first of a two-year site rotation in the Pacific Northwest for the WCC Tournament. The 2007 event is scheduled to be held at Portland, while the tournament is slated to move to Southern California for the 2008 and 2009 seasons before returning to the Bay Area in 2010 and 2011"

Well, I don't know where the Geezer got his info on that but he's not the type to just make something up.

And I would argue that the links you posted don't prove anything... Gonzaga's decision to turn down a second year obviously would have happened prior to the announcement that the tournament would rotate to Portland.

And the Geezer is definitely correct about GU's season ticket holders not being happy about the tournament... the GU fans who sat near my seats (and who spent more time getting up to go get wine at some booster club when not making fun of all the other WCC teams and their players) were b*tching about how they couldn't sit in the normal seats, how hard it was to get the tournament tickets, etc.

Still, that was an amazing tournament... not because of the location, but because of the games. So, so, so exciting!

GoZags wrote:

up7587 wrote:

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

Let's see: forget selling tickets in preseason, early booking of rooms and flights, and any attendance other than for the home team. Yeah, those guys really thought through that idea.

I suppose the Horizon League (Butler et al) and the Big Sky could benefit from the forward thinking here. After all, those 2 conference reward their regular season champ by hosting the tourney.

In my opinion, neutral (i.e. Vegas) and handicapping (byes, etc) are the best possible scenarios for our conference. Will see some of you this weekend (on Monday night, perhaps?)

I agree about the current setup, and I think most of the people here do also. I think the main contention is with Ehlo. They may have just wanted to have a "conversation" and brought up a different possibility. But given some of the other things he has said/man crush (bordering on more ) of Bouldin, we doubt he was thinking.

Not saying Bouldin is not a very good player and deserving of the POY. Ehlo just comes across as a 10 yr old fan. (Only able to talk about his favorite player and at every chance he gets.)

Stonehouse wrote:

GoZags wrote:

Purplegeezer wrote:

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

A) that will NEVER happen.

B) Gonzaga was one of the ringleaders in pushing for a neutral site. They got what they asked for. They originaly asked for two years in Spokane and declined the second year because they saw what a pain in the a$$ it was to try and keep their season ticket holders happy. In fact they couldn't do that and they were terrible hosts to the rest of the conference because of it. That's why the second year was in Portland.
C) Gonazaga was THE team that pushed for the tournament format we have now, so if they bitch about that this year... screw 'em.

----------------
I am very curious. Why did you feel the need to make up a bold face lie? Was it to try to make Gonzaga look bad in the eyes of this message board? Or to make you feel better? I'm curious. Why?

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2006/2/28/96490.aspx?path=mbball

From www.portlandpilots.com -- prior to the event being played at Gonzaga.

"The 2006 WCC Tournament marks the first time that the conference’s premier event has been held at Gonzaga University. This season is the first of a two-year site rotation in the Pacific Northwest for the WCC Tournament. The 2007 event is scheduled to be held at Portland, while the tournament is slated to move to Southern California for the 2008 and 2009 seasons before returning to the Bay Area in 2010 and 2011"

Well, I don't know where the Geezer got his info on that but he's not the type to just make something up.

And I would argue that the links you posted don't prove anything... Gonzaga's decision to turn down a second year obviously would have happened prior to the announcement that the tournament would rotate to Portland.

And the Geezer is definitely correct about GU's season ticket holders not being happy about the tournament... the GU fans who sat near my seats (and who spent more time getting up to go get wine at some booster club when not making fun of all the other WCC teams and their players) were b*tching about how they couldn't sit in the normal seats, how hard it was to get the tournament tickets, etc.

Still, that was an amazing tournament... not because of the location, but because of the games. So, so, so exciting!

Stonehouse -- I chose to use the Press Release from UP rather than the GU press release (from a year earlier) clearly stating that the tourney would come to the Northwest -- GU and UP.
http://www.gozags.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/030705aaf.html

Any commentary about the decision being made to send the 2nd year to Portland due to GU's "upset" Season Ticketholders is ludicrous .... i.e. a made up, fabricated story. When the WCC awarded Gonzaga '06, they simultaneously awarded UP '07.

The Post Mortem on the '06 WCC tourney in Spokane indicated one significant problem -- the same Chicago scalper that NCAA Regional host USF hired to sell their NCAA tickets on the secondary market was also hired to sell their allocation of WCC tourney tickets in Spokane.

Well, no it's not exactly ludicrous... Gonzaga had just built the McCarthy Center and had never hosted a tournament before. Is it really totally unreasonable that the WCC would have offered to them to host it twice? Maybe the initial offer was GU-POR-GU. It was kind of odd that it went to San Diego for one year and then to Vegas, wasn't it?

Basically what it comes down to is that we really can't say for certain that GU wasn't offered a second year and turned it down.

I can tell you from experience... hosting a WCC tournament is HARD. It's a major strain on the athletics staff of the host institution, and the amount of time and effort that goes into planning the whole thing is, to say the least, daunting.

When UP hosted the tournament in 2007, I think I did stats for every single game - men's and women's - and in between all the games handled many of the post-game press conferences, typing up quote sheets from the press conferences, providing updates stats and notes to the media, handling all of the tech problems the geriatric writers were having with their newspaper-owned laptops and with our infuriatingly difficult to access wireless here on campus, dealing with all the needy ESPN people... and I was pretty much the lowest man on the totem pole - an unpaid grad assistant. I can't even imagine what all the rest of the staff had to go through.

So... yes, I could easily envision a situation where Gonzaga didn't want to 1) deal with disgruntled season ticket holders (and you can't deny that there were lots and lots of them) and 2) deal with the trouble of hosting the thing.

"So... yes, I could easily envision a situation where Gonzaga didn't want to 1) deal with disgruntled season ticket holders (and you can't deny that there were lots and lots of them) and 2) deal with the trouble of hosting the thing"
-------
Do you truly believe what you've written?

That Gonzaga would pass up a chance to host the chance to earn a berth in the NCAA tourney because of season ticketholder issues and/or the hassle of hosting? Do you think Mark Few would go along with that? I don't think I've ever read anything more "off" than that.

K2 had a season under it's belt when GU was awarded '06 and UP was awarded '07 (btw, I was in Chiles for all 4 days of the '07 conference tourney). Both schools did a fine job of hosting -- other than this message board, I don't believe you'll find anyone that has said otherwise.

I also have trouble understanding how you've forgotten about the 2 year rotation plan which was implemented (and being executed) prior to Vegas emerging as a viable alternative. It's described in this WCC press release (the same rationale held true for Men's and Women's).
http://wccsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/110606aab.html

"This year concludes the Northwest's two-year site rotation, with the 2008 and 2009 basketball tournaments slated be held in Southern California before returning to the Bay Area in 2010 and 2011."

GoZags, while I appreciate that you're trying to defend Purplegeezer's perceived slight on Gonzaga's heretofore unblemished reputation as the shining beacon, both on and off the court, to which all WCC schools should gaze in awe, that's not what this thread is about.

This thread is about four - let me repeat that - FOUR Pilots being named to the All-WCC teams, and I refuse to let it be hijacked.

Congratulations to TJ and Robin. As seniors who have played huge parts in rebuilding this program, it's no less than you deserve. Congrats also to Jared and Luuuuuuuke, next year's terrors of the WCC.

Yes, yes... well said, RJ!

Rob's Jacket wrote:GoZags, while I appreciate that you're trying to defend Purplegeezer's perceived slight on Gonzaga's heretofore unblemished reputation as the shining beacon, both on and off the court, to which all WCC schools should gaze in awe, that's not what this thread is about.

This thread is about four - let me repeat that - FOUR Pilots being named to the All-WCC teams, and I refuse to let it be hijacked.

Congratulations to TJ and Robin. As seniors who have played huge parts in rebuilding this program, it's no less than you deserve. Congrats also to Jared and Luuuuuuuke, next year's terrors of the WCC.

Good point. Four Pilots being named to the All WCC team is an incredible accomplishment and one to be very proud of.

As for the "hijacking" of this thread? I believe the tenor changed at least 8 posts prior to my first weighing in on the topic -- and if you truly wanted to ensure that this thread be about celebrating UP's fine accompishments, perhaps you could have "refused" to let it be hijacked at that time, rather than actually continue and perpetuate the topic that the thread had turned into.

GoZags wrote:

up7587 wrote:

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

mattywizz wrote:I'm sure Craig Ehlo is pleased about the POY selection.

During Saturday's GU game the gruesome twosome wanted the WCC tournament to be hosted by whoever wins the regular season. Because Spokane is a nicer weekend getaway spot than Vegas.

Let's see: forget selling tickets in preseason, early booking of rooms and flights, and any attendance other than for the home team. Yeah, those guys really thought through that idea.

I suppose the Horizon League (Butler et al) and the Big Sky could benefit from the forward thinking here. After all, those 2 conference reward their regular season champ by hosting the tourney.

In my opinion, neutral (i.e. Vegas) and handicapping (byes, etc) are the best possible scenarios for our conference. Will see some of you this weekend (on Monday night, perhaps?)

Horizon League spans from Green Bay to Youngstown: 600 miles.
San Diego to Spokane: 1469 miles.
Apples and oranges.

Sorry, RJ. Made my post before I read your "redirect".

Congrats to all the All-WCC players, especially our Pilots.