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WCC basketball: Pacific Tigers are finally the team the league hoped for

By Tristan Freeman

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 04: Head coach Damon Stoudamire of the Pacific Tigers reacts during a quarterfinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 4, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 82-50. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 04: Head coach Damon Stoudamire of the Pacific Tigers reacts during a quarterfinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 4, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 82-50. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and BYU are once again the top teams in the West Coast Conference. But for the first time since becoming a member of the league, Pacific has become a threat to the hierarchy.

When Brigham Young University became a member of the WCC after the conference realignment in 2011-12, the league needed another member to even the travel partners for the basketball schedule.

The likeliest replacement was going to come from the Big West Conference, who in the western-based leagues comes below the WCC. Of all the teams, Pacific was the best option, with a successful basketball program combined with aligning themselves perfectly with the private, Catholic-based institution.

The Tigers brought a lot to the WCC, but weren’t bringing the man who brought the program to that level in Bob Thomason, a Pacific alum who coached the school for 25 years, amassing 436 wins. After taking Pacific to the program’s last NCAA tournament appearance in 2013, he retired as the school’s all-time wins leader.

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That more than anything hurt the school, as the replacement Ron Verlin failed to transition the program. After three years, he was fired after being investigated and punished by the NCAA for recruiting violations.

Damon Stoudamire, a former NBA player and college assistant for Arizona and Memphis, accepted the tough task of rebuilding the program. In his first year, he led the Tigers to a 11-22 (4-14) record, with another bottom-half finish. And when you consider the continuing sanctions that still impact the program, as well as losing the top two leading scorers on the team, and the 2017-18 season was looking bleak.

Turns out, not to be the case.

This is by far, the best Pacific has looked in the WCC at 12-13 (7-5). Yes, it’s true that they currently have an under .500 record, but the Tigers also have played the toughest strength of schedule in the league, Gonzaga included. The seven WCC wins are already the most in the 4+ years they’ve been in the league.

And things look even brighter for the immediate future, as the Tigers have already played both BYU and Saint Mary’s twice. They have four home games out of the six remaining in the regular season (Pacific is 4-0 at home in WCC play).

Despite having a limited number of scholarships, the newcomers have all contributed at a high level. Junior College transfers Jahlil Tripp and Roberto Galliant are the two best players on the team, with the sophomore Tripp being one of the WCC’s best all-around players. Stoudamire also went the transfer route to replenish the talent pool. Oregon transfer Kendall Small and St. Louis transfer Miles Reynolds combining to average over 21.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 5.0 apg.

It would be a great achievement for Pacific to get to the 10 win mark, and make the semi-finals of the WCC tournament. Add to it that the program will soon get back more scholarships, and the days of the Big West fortunes might be coming back to them.

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Pacific plays Gonzaga in what will be the school’s biggest game since entering the WCC. Last time around, the Bulldogs thrashed Pacific 81-48 in the conference opener. It should be much closer on Thursday with the game in Stockton, in another step for a team finally showing their WCC peers what the Tigers are all about.