“We are excited to add Przemek to the Gonzaga basketball family. He’s a player we have targeted for the past two seasons,” Few said. “His combination of size and skill will allow him to contribute to our team next year. He is an individual of exceptional character and will fit well into the Zags mold.”

Born in Bydgoszcz (Bid-ghost), Poland, he was raised in Torun, Poland, where he played for his father, Bonifacy, who was the head coach of the squad.

Karnowksi is an experienced player on the Polish Junior National team and is a veteran of several European championship tournaments.

Most recently he played in the 2011 U18 European Championship in Wroclaw, Poland, where he was named to the All-Star Game and scored a game-high 13 points while earning MVP honors. He averaged 11.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 1.8 blocks/game. He scored 21 points in the opening game against Slovakia, one of his five double-digits games. He had a pair of double-doubles – 17 points and 11 rebounds against Croatia and 14 points and 10 boards against Italy.

Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd first saw Karnowski at the 2010 U17 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, where Lloyd was watching current Bulldog and Canadian Junior National Team member Kevin Pangos who was getting ready to enter his senior year of high school.

Karnowski averaged 14.5 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 2.5 assists and 2.0 blocks in that tournament. He scored in double-digits in seven of the eight games. Foul trouble limited his minutes in the Gold Medal game against USA and he ended with three points. He had two 20-point games with 24 against Germany and 20 against Spain to go with 12 rebounds for one of his five double-digit outings as Poland finished 7-1 with the title-game loss to USA. He went 12-for-16 from the field against Germany and 7-for-8 against Spain. For the tournament he shot 53.1 percent from the field on 43-of-81.

In the match-up with Pangos and Canada, Poland took a 75-70 victory. Karnowski scored 14 points and hauled in 10 rebounds while Pangos scored 22 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and had 6 assists. Karnowski and Pangos were both named to the All-Tournament Five for the inaugural FIBA U17 World Championship. Karnowski was named the best center in the competition while Pangos was tabbed the top point guard.

Among his other FIBA appearances are the 2008 U16 European Championship, the 2009 U16 European Championship, the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship, the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship and the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship.

He had an outstanding FIBA U19 World Championship, averaging 13.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg and 1.6 blocks/game. He scored 29 points against Croatia on an 11-for-18 night from the field and 23 against Russia while going 9-for-12 from the field. He had a tournament-high 9 rebounds against both Argentina and Croatia.

This past season Karnowski played for Siarka Jezioro Tarnobrzeg team in the PLK, Poland’s top league, and averaged 10.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg and shot 54 percent from the floor.

The University of Florida’s Billy Donovan is the head coach with Few and Shaka Smart of Virginia Commonwealth University joining the staff as assistants.

“Anytime you have the opportunity to represent your country, it is a positive and something to take a lot of pride in,” Few said. “I’m looking forward to the experience of being a part of USA Basketball. I’m also really looking forward to working with both Billy and Shaka. It will be a great opportunity for professional development.”

Few undertakes his second selection by USA Basketball after serving as a court coach for the 2009 USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Championship/World University Games Team Trials.

Donovan echoed Few’s sentiments.

“It’s always an honor to be selected to represent your country, and I’m incredibly thankful for this opportunity to be a part of USA Basketball,” Donovan said. “I have great respect for Shaka Smart and Mark Few, and I’m looking forward to working alongside them.”

The USA is the reigning champion from the 2010 U18 tournament, when Quincy Miller (Baylor) hit a game-winning 3-pointer to help down Brazil, 81-78. The USA brought home silver in 2008 after falling to host Argentina despite a tournament MVP performance by Kemba Walker (Charlotte Bobcats).

“Coach Donovan has been one of the premier coaches in college basketball over the past 15 years. He’s won at the highest level of college basketball, and I’m sure that experience will translate well to the USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team,” said Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University and Hall of Fame coach and chair of the Junior National Team Committee. “Having successful coaches like Mark Few and Shaka Smart in the program will make this a tremendously strong staff. The USA Men’s U18 Team is going to benefit from having some of brightest teachers in college basketball guiding them.”

Following the first three or four days of training camp for approximately 25-30 players from June 5-12 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, finalists for the team will be selected by the USA Men’s Junior National Team Committee and will continue to train at the USOTC.

The 12-members of the 2012 USA Men’s U18 National Team will be selected prior to the team’s departure for the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, which will be played June 16-20 in Sao Sebastiáo do Paraiso, Brazil. Players eligible for this competition must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1994.

