The Saint Mary’s men’s basketball team’s dominating regular season continued with a near-miss of a sweep of the top individual West Coast Conference awards, with Gaels taking five of the six honors.
Randy Bennett was named WCC Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season, while Augustas Marciulionis and Mitchell Saxen repeated as Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. Paulius Murauskas was named Newcomer of the Year and freshman Mikey Lewis (a grad from Oakland’s Prolific Prep) was named Sixth Man of the Year. Portland’s Austin Rapp was named the WCC’s Freshman of the Year in the vote of WCC head coaches that was announced Tuesday.
Marciulionis, Murauskas and Saxen were also named first-team All-WCC.
Santa Clara’s Adama-Alpha Bal and USF’s Malik Thomas and Marcus Williams also were first-team selections, along with Gonzaga’s Nolan Hickman, Graham Ike and Ryan Nembhard, and Oregon State’s Michael Rataj.
The 21st-ranked Gaels (27-4, 17-1 WCC), won the regular season title for the third year in a row, finishing three games ahead of archrival Gonzaga. The top-seeded Gaels open the WCC Tournament on Monday night in Las Vegas. No. 3 seed USF and No. 4 Santa Clara play their first tournament games on Sunday night.
Bennett ties USF’s Phil Woolpert (1955-58) for the second longest streak of Coach of the Year honors in conference history. Bennett also won the award in 2016 and 2011, and shared the honor with Gonzaga’s Mark Few in 2008. Bennett’s seven Coach of the Year awards are second in WCC history to Few, who won 14, including six in a row from 2001-06.
Marciulionis is the second Gael to win consecutive WCC Player of the Year awards, joining Steve Gray (1962-63). The senior point guard is averaging 14.4 points and 6.1 assists per game, while also leading the Gaels with 43 steals. H’s 11th in the country with 189 assists.
Saxen joins former Gael Diamon Simpson (2008-08) as the only player to win the top defensive award in consecutive seasons. The senior center is the only player in the WCC with more than 30 blocked shots and 40 steals.
Here’s a look at the full all-conference award list:
2024-25 West Coast Conference Major AwardsCoach of the Year – Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’sPlayer of the Year – Augustas Marciulionis, Saint Mary’sDefensive Player of the Year – Mitchell Saxen, Saint Mary’sNewcomer of the Year – Paulius Murauskas, Saint Mary’sSixth Man of the Year – Mikey Lewis, Saint Mary’sFreshman of the Year – Austin Rapp, Portland
All-Conference First Team:Adama-Alpha Bal, Santa ClaraNolan Hickman, GonzagaGraham Ike, GonzagaAugustas Marciulionis, Saint Mary’sPaulius Murauskas, Saint Mary’sRyan Nembhard, GonzagaMichael Rataj, Oregon StateMitchell Saxen, Saint Mary’sMalik Thomas, San FranciscoMarcus Williams, San Francisco
All-Conference Second Team:Parsa Fallah, Oregon StateMax Mackinnon, PortlandCarlos Stewart, Santa ClaraChristoph Tilly, Santa ClaraLamar Washington, Pacific
All-Conference Honorable MentionLuke Barrett, Saint Mary’sNate Calmese, Washington StateNate Kingz, Oregon StateJevon Porter, LMUCaleb Stone-Carrawell, LMUStefan Todorovic, PepperdineLejuan Watts, Washington State
All-Freshman TeamTony Duckett, San DiegoMikey Lewis, Saint Mary’sAustin Rapp, PortlandTyrone Riley IV, San FranciscoTomas Thrastarson, Washington State