We know, the West Coast Conference (WCC) seems to be a frequent topic on this site but they just can’t help themselves and they keep finding their way into headlines. This past week was no different. After Grand Canyon University (GCU) joined the WCC conference nearly six months ago, the Lopes announced their departure to the Mountain West Conference (MWC) Friday. Ouch!
The WCC began as the California Basketball Association, playing its first game on January 2, 1953, and continued with minor additions and subtractions for over 70 years as a model conference. Over time Gonzaga, and to a lesser extent St. Mary’s, emerged as regular NCAA Tournament basketball contenders. Gonzaga became the big dog and spent recent years bending conference rules in their favor and eyed every opportunity to leave the conference for bigger opportunities. The Zags finally pulled the trigger early last month and announced their intention to exit the newly reconfigured PAC-12.
WCC Commissioner Stu Jackson correctly anticipated Gonzaga’s exit with a desperate move, adding GCU on July 1st – a mismatched academic black sheep, to put it kindly, after years of Gonzaga’s saber rattling and departure threats. Jackson and WCC university presidents prioritized basketball over conference culture and academic fit and the decision delivered swift karma.
Last Friday – just five months after joining – GCU kicked Jackson and the WCC to the curb and are now departing to the also newly reconfigured MWC. The Mountain West has lost Colorado State, Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State (as an aside, this hardly looks like a great move for the Lopes). As of this publishing, college football insider Brett McMurphy reported that previous MWC targets Northern Illinois and Toledo are no longer interested in joining and the MWC’s focus has turned to adding the FBS power and Summit League mainstay North Dakota State, possibly as a football-only addition.
Gonzaga’s exit, disappointing as it no doubt was, was expected as the Zags breathlessly explored their options over the past several years. However, the choice of adding GCU to replace the basketball-focused Zags has left the conference with a black eye.
Jackson (and the conference University Presidents) essentially sold their conference souls for hoops glory without considering the changing collegiate landscape, especially in basketball, and made a bad, rash decision. The result is reputational damage to the conference and its members. Plus, prospective programs will want firm assurances that current members will not dump the conference for greener pastures.
No doubt, the move by GCU opens up the door to Denver and Cal Baptist, two solid private institutions that match the institutional profile of the conference. Credit is also due for the smart addition of Seattle University as well. However, do WCC leadership and their college presidents have the judgment and patience to add institutional fits (private, mid-sized, academically focused schools) and cultivate and develop their athletic programs to avoid another disastrous ‘quick fix’?
Future conference members must be reassured that the WCC membership is stable and that institutional priorities are properly aligned. Would the WCC conference repeat the same blunder in the future and add another mismatched mercenary member in search of another Gonzaga-like basketball power or do they have the patience to cultivate and grow their athletic programs in alignment with their institutional profiles and values?
The margin for error has shrunk if not disappeared entirely in the changing world of collegiate athletics. The WCC is less stable today as a result of its own impatience and hubris.
Gonzaga going to Big 12 in 3 yr.
Actually, in two years/
Grand Canyon was a mistake for the WCC. But the fact is, the WCC remains the ideal landing spot for DU. Here’s hoping DU is working hard to make this a reality.
Interesting and crusty take on GCU. Our son went to LMU and our daughter went to GCU so I don’t have a dog in the fight. In terms of GCU being an academic mismatch, I’ll take that “mismatch” over WCC schools any day. GCU = Incredible campus experience with awesome facilities and faculty, financial and curriculum growth, great value, strong Christian values, down to earth friendly environment, job opportunities galore – a very different model that is THRIVING and blowing traditional woke models away!
While I love their school spirit, GCU is a for-profit school with a 45% graduation rate. Until it solves both of these issues, I have a hard time respecting it as I do the other WCC schools.
Woke. How original.
So any team in the WCC can take free courses at any other league school so considering academic fit is critical, I see. Wait, nope. What are you even going on about? The WCC was trying to bring in a solid basketball program with fun, crazy fans which would have improved the league for sure. The WCC already gave the Zags everything it could and maybe that kept them in the WCC two more years but they outgrew the league years ago. The Lopes left for bigger arenas period. With BYU and the Zags departing and no guarantee St. Mary’s will somehow consistently get two and three star players in to the top 30 or (even top 15) once Bennett retires the WCC will be a balanced mid major with an occasional round one upset. Their souls are fine.
GCU = sparkling campus and athletic facilities, hotel, basketball team that has made March Madness
DU = laying off employees, aging athletic facilities
To be exact, 3 employees laid off and 15 encouraged to seek other open positions at DU. Hardly a sweeping change.
Denver has a great campus but we agree a hotel and a new arena are needed. Still, we wouldn’t trade our 34 National Championships and two current teams (soccer and hockey) in the Top 10 of their sports.
This article is littered with errors.
Any thoughts on what the NCAA’s move to allow CHL players to play college hockey? What’s it mean for DU?
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/42254200/ncaa-makes-canadian-hockey-league-players-eligible-div-i
It’s a great thing for the athletes, the CHL, and NCAA Division 1 Hockey.
As the WCC turns…it’s early December 2024 and the conference has chosen to file a lawsuit against Grand Canyon for fees related to entering/exiting the league. The court system will ultimately decide that, but interestingly WCC Commissioner Stu Jackson stated in an AP-quoted writeup, “Even before Gonzaga’s departure, we had planned to remain aggressive in terms of evaluating membership opportunities for the conference,” Jackson said. “That hasn’t changed. We are going to remain aggressive.”
So perhaps the Pioneers will get another look.
We’ll see.
With the Pios’ (hugely injured) men’s hoops team current RPI sitting at 332 out of 363, I don’t see it happening.
Not so sure. Jackson has said they want major markets and could take a long-term view of DU hoops and the entire athletic department as a package. Also, DU could recruit much better from the WCC than the Summit League. I think DU offers a lot of value to a conference.