“It means a great deal to be selected to participate in USA Basketball and be a part of team that is going overseas to represent our country,” Smart said. “I’m really excited about working with both Billy Donovan and Mark Few, quite simply they are two of the absolute best in the business.”

Eight teams will compete in the 2012 U18 zone qualifier, including the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. The top four finishing teams in the tournament will qualify for next summer’s 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.

In the hunt for a sixth gold medal, USA men’s teams are 38-2 overall in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship (formerly known as the Junior World Championship Qualifier), and have won gold in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010, silver in 2008 and bronze in 2002.

In addition to chair Boeheim, the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee includes NCAA appointees Lorenzo Romar (University of Washington), Bruce Weber (Kansas State University) and Roy Williams (University of North Carolina), as well as athlete representative Jay Williams (2002 USA World Championship Team).

The game, part of Final Four Friday^® during the 2012 NCAA^® Men’s  Final Four^® weekend, will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Reese’s is the official candy partner of the NCAA.

The game features 20 of the nation’s most outstanding seniors from NCAA Division I, selected by the NABC.

Sacre was a first-team All-West Coast Conference selection this past season, averaging 11.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 1.4 blocks/game. He scored 1,270 career points to rank 21^st and grabbed 679 rebounds to rank 8^th on the all-time GU list. His 186 blocked shots rank second behind Casey Calvary’s 207.

The Reese’s College All-Star Game will be broadcast Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT on TruTV.

Dale Brown will coach Sacre and the West squad, while Wimp Sanderson will handle the duties for the East team.

Here are the rosters for Friday’s game:

Reese’s WEST ALL-STAR TEAM

No.      Name                          Pos.    Ht.       Wt.      College/Hometown

2        Casper Ware              G         5-10     175      Long Beach State, Cerritos, CA

4        Jorge Gutierrez           G         6-3       195      California/Chihuahua, Mexico

10        Dominique Morrison   F          6-6       210      Oral Roberts/Kansas City, MO

12        Devoe Joseph            G         6-4       180      Oregon/Toronto, Ontario

14        Bradford Burgess        G/F      6-6       225      VCU/Midlothian, GA

20        Wendell McKines        F          6-6       230      New Mexico State/Oakland, CA

22        Storm Warren            F          6-7       230      LSU/Monroe, LA

24        Chace Stanback         G/F      6-8       215      UNLV/Los Angeles, CA

30        Robert Sacre             C         7-0       260      Gonzaga/North Vancouver, BC

32        Ricardo Ratliffe           F          6-8       240      Missouri/Hampton, VA

Reese’s EAST ALL-STAR TEAM 

No.      Name                          Pos.    Ht.       Wt.      College/Hometown

1        Scott Machado           G         6-1       180      Iona/Queens, NY

11        Juan Fernandez          G         6-4       195      Temple/Rio Tercero, Argentina

13        Ramone Moore           G         6-4       190      Temple/Philadelphia, PA

15        Kevin Murphy             G         6-7       185      Tennessee Tech/Atlanta, GA

21        Jae Crowder               F          6-6       235      Marquette/Villa Rica, GA

23        John Shurna               F          6-9       215      Northwestern/Glen Ellyn, IL

25        Keith Wright                F          6-8       240      Harvard/Suffolk, VA

31        Garrett Stutz               C         7-0       255      Wichita State/Kansas City, MO

33        Henry Sims                 C         6-10     245      Georgetown/Baltimore, MD

35        Mitchell Watt               F          6-10     225      Buffalo/Goodyear, AZ

So rather than sulk after foul trouble and some solid Gonzaga defense frustrated him for 36 minutes Saturday, the quickly maturing big man relaxed, took a deep breath and hoisted the Buckeyes on his broad shoulders.

Sullinger scored 18 points, including two big baskets on soft hook shots in the final 3 minutes to lead Ohio State to a 73-66 victory and a spot in the regional semifinals for the third straight year.

“I knew that throwing my body and creating contact wasn’t going to work in this game,” he said. “So I kind of just went with a little bit of finesse and just tried to get off-the-body contact and try to go up and finish.”

And finish off the original bracket busters in the process.

DeShaun Thomas also scored 18 for the second-seeded Buckeyes (29-7), while Aaron Craft added 17 points and 10 assists. Ohio State will play Florida State or Cincinnati in Boston on Thursday.

“We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well in the second half, but we knocked the shots down. And everybody made a big shot here and there,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said.

It’s what the Buckeyes do. When Sullinger spent the last 9:12 of the first half on the bench with two fouls, the Buckeyes relied on Craft and Thomas to erase a seven-point deficit.

Then, with the Bulldogs surging after wiping out a 10-point Ohio State lead, the Buckeyes went back to basics.

They went back to Sullinger, though such measures hardly seemed necessary after a putback by Thomas gave the Buckeyes a 58-48 lead. The Bulldogs (26-7) responded with a 13-3 run capped by a 3-pointer from the corner by Harris that tied it at 61 with 4:05 to go.

Then Sullinger, who still thinks about last year’s loss to Kentucky in the regional semifinals, took over. He backed down Gonzaga center Robert Sacre and hit a soft little hook shot from the right block to put Ohio State back in front.

“Right down the stretch we wanted to get the ball in his hands,” Matta said. “He’s a winner. We’ll ride that down the stretch.”

Gary Bell Jr. led Gonzaga with 18 points and Harris added 16, but the Zags went cold down the stretch, coming up empty on five straight possessions after tying the game as Ohio State avoided becoming the third No. 2 seed to lose in less than 24 hours. Fellow heavyweights Duke and Missouri fell to upstarts on Friday from one-bid leagues.

Yet the Buckeyes knew the Bulldogs are hardly scrappy underdogs. They entered the game with 17 NCAA victories over the last 14 seasons, the same as the Buckeyes.

The 18th will have to wait until next year at least, though coach Mark Few was hardly apologizing after taking the Buckeyes to the limit.

“We went toe-to-toe with a really good team,” Few said. “Wouldn’t surprise me if they are cutting down the nets in New Orleans. They’re right at that level with some of those other good teams like Syracuse and Kentucky.”

It’s a glass ceiling the Bulldogs have been trying to break through since making the regional finals in 1999. Their best chance of returning to the round of 16 came on Kevin Pangos’ 3-point attempt from the right corner with 90 seconds to play.

“I thought it was good for sure,” Pangos said.

It certainly looked good. The ball went halfway down before rolling off and into the hands of Ohio State’s William Buford. Sullinger again delivered with a baby hook to push the Buckeyes’ lead to 66-61 with 57 seconds left.

The Bulldogs got no closer. By the time Bell banked in an awkward 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, it was too late.

“I think if you ask the Ohio State guys, they know we hit ‘em and went right at ‘em,” Few said.

Gonzaga pushed around West Virginia in a 23-point romp in the second round Thursday. Sullinger, who watched part of the rout from behind one of the baskets, described it as a “wake-up” call.

If it was, the Buckeyes hit the snooze button early.

Determined to lead Gonzaga to the one destination that has eluded the program, Sacre gave the Bulldogs an impassioned pep talk in the tunnel before taking the floor just before the opening tip, urging “everybody to hit their man.”

Gonzaga landed the first blows, dominating the paint early against the supposedly bigger, deeper Buckeyes.

The Bulldogs led 27-20 late in the first half even with Sacre in foul trouble. Reserve Sam Dower filled in capably, crashing the glass and even knocking down his third 3-pointer of the season.

If Ohio State was rattled, it didn’t show.

Thomas, coming off a career-high 31 points against Loyola, took over with Sullinger relegated to a cheerleader after picking up his second foul. The sophomore swingman ripped off 10 straight points during a 4-minute stretch as Ohio State clawed back. Craft erased all of Gonzaga’s hard work with a difficult runner just before the horn to give the Buckeyes a 39-37 lead as Ohio State fans who made the 3-hour drive from Columbus roared their approval.

Gonzaga never climbed back in front, and the Buckeyes were marching toward Boston looking just as formidable as top-seed Syracuse thanks to their suddenly easygoing star.

“He’s such a smart player,” Matta said of Sullinger. “He knows when he makes a mistake and how to correct it. Jared’s Jared.”

Kevin Pangos added 13 points and five assists for the seventh-seeded Bulldogs (26-6), who will play Ohio State or Loyola (Md.) in the third round on Saturday.

Gary Browne led the Mountaineers (19-14) with 15 points off the bench and Kevin Jones scored 13 in his final game for West Virginia, which endured its worst postseason defeat in 28 years despite a decided home-court advantage.

Gonzaga never let the crowd get into it. The Bulldogs took control during a 13-0 run midway through the first half and cruised, shooting 56 percent from the floor while harassing the 10th-seeded Mountaineers into tough shots all night.

Led by Missouri, 2003 State Farm Battle in Seattle participant, three of Gonzaga’s former opponents at KeyArena have been included in the highly anticipated NCAA Tournament.  The Tigers won 30 games this season, earning a number two seed in the West Region.  Head coach Frank Haith and company will be taking on 15^th seeded Norfolk St in Omaha on Friday.

