LAS VEGAS — BYU enters the upcoming college basketball season with a new head coach, but the Cougars found themselves in a very familiar spot when the preseason coaches poll was released Thursday during West Coast Conference media day at Orleans Arena.
For the third straight season, BYU, in its first campaign under Mark Pope, was picked to finish third behind No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Saint Mary’s. The Cougars received 65 points in the poll. The Zags had 79 (including seven first-place votes) and the Gaels earned 75 (three first-place votes). Pepperdine was picked to finish fourth with 56 points.
The poll was taken before the news of BYU forward Gavin Baxter’s torn labrum injury came to light. Baxter could miss the entire season.
Since joining the league in 2011-12, the Cougars have never been picked to finish higher than second or lower than third.
“He’s got a good understanding of the game. He’s bided his time. I think this is something he really wanted and now he’s got it. He’ll do a great job.” — Gonzaga coach Mark Few on new BYU coach Mark Pope
Meanwhile, BYU seniors Yoeli Childs and TJ Haws were named to the preseason All-WCC team.
WCC coaches say Pope is the right man for the job at BYU.
“He’s a hard-working guy. I’ve watched him come up through the ranks,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few. “He’s got a good understanding of the game. He’s bided his time. I think this is something he really wanted and now he’s got it. He’ll do a great job.”
Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek has known Pope since he recruited him as a player in the early 1990s.
“He’ll do great. He’s already proven that he’s an excellent coach,” Sendek said. “He knows what he’s doing and he works hard at it.”
Few admitted that after years of coaching against former BYU coach Dave Rose, who retired last March after 14 seasons as head coach, it will be a little strange seeing someone else guiding the Cougars.
“I thought Dave was a terrific ambassador for BYU and for BYU basketball, and even for college basketball,” Few said. “He’s one of the truly great people, character-wise. He’s a really good person and a darn-good coach. He gave us fits over the years. It seemed like we’d get to No. 1, they’d beat us.”
Said Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, “Dave was a great coach. He had a heckuva career. I was surprised he shut it down but you have to shut it down eventually. I wish him the best. Dave was great. He did it such a high level that sometimes expectations become so high that there’s probably people that didn’t appreciate him the way they probably should have. What he was able to accomplish was incredible and he’s a great guy.”
Bennett added said Pope “is a great hire. I’ve known Mark since he was a player. I have a really good relationship with him and I have a lot of respect for him. He’ll do a great job there.”
“That hire makes sense. He’s a tough guy and his teams play tough,” said Loyola Marymount coach Mike Dunlap. “So did Dave’s. They didn’t go outside their lane to get their guy. Fans should be delighted about that hire.”
In seven seasons in the WCC, BYU has never won a regular-season WCC championship or a WCC Tournament title. Last season marked the first time since 2005-06 that the Cougars failed to win at least 20 regular-season games and play in a postseason tournament.
“I have a really good relationship with most of the coaches in the league. It’s an unbelievable league.” — BYU coach Mark Pope
Though it’s his first season as BYU’s head coach, Pope is familiar with the WCC because he was an assistant under Rose from 2011-15.
“I have a really good relationship with most of the coaches in the league. It’s an unbelievable league,” Pope said. “It’s really humbling to think we have four or five coaches that have won 400 career games. It’s a big-time league full of great coaches.”
The league’s other new coach is San Francisco’s 34-year-old Todd Golden, who replaced Kyle Smith. Smith left USF last spring to become the head coach at Washington State.
Golden and Pope have crossed paths before, particularly when Pope was coaching at Utah Valley University from 2015-19.
“We competed against him when he was at Utah Valley and I remember him from his playing days at Kentucky,” said Golden, a former star guard at Saint Mary’s. “From what I’ve seen, he does an incredible job. He’s a great coach. When he was named head coach at BYU, I thought he was a guy that could have an incredible amount of success there because he’ll relate well to the players and he’ll recruit well. He’s a tough, competitive dude. I wouldn’t want to run into him in an alley, I’ll tell you that.”