West Coast Conference Basketball
1. San Diego Toreros
1995-96 record: 14-14, no postseason play; 6-8, 6th
Coach: Brad Holland
Years coaching: Four, all at USD
Record: 48-61
Top returnees: F Brian Miles (6-9, Jr.); C Brian Bruso (6-7, Sr.); G Sean Flannery (6-5, Sr.); F Ryan Williams (6-6, Jr.)
Top newcomer: G Alex Davis (5-11, Jr.)
Quickly: Two of USD’s four non-conference losses have come to top-ranked Kansas (79-72) and No. 21 Stanford (72-70).
Outlook: With eight of last year’s top nine scorers - including guard Brock Jacobsen, last year’s WCC Freshman of the Year returning, Toreros are poised to challenge for first title since 1987. They open league play having won five straight and six of their last seven.
2. Saint Mary’s Gaels
1995-96 record: 12-15, no postseason; 5-9, 7th
Coach: Ernie Kent
Years coaching: Five, all at Saint Mary’s
Record: 67-72
Top returnees: G David Sivulich (5-10, Jr.); C Brad Millard (7-3, So.); F A.J. Rollins (6-8, Sr.); G Josh Unruh (6-5, Sr.).
Top newcomers: F Brett Varga (6-8, So.); G Frank Allocco, Jr. (5-10, Fr.)
Quickly: Graybeard Gaels open league play with four 22-year-olds on their roster.
Outlook: Kent has four 3-year letterwinners back, along with the 345-pound Millard, the nation’s biggest Division I player. Sivulich, last year’s leading scorer, is coming back from an early season hand injury and there is little reason to expect Gaels to cool after 10-3 start.
3. Santa Clara Broncos
1995-96 record: 20-9, lost in second round of NCAAs; 10-4 in WCC, tied for 1st)
Coach: Dick Davey
Years coaching: Five, all at Santa Clara
Record: 73-42
Top returnees: G Marlon Garnett (6-2, Sr.); F Jason Sedlock (6-7, Sr.) ; F Drew Zurek (6-9, Sr.)
Top newcomers: G Brian Jones (6-3, Fr.); G Craig Johnson (6-4, Jr.) ; F Todd Wuschnig (6-7, Fr.)
Quickly: The Broncos do not have a player taller than 6-9 on their roster.
Outlook: The loss of two-time all-WCC point guard Steve Nash was huge, but Davey has uncovered another gem in Jones. Lack of size might hurt, but if Garnett continues stepped-up production and Jones matures quickly, Broncos have a shot at third consecutive title.
4. Gonzaga Bulldogs
1995-96 record: 21-9, lost in first round of NIT; 10-4, tied for 1st
Coach: Dan Fitzgerald
Years coaching: 14, all at Gonzaga
Record: 239-157
Top returnees: G Lorenzo Rollins (6-4, Sr.); F Bakari Hendrix (6-8, Jr.); F Mike Leasure (6-6, So.)
Top newcomers: G Matt Santangelo (6-0, Fr.); F Axel Dench (7-0, Fr.); C Jeremy Eaton (6-9, Jr.)
Quickly: GU’s streak of three consecutive postseason appearances is the longest in the WCC.
Outlook: Bulldogs were considered a preseason favorite until senior center Paul Rogers, a leading WCC player-of-the-year candidate, went down with a season-ending foot injury. Now Fitzgerald, who will retire at season’s end, must rely on Rollins and a cast of promising, but relatively untested, underclassmen.
5. Portland Pilots
1995-96 record: 19-11, lost in first round of NCAAs; 7-7, 5th
Coach: Rob Chavez
Years coaching: Four, two at Portland
Record: 68-46, 40-19 at Portland
Top returnees: C Greg Klosterman (6-11, Sr.); G Chivo Anderson (6-5, Jr.); F Jimmie Rainwater (6-6, So.)
Top newcomer: G Jason Franklin (6-4, Fr.)
Quickly: Pilots enter league play as only WCC team with four players averaging double figures in scoring.
Outlook: Picked by many to tack regular-season title on top of last winter’s WCC tournament championship and automatic NCAA berth, UP has struggled, mainly because of the loss of last year’s leading scorer Kweemada King, who is out indefinitely - and maybe for the season - with a stress fracture in his lower leg.
6. San Francisco Dons
1995-96 record: 15-12, no postseason play; 8-6, tied for 3rd
Coach: Philip Mathews
Years coaching: One, at USF Record: 15-12
Top returnees: F John Duggan (6-7, Sr.); G M.J. Nodilo (6-4, Jr.); F Zerrick Campbell (6-5, Jr.)
Top newcomers: F Hakeem Ward (6-6, Jr.); G Jamal Cobbs (5-9, Jr.); F Damian Cantrell (6-6, Jr.);
Quickly: The Dons brought in a league-high five JC transfers all from Ventura College, where Mathews coached prior to signing on at USF last year.
Outlook: At least two preseason college basketball publications picked the Dons to win the WCC, but Duggan’s production has dropped considerably since last year and Mathews’ transfers have not adapted to Division I life as quickly as some expected.
7. Pepperdine Waves
1995-96 record: 10-18, no postseason play; 2-12, 8th
Coach: Lorenzo Romar
Years coaching: First year
Record: First year
Top returnees: F Bryan Hill (6-8, Jr.); G Marques Johnson (6-0, Sr.)
Top newcomer: F Marc McDowell (6-7, So.)
Quickly: Senior guard Gerald Brown, the leading scorer in the WCC last season, is taking a medical redshirt season because of a knee injury.
Outlook: Romar’s three transfers - omm’A Givens (UCLA), Jelani Gardner (California) and Tommie Prince (Arizona State) - will make the Waves contenders, but not until next year when they become eligible to join Brown.
8. Loyola Marymount Lions
1995-96 record: 18-11, no postseason play; 8-6, tied for 3rd
Coach: John Olive
Years coaching: Four, all at LMU
Record: 44-67
Top returnees: G Jim Williamson (5-10 Sr.); F Ben Ammerman (6-7, Jr.); F Ted Kennedy (6-5, So.); C Kenny Hotopp (6-10, Jr.)
Top newcomer: C Peter Cornell (6-10, So.)
Quickly: Williamson, at 92 percent, and Ammerman, at 84, ranked 1-3 in the WCC in free-throw accuracy last season.
Outlook: Olive has some seasoned players back, but the Lions have played down in the early going and don’t appear capable of finishing ahead of anyone but Pepperdine.
xxxx COMING UP Today: Santa Clara at Gonzaga, 7 p.m., Martin Centre.