Joining the Tigers in March Madness will be 2008 BIS featured school, Connecticut and 2009 contestant Davidson.  The Huskies earned an at large bid as the ninth seed in the South Region and will go head to head against Iowa St.  The Davidson Wildcats finished an outstanding 2011-12 campaign as the Southern Conference champions, winning the chance to take on BIG East tournament champion Louisville.

Four additional BIS teams will continue their season in the National Invitational Tournament.  The Zags’ most recent opponent, Arizona, just missed out on the NCAA Tournament, instead finding themselves as a number one seed in the NIT.  The Wildcats take on Bucknell in the tournament’s opening round.

Tennessee (2007 State Farm Battle in Seattle) joins Arizona as one of the NIT’s top seeds.  The Volunteers and first year coach Cuonzo Martin have already opened tournament play, taking down Savannah St. 65-51.  Tennessee moves on to the second round where they will face Middle Tennessee in an interstate showdown.

Also included in NIT play is 2006 BIS participant Nevada and 2004’s Massachusetts.  Nevada finished atop the WAC regular season standings with an impressive 13-1 record and opens their tournament play as a five seed, taking on Oral Roberts.  UMass also earned a five seed and like Tennessee has advanced to the second round with a double overtime, 101-96 victory at Mississippi State.  The Minutemen move along to take on top seed Seton Hall.

As we feature celebrated programs who have made their way through KeyArena’s premier neutral site event, let’s not forget about the school who calls the Emerald City home once a year.  Gonzaga is back in the ‘Big Dance’ for a 14^th straight season, tied for fourth on the list of most consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.  The seventh seeded Bulldogs begin tournament play tomorrow afternoon at 4:20 PM (PST) and take on West Virginia as they look to take down a team from the BIG East for the second consecutive season.  Mark Few and crew took down St. John’s a season ago.  Should the Zags advance, they will play the winner of Ohio St. and Loyola of Maryland.

Good luck to all State Farm Battle in Seattle fans as they, along with thousands of others, fill out their postseason brackets.

Thursday’s meeting between the Zags and Mountaineers will be the first meeting between the two schools. Gonzaga has faced Bob Huggins, head coach of West Virginia, before though. Huggins was at the helm of the University of Cincinnati, who the Bulldogs defeated 74-69 in the First Round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

Gonzaga has faced nine Big East Conference opponents in its history and has a 7-13 all-time record against the conference. This will be the second-consecutive year the Zags will open the NCAA Tournament against a Big East opponent; having defeated St. John’s 86-71 last season.

West Virginia earned an at-large bid after finishing the regular season with a 19-13 overall mark and 9-9 record in the Big East. The Mountaineers fell in overtime in the opening round of the Big East Tournament to the University of Connecticut by the score of 71-67. The Mountaineers closed out the season winning only four of its final 12 contests.

West Virginia is making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in eight years, which includes a Final Four finish in 2010; and Elite Eight finish in 2005 and two Sweet Sixteen appearances (2006 and 2008). Last year, West Virginia fell in the Third Round to the University of Kentucky 71-63.

This season marks Gonzaga’s 14th-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its 15th overall. The Zags, who finished the regular season at 25-6, closed out the West Coast Conference season at 13-3, finishing in second place. The No. 2 seed Bulldogs fell to the No. 1 seed Saint Mary’s College 78-74 in overtime in the WCC Tournament Championship game.

This marks the second time in school history the Bulldogs have been awarded the 7 seed in the field of 68.

The winner of the Gonzaga/West Virginia game will play the winner of Ohio State University/Loyola University (Md.) Saturday. Ohio State (27-7) is seeded No. 2 and Loyola University (24-8) is seeded No. 15 after winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

He scored 30 points on 10-of-17 shooting, and defending champion Gonzaga defeated Brigham Young 77-58 Saturday night to advance to its 15th consecutive West Coast Conference title game.

“We went to a zone a couple of times and knew he’d run to the corner,” BYU coach Dave Rose said. “We were in position to challenge his shots. He just made good plays and got their team going.”

Gonzaga went on a pair of 7-0 runs in the first half and never really looked back.

The Bulldogs (25-5) will face Saint Mary’s in Monday’s title game. The teams split their season series, with Gonzaga losing the first game by 21 points and winning the second by 14.

Gonzaga had done the same this season with BYU. But the Cougars never could get their shots to fall Saturday.

