Submitted by Fox First at Ten on March 5th
In the end, the best player in the West Coast Conference wasn't the man with the mouthpiece. Instead, it was the junior forward who took a redshirt year last season, Kelly Olynyk from Gonzaga.
Olynyk, the 11th player in Gonzaga history to be named the West Coast Player of the Year, beat out Saint Mary's Matthew Dellavedova for top honors this season. He led the WCC in field goal percentage (66.8%), and ranked in the top 10 in both scoring (19.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.3rpg).
But Olynyk wasn't the only Zag to be honored Tuesday. Mike Hart, a former walk-on to the team, was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. He helped the Zags keep the rest of the WCC to a lowly 60.1 points per game. The Zags' opponents shot a dismal 38.5 percent from the field this year, and a good portion of that can be credited to Hart's hustle.
Elias Harris and Kevin Pangos both joined Olynyk on the All-WCC team. And coach Mark Few was named the WCC Coach of the Year. It is Few's ninth such honor. This year he led the Bulldogs a lossless record in conference player and a first-ever No. 1 AP ranking to close out the regular season.
2012-13 West Coast Conference Player of the Year
Kelly Olynyk, Jr., F, Gonzaga
2012-13 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Mike Hart, Sr., G, Gonzaga
2012-13 West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year
Stacy Davis, Fr., F, Pepperdine
2012-13 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year
Mark Few, Gonzaga
2012-13 ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE TEAM
Player
Yr.
Pos.
School
Brandon Davies
Sr.
F
BYU
Matthew Dellavedova
Sr.
G
Saint Mary's
Cole Dickerson
Jr.
F
San Francisco
Kevin Foster
Sr.
G
Santa Clara
Elias Harris
Sr.
F
Gonzaga
Tyler Haws
So.
G
BYU
Anthony Ireland
Jr.
G
Loyola Marymount
Kelly Olynyk
Jr.
F
Gonzaga
Kevin Pangos
So.
G
Gonzaga
Marc Trasolini
Sr.
F
Santa Clara
2012-13 ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION
Christopher Anderson (San Diego); Jordan Baker (Pepperdine); Gary Bell Jr. (Gonzaga); Stacy Davis (Pepperdine); Johnny Dee (San Diego); Cody Doolin (San Francisco); Stephen Holt (Saint Mary's); Lorne Jackson (Pepperdine); Ryan Nicholas (Portland)
2012-13 ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE FRESHMAN TEAM
Player
Pos.
School
Stacy Davis
F
Pepperdine
Tim Derksen
F
San Francisco
Avry Holmes
G
San Francisco
Przemek Karnowski
C
Gonzaga
Jito Kok
C
San Diego
