Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Graham Ike Named to the All-West Coast Conference First Team

The Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year Awards were all won by Saint Mary’s.

As expected, guard Ryan Nembhard and forward Graham Ike were listed on the All-West Coast Conference First Team for the second straight season. A pleasant surprise that guard Nolan Hickman was named one of the Top Ten players in the league. Other than that, no issues or snubs arise.

Here are all three’s season stats:

Nembhard – 10.9 points 44.6 FG%/40.7 3PT%/79.5 FT%, 10.0 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals

Hickman – 11.4 points 48.7 FG%/44.4 3PT%/95.0 FT%, 2.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals

Ike – 17.0 points on 59.9 FG%/37.9 3PT%/79.5 FT%, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists

Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga led the way with three First Team selections. San Francisco had two.

For the second straight year, no Zags won a major award. Saint Mary’s nearly swept all of them this season.

Player of the Year – Augustas Marciulionis

Coach of the Year – Randy Bennett

Defensive Player of the Year – Mitchell Saxen

Newcomer of the Year – Paulius Murauskas

Sixth Man of Year – Mikey Lewis

Marciulionis (14.4 points on 44.7 FG%/35.8 3PT%/79.8 FT%, 6.1 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals) has now won the conference’s Player of the Year Award in back-to-back campaigns. Was San Francisco’s Malik Thomas snubbed? The guard leads the conference in scoring with 19.1 points as well as in steals at 1.7.

Saxen (10.4 points on 53.7 FG%, 8.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 1.2 blocks) also was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. In 2024, Anton Watson was robbed of the honor.

Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett has won the conference’s Coach of the Year Award seven times in his 24 seasons at the helm for the Gaels. Gonzaga coach Mark Few has won it 14 times in his 26 seasons in Spokane.

These all-conference and all-freshman teams as well as the awards were voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.

Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho