Filip Petrusev named WCC Player of the Year

Gonzaga Bulldogs sophomore center Filip Petrusev was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year, becoming the first underclassman to earn the award since Quintin Dailey in 1980-81.

Petrusev leads the top-rated offense in the country with 17.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He stepped into the starting role this year, and for the most part, he has delivered. The conference recognized and gave Petrusev the award over BYU’s Yoeli Childs and Saint Mary’s Jordan Ford.

It is the second-consecutive year a Gonzaga player has won the Player of the Year Award.

Petrusev is one of six Gonzaga players to earn conference honors. Corey Kispert and Killian Tillie also appeared alongside Petrusev on the WCC First Team. Drew Timme was named to the WCC Freshman Team, and Joel Ayayi and Ryan Woolridge earned Honorable Mention selections.

Elsewhere around the big awards, Damon Stoudamire beat out Mark Few and Mark Pope for coach of the year. Although in Gonzaga land, there was the understandable beating of the drum for Few, it is important to recognize that the Zags came in with one of their highest preseason rankings ever. By all accounts, Stoudamire, in his fourth-season on the job, has been building for this moment. Last season, Pacific finished 4-12 in conference play. This season, the Tigers were 11-5, including a quadruple overtime win over Saint Mary’s.

It is hard to argue with Jake Toolson as WCC Newcomer of the Year, as long as you ignore the fact that he already played for BYU once. Toolson transferred from BYU to Utah Valley, and then back to BYU for his senior year. Apparently, that’ll still qualify as a newcomer.

Here are the all of the conference awards:

Player of the Year: Filip Petrusev, Gonzaga

Coach of the Year: Damon Stoudamire, Pacific

Defensive Player of the Year: Jahlil Tripp, Pacific

Newcomer of the Year: Jake Toolson, BYU

WCC First Team

• Yoeli Childs, BYU
• Malik Fitts, Saint Mary’s
• Jordan Ford, Saint Mary’s
• TJ Haws, BYU
• Corey Kispert, Gonzaga
• Filip Petrusev, Gonzaga
• Colbey Ross, Pepperdine
• Killian Tillie, Gonzaga
• Jake Toolson, BYU
• Jahlil Tripp, Pacific

WCC Second Team

• Kameron Edwards, Pepperdine
• Kessler Edwards, Pepperdine
• Charles Minlend, San Francisco
• Eli Scott, LMU
• Josip Vrankic, Santa Clara

WCC Freshman Team

• Sedrick Altman, Pepperdine
• Jaden Bediako, Santa Clara
• Daniss Jenkins, Pacific
• Keli Leaupepe, LMU
• Drew Timme, Gonzaga

Honorable Mention

• Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga
• Jamaree Bouyea, San Francisco
• Braun Hartfield, San Diego
• Jimbo Lull, San Francisco
• Trey Wertz, Santa Clara
• Ryan Woolridge, Gonzaga