“A great win for us because we beat a very, very good basketball team, an NCAA tournament team,” said Pangos, the WCC’s newcomer of the year. He made 5 of 9 3-pointers.

BYU finished 3 of 18 from 3-point range and shot just 38 percent overall. Gonzaga made 7 of 15 from beyond the arc and hit 55 percent overall.

The Bulldogs also held a 37-31 edge in rebounds, 38-18 edge on points in the paint and 15-9 advantage on points off turnovers

Pangos was most excited about Gonzaga’s defensive rebounding and defensive intensity.

“It was a team effort; everyone is loud and our energy was unbelievable. That fueled our offense,” Pangos said. “When we play and try to get steals and are active like that, it fuels everything. It’s contagious.”

Brandon Davies led BYU (25-8) with 17 points, while Matt Carlino, Noah Hartsock and Charles Abouo had 12 apiece.

BYU trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half and 21 in the second. The Cougars got within 10 early in the second half, but each time BYU cut into the lead, Pangos was there to answer.

The win was payback for last year, when the Cougars stunned the Bulldogs 89-67 to punch their ticket to the NCAA round of 16 for the first time in 30 years. Now that the Cougars are first-year members of the WCC, Gonzaga was intent of showing who has owned the conference.

Now they’ll face the Gaels, and BYU must wait to find out if it qualifies for the NCAA tournament.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of this team,” Rose said. “This team has overcome a lot. It’s been resilient in times of challenges. But we’ve been consistent all year long in finding ways to win games. We want to keep playing, and hopefully we can. This team deserves to be in the NCAA tournament.”

The Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-2 lead, and Pangos hit back-to-back 3-pointers as they extended their lead to 12-4. Gonzaga went on another 7-0 run, capped by Guy Landry Edi’s jam off a Carlino turnover, as the Bulldogs surged ahead 19-5 with 14:11 left in the first half.

Pangos stole another Carlino pass and scored on a fast-break layup for a 23-9 Gonzaga lead.

Eight minutes in, Gonzaga was shooting 71 percent and had made 3 of 4 3-pointers, while BYU was shooting 30 percent and started 0 of 4 from 3-point range

“We kind of panicked a little bit, rushed things,” Rose said. “Gonzaga was really good for 40 minutes.”

By halftime Pangos had 12 points as Gonzaga took a 38-26 lead into the break.

In the second half, six straight points by Davies pulled BYU within 42-32. But Pangos hit three more 3-pointers in the next 3 minutes as Gonzaga built its lead back to 16 points.

Carlino’s 3-pointer cut the gap to 11 with 9:58 left, but Pangos countered with a floater in the lane to start an 11-2 run.

Elias Harris added 10 points and 15 rebounds for Gonzaga, his 11th double-double of the season and the 20th of his career.

“Sometimes you have to be smart when you get down,” BYU’s Abouo said. “We have a lot of guys with fight in them, but you have to be smart. You have to do it one possession at a time. We were looking for a five-point possession.”

Sacre, a 7-0, 260-pounder from North Vancouver, British Columbia, was named the Defensive Player of the Year while Pangos, a 6-1, 180-pounder form Newmarket, Ontario, was named the Newcomer of the Year.

Both players were also named to the 10-man All-WCC first team along with junior forward Elias Harris of Speyer, Germany. Pangos and fellow freshman Gary Bell, Jr., of Kent, Wash., were named to the WCC All-Freshman team.

Junior Matthew Dellavedova of regular-season champion Saint Mary’s College was named Player of the Year and Loyola Marymount University head coach Max Good was named the Coach of the Year.

Joining Sacre, Pangos and Harris on the All-WCC team were Dellavedova and senior teammate Rob Jones; senior Angelo Caloiaro of the University of San Francisco; junior Brandon Davies and senior Noah Hartsock of BYU; Anthony Ireland and Drew Viney of LMU.

In addition to Pangos and Bell, the All-Freshman team consisted of Matt Carlino of BYU, Johnny Dee of the University of San Diego and Brad Wadlow of SMC.

The selections were made by a vote of the nine WCC coaches, and coaches could not vote for their players.

Sacre, second on Gonzaga’s career blocked shots list with 181, is the fifth Zag to be recognized as Defensive Player of the Year, and the first since Erroll Knight in 2005. Sacre ranked among the conference leaders in rebounding during WCC play, averaging 6.3 boards per game. He also tied for the WCC lead with 25 blocked shots and had 42 blocks overall while helping Gonzaga lead the West Coast Conference in scoring defense (61.9 points allowed) and field goal percentage defense (40.1 percent).

