SAN MATEO, Calif. – Gonzaga's Drew Timme was named the 2022 West Coast Conference Player of the Year and Chet Holmgren earned Newcomer and Defensive Player of the Year honors the league announced Tuesday.
 
Timme, Holmgren and Andrew Nembhard were selected First Team All-WCC. Julian Strawther and Rasir Bolton were tabbed honorable mention. Holmgren and Nolan Hickman earned All-Freshman Team honors.
 
The West Coast Conference named a Zag Player of the Year for the fourth straight season. Timme was Gonzaga's 19^th WCC Player of the Year. Holmgren is the 12^th Bulldog to earn Newcomer of the Year honors, and ninth to receive Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Timme, a Preseason All-American, was named First Team All-Conference last season, after being named All-Freshman in 2019-20. He is second in the West Coast Conference averaging 17.6 points per game, and first scoring 18.5 points per WCC outing. The junior is third in the conference shooting 58.3 percent from the field, which ranks 17^th in the nation. He is eighth in the WCC grabbing 6.4 rebounds per game, and sixth blocking 0.89 shots per game. Timme won the Karl Malone Award last season, which is given to the nation's top Power Forward. He boasts a record of 86-6 (.935) in his Gonzaga appearances, going 43-2 (.956) in conference play.
 
Holmgren tied the West Coast Conference record averaging 3.7 blocks per league game, matching Hondre Brewer's mark in 2002. Holmgren is fourth in the nation with 97 blocks and fourth averaging 3.59 blocks per game. His 97 blocked shots are the fourth-most in a single season in WCC history. Former GU player Brandon Clarke owns the record at 117. Holmgren is two blocks shy of seventh for most in a career in program history. The Minneapolis native has more blocks (97) than missed shots from the field (85) so far this season. He is seventh in the country shooting 61.6 percent from the field, which leads the WCC. Holmgren is fifth in the nation making 72.7 percent inside-the-arc. Holmgren leads the conference grabbing 9.7 rebounds per game, which is 21st in the country. He is eighth in the nation pulling down 7.96 defensive boards per outing. He is eighth in the WCC averaging 14.4 points per game.
 
Nembhard, who was recently named a Cousy Award Finalist, currently leads the West Coast Conference in assists per game (5.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0). He is eighth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio and 19^th in assists per game. The senior is fourth in the conference averaging 1.67 steals per outing. His 11.1 points per game ranks fourth on the team. Nembhard dishes out 6.4 assists per WCC game, which leads the league. It was the most by a Zag since Jeremy Pargo
averaged 6.5 in conference action in 2007-08. He also tops the WCC with a 4.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in league play.
 
Strawther averaged 3.4 points in 7.6 minutes per game last season and is now third on the team scoring 12.4 points in 26.2 minutes per game. He is ninth in the WCC shooting 51.9 percent from the field, and second at 68.2 percent from two-point range.
 
Bolton leads the West Coast Conference shooting 47 percent from behind-the-arc, while making a team-high 54 three-pointers, which is ninth in the league. The senior tops the conference shooting 50 percent (27-54) from three-point range. He is sixth in the WCC with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. Bolton averages 10.8 points and 2.6 assists per game.
 
Hickman averages 6.0 points per game and has appeared in all 26 games this season. The Seattle native adds 1.5 assists per game outing.
 
All five major individual awards – along with the All-West Coast Conference Teams and the All-Freshman Team – were voted on solely by the league's 10 head coaches.
 
In his 21st season guiding the 19th-ranked Gaels, Randy Bennett earned his fourth WCC Coach of the Year accolade. Bennett most recently gave his fans reason to celebrate when he guided Saint Mary's to a 10-point upset victory over No. 1 Gonzaga in Moraga last Saturday to complete an undefeated home schedule this season. The Gaels earned the No. 2 seed in this year's UCU WCC Basketball Tournament in the process. SMC ranks ninth nationally in scoring defense (59.4 ppg). The Gaels ended the regular season winning five of their last six games, and SMC has only allowed three teams to score more than 70 points against them this season.
 
Tommy Kuhse has played a huge role in Saint Mary's successful season and was named the WCC Sixth Man of the Year. He earned WCC Player of the Week honors on Feb. 21. The fifth-year senior is second on the team in scoring with an average of 11.4 ppg. He collected 25 points during SMC's victory over BYU, helping him garner the conference weekly honor. Kuhse also paces the Gaels in assists with 108. He ranks fourth in the WCC in three-point field goal percentage at 44.9 percent.
 
The West Coast Conference Championships begin Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tournament, played inside the Orleans Arena, concludes with the championship game on March 8.
 
WCC Player of the Year
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
 
WCC Defensive Player of the Year
Chet Holmgen, Gonzaga
 
WCC Newcomer of the Year
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
 
WCC Sixth Man of the Year
Tommy Kuhse, Saint Mary's
 
WCC Coach of the Year
Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's
 
 
All-WCC First Team
Alex Barcello, BYU
Jamaree Bouyea, San Francisco
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
Tommy Kuhse, Saint Mary's
Yauhen Massalski, San Francisco
Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga
Matthias Tass, Saint Mary's
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Josip Vrankic, Santa Clara
Jalen Williams, Santa Clara
 
All-WCC Second Team*
Alex Ducas, Saint Mary's
Logan Johnson, Saint Mary's
Keshawn Justice, Santa Clara
Tyler Robertson, Portland
Eli Scott, LMU
Khalil Shabazz, San Francisco
 
All-WCC Honorable Mention
Jeremiah Bailey, Pacific
Rasir Bolton, Gonzaga
Marcellus Earlington, San Diego
Julian Strawther, Gonzaga
Moses Wood, Portland
 
All-WCC Freshman Team*
Nolan Hickman, Gonzaga
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
Maxwell Lewis, Pepperdine
Houston Mallette, Pepperdine
Wayne McKinney III, San Diego
Mike Mitchell Jr., Pepperdine
Fousseyni Traore, BYU
 
*additional members due to tie in voting