WCC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2019-20 season

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GLENDALE, AZ – APRIL 01: Killian Tillie #33 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs celebrates after defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks during the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four Semifinal at University of Phoenix Stadium on April 1, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. Gonzaga defeated South Carolina 77-73. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

No. 1 – Gonzaga Bulldogs

The Zags lost a ton of talent from last year’s squad. Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke became the first pair of Zags to get drafted in the first round, and sophomore guard Zach Norvell, Jr. found himself a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Factor in the graduations of starting point guard Josh Perkins, backup guard Geno Crandall, backup forward Jeremy Jones, and the transfer of guard Greg Foster, and you have a very different looking Gonzaga squad taking the court in 2019.

While many would argue that the amount of turnover facing the Bulldogs make this season ripe for a St. Mary’s or BYU takeover, Gonzaga does have the 12th ranked recruiting class in the nation, and still returns star forward Killian Tillie, as well as Corey Kispert and big man Filip Petrusev, who many believe will be a first-round pick next year.

Add in grad transfer guards Admon Gilder and Ryan Woolridge and you have a team that isn’t rebuilding by any means, just reloading.

Tillie, Kispert and Petrusev will lead this team back to another berth in the NCAA tournament, and likely a first place finish in the West Coast Conference.

Next. Top west coast teams for 2019-20. dark

A nice non-conference slate – which includes games against North Carolina, Arizona, Washington and potentially Oregon – will have this team more than prepared to rip through the conference once again in 2019-20.