Pangos is the third straight Bulldog (and fourth overall) to be honored as the West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year, joining Marquise Carter (2011) and Elias Harris (2010) as recent Gonzaga honorees. Pangos averaged 12.8 points and 3.2 assists per game during West Coast Conference play, while connecting on a league-best 36 3-point field goals. The Canada native also sank better than 87 percent of his free throw attempts during WCC play. He leads the Zags in overall scoring at 13.4 ppg which ranks eighth in the WCC and assists at 3.4/game to rank seventh in the WCC overall.

Harris averaged 12.9 ppg to rank 10^th overall in the WCC and his 8.4 rpg led the Zags in rebounding and ranked third overall in the WCC. He finished the regular season with four double-doubles in his last six games to give him 10 double-doubles this season and 19 in his career. He was named the WCC Player of the Week last week for his 13.0 ppg and 14.0 rpg that helped Gonzaga wrap up second place the and second seed into the WCC Zappos.com Basketball Championships later this week.

Bell had an outstanding rookie campaign for the Zags, starting 22 of 29 his appearances while averaging 10.2 ppg, 1.9 assists/game and 0.8 steals/game. He averaged 28.0 minutes/game, third best on the team.

LMU’s Good earned his first Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Lions to a 19-win season, despite the Lions battling significant injuries for much of the season’s first six weeks. Under Good’s tutelage, the Lions knocked off three top 25 teams, and led the WCC in free throw percentage and three-point field goal percentage defense. Good is the first Loyola Marymount head coach to be named WCC Coach of the Year since John Olive in 1996.

Dellavedova becomes the seventh player in the history of Saint Mary’s – and the second straight Gael (Mickey McConnell, 2011) – to be named West Coast Conference Player of the Year. Dellavedova leads the West Coast Conference in assists per game with 6.6, while ranking third in scoring at 16.4 points per contest during WCC play. He led this year’s Gaels to a 14-2 WCC record and first place this season, one game ahead of Gonzaga.

All nine West Coast Conference teams head to Las Vegas to compete for the conference championship and subsequent automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Action tips off at the 2012 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championships Wednesday February 29, from the Orleans Arena. Gonzaga’s first game will be in the semifinals Saturday at 8 p.m. against either No. 3 BYU, No. 6 San Diego or No. 7 Pepperdine University

2011-12 West Coast Conference Player of the Year
Matthew Dellavedova, Jr., G, Saint Mary’s

2011-12 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Rob Sacre, Sr., C, Gonzaga

2011-12 West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year
Kevin Pangos, Fr., G, Gonzaga

2011-12 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year
Max Good, Loyola Marymount

2011-12 ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM

Player                             Yr.                Pos.       School

Angelo Caloiaro              Sr.                F             San Francisco

Brandon Davies              Jr.                F             BYU

Matthew Dellavedova     Jr.                G            Saint Mary’s

Elias Harris                    Jr.                F             Gonzaga

Noah Hartsock               Sr.                F             BYU

Anthony Ireland              So.               G            Loyola Marymount

Rob Jones                      Sr.                F             Saint Mary’s

Kevin Pangos                Fr.                G            Gonzaga

Rob Sacre                     Sr.                C            Gonzaga

Drew Viney                     Sr.                F             Loyola Marymount

2011-12 ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION
Perris Blackwell (San Francisco); Matt Carlino (BYU); Johnny Dee (San Diego); Rashad Green (San Francisco); Stephen Holt (Saint Mary’s); Corbin Moore (Pepperdine)

2011-12 ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE FRESHMAN TEAM

Player                 Pos.        School

Gary Bell, Jr.       G           Gonzaga

Matt Carlino          G           BYU

Johnny Dee          G           San Diego

Kevin Pangos      G           Gonzaga

Brad Waldow        F            Saint Mary’s

Bell had career bests of six 3-pointers and 20 points, and Pangos had 12 points on four 3s for the Bulldogs (24-5). Freshman Ryan Spangler had his first double-double with career highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Longwood (10-20), which had only had seven players, was led by Antwan Carter’s 18 points and Tristan Carey’s 16.

It was the final home appearance for seniors Rob Sacre, who will leave the Gonzaga program second in career blocked shots, and Marquise Carter, who was the West Coast Conference tournament MVP last year.

Sacre had five points and six rebounds in limited minutes. Carter had 10 points and five assists, with his acrobatic three-point play pushing the Bulldogs past their previous season high of 90 points.