michael williams – Rush The Court

Big 12 Preview: TCU’s Burning Question

Nate Kotisso — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 17:01:15 +0000

Burning Question: Will inexperience and injuries wreck TCU’s season?

TCU is not your typical power five conference job. In fact, it only became such a job three years ago. When Jim Christian sensed his seat was starting to warm at TCU, he left for Ohio, a less stressful and more comfortable mid-major gig. In came Trent Johnson, a coach who has had a modicum of success at every place he’s been, but who, like Christian, had sensed the pitchforks coming toward the end of his four-year run at LSU.

Head coach Trent Johnson is trying to build some momentum for a TCU program that [...]

Pac-12 M5: 10.09.12 Edition

AMurawa — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:01:45 +0000

Way back on April 11, Shabazz Muhammad signed with UCLA, guaranteeing Ben Howland one of the year’s best recruiting classes and boosting the hopes of Bruins’ fans. While there have been some good moments since then (such as when Tony Parker eventually committed to UCLA as well), now nearly six months later, the Bruins are on a bit of a losing streak even though they have yet to play a game. They learned yesterday that returning starter Tyler Lamb will miss at least a month while recovering from knee surgery. Throw that on top of the NCAA investigations into Muhammad [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:27:45 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the WCC correspondent for RTC.

Reader’s Take

Take Our Poll

Looking Back

Saint Mary’s was in the spotlight last week and the Gaels did not shirk from the attention. First came a businesslike, 71-64, win over Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, then an epochal, 80-66, romp over BYU in Provo that seemed to unhinge everyone connected with BYU basketball. It wasn’t only the 22,000-plus rabid fans in the Marriott Center, it wasn’t only normally low-key BYU coach Dave Rose losing his cool, it wasn’t just Noah Hartsock earning a flagrant foul with a blatant forearm shiver to the neck of Gaels’ [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:43:50 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the West Coast Conference correspondent for RTC.

Reader’s Take

Take Our Poll

Looking Back

Holding serve was the key note last week, as Saint Mary’s slapped down the second of its main competitors for the WCC title, Gonzaga, by a convincing 83-62 margin in Moraga. That followed the Gaels’ first-week trouncing of BYU by 98-82, also at home. Playing the cards dealt to them by an unbalanced conference schedule, the Gaels now have a one-game edge on both rivals before facing them on the road. For Saint Mary’s, the nine-team schedule – reflecting the addition of BYU to the ranks – was [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:13:03 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the West Coast Conference correspondent for RTC.

Reader’s Take

Take Our Poll

Looking Back

Along with greater strength at the top through the addition of Brigham Young, the WCC was supposed to exhibit league-wide improvement in 2011-12. At least in the early stages of conference play, that hasn’t happened. In fact, the gap between the haves and the have-nots appears to be widening. Opening games in WCC play found Gonzaga throttling Portland at home by a score of 90-51, Saint Mary’s skunking Pepperdine in Malibu by 74-45 and BYU beating San Diego at home by 88-52. That’s an average beat-down of 35 [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:15:13 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

[Ed. Note — a previous version of this CIO misrepresented several of the author’s thoughts. We have reverted it back to its original format, and for the oversight the editing team apologizes.]

Reader’s Take

Take Our Poll

Looking Back

Who Fears the Pac-12? Not Us: Sunday’s 93-55 beatdown of Santa Clara by Washington State notwithstanding, the WCC has compiled a 5-4 record against Pac-12 teams so far in 2011. Most notable were Loyola Marymount’s season-opening 69-58 upset of then-#17 UCLA at the LA Sports Arena (Pauley Pavilion is being remodeled) before UCLA’s troubles [...]

RTC Summer Updates: West Coast Conference

Brian Goodman — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:06:40 +0000

With the completion of the NBA Draft and the annual coaching and transfer carousels nearing their ends, RTC is rolling out a new series, RTC Summer Updates, to give you a crash course on each Division I conference during the summer months. Our first update is from the West Coast Conference and comes courtesy of Will Green, an editor and writer with The Slipper Still Fits.

Readers’ Take One

Take Our Poll

Summer Storylines

Brigham Young University Joins The Conference: When this story was first reported back in September, it was largely forgotten. BYU’s move was a [...]

Checking in on… the WCC

Brian Goodman — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:32:48 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

A Look Back

With the pre-conference season all wrapped up, let’s look all the way back to October and the WCC coaches poll for a reset on conference expectations. The coaches overwhelmingly picked Gonzaga to finish first, giving the Zags 48 total votes and six for first place. By a total of 42 to 39 they also picked Loyola Marymount to finish second over Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara (28 votes) to finish fourth and Portland (25 votes) fifth. How would the coaches vote if the [...]

Checking in on… the WCC

rtmsf — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 18:00:37 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

A Look Back

It was an “almost” week for Santa Clara and San Francisco, Gonzaga got its mojo back, Saint Mary’s picked up its first true road win of the year and Portland kept on cruising. Loyola-Marymount, Pepperdine and San Diego continued their losing ways. As Santa Clara battled Washington State evenly on Dec. 19 before succumbing 85-79 in overtime, and San Francisco took undefeated San Diego State to the wire two nights later in a 61-56 loss, visions of a stronger, more successful West Coast Conference flickered before fans’ eyes. It [...]

Checking in on… the WCC

Brian Goodman — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:42:59 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

A Look Back

It was a slow, after-finals week for most WCC teams, but the pace picks up considerably this weekend. Early-season top dogs Saint Mary’s and Portland cruised to expected wins – the Gaels by a score of 75-56 over UC Riverside at home and the Pilots in a closer-than-expected 71-64 win at Denver – and Gonzaga continued its slide against Top 25 teams, losing to Notre Dame in South Bend to fall to 4-5 for the first time in many people’s memory. Loyola-Marymount and San Francisco [...]

Checking in on… the WCC

rtmsf — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:38:25 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

Standings (through games of 12/30/09)

Saint Mary’s 13-2 Gonzaga 9-3 Portland 7-5 Loyola Marymount 8-7 Santa Clara 7-8 San Diego 6-8 San Francisco 4-10 Pepperdine 4-11

Observations

Although several WCC teams have games remaining before conference play begins next Friday (Jan. 8), a few general observations appear to be safe. First, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s (or Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga if you prefer) have erased any doubts about their continued stranglehold on the top two positions. Gonzaga could finish its pre-conference schedule at 11-3 or 10-4 depending on its game on the road against Illinois on Jan. [...]