Saint Mary's College of California is a private Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs with a total student count at under 4,000 as of 2018.
The West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual concluding tournament for the NCAA college basketball in the West Coast Conference (WCC). The winner of the tournament each year is guaranteed a place in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament for that season. Through 2008, the tournament was played on a rotating basis at the home courts of member teams. The 2009 edition was the first played at a neutral site, namely Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada, just outside Las Vegas. The semifinals are broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and the championship is broadcast nationally on ESPN.
The Saint Mary's Gaels are the athletic teams that compete at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California. The nickname applies to the college's intercollegiate NCAA Division I teams and to the school's club sports teams. Most varsity teams compete in the West Coast Conference.
The Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represents Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California, competing in the West Coast Conference of the NCAA. The team plays home games in the University Credit Union Pavilion, capacity 3,500; it is one of the smaller gyms in the WCC. The current head coach is Randy Bennett, who is the school's all-time wins leader. The Gaels have appeared in thirteen NCAA Tournaments—1959, 1989, 1997, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
The Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team is an American college basketball team that represents Pepperdine University in NCAA Division I, the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Waves compete in the West Coast Conference and are coached by Lorenzo Romar who will not be retained at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. The Waves have competed in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 13 times and are 3rd all-time in WCC Tournament wins and championships. The Waves most recently appeared in the NCAA tournament in 2002. Thirty-eight former Waves have been drafted or played in the NBA including Doug Christie and Dennis Johnson, an inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The most recent Waves drafted into the NBA are Kessler Edwards (2021) and Maxwell Lewis (2023).
Richard Barton "Mickey" McConnell is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Saint Mary's Gaels of the West Coast Conference. He played college basketball at Saint Mary's College of California. In 2011, he was named West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year. McConnell was drafted in 31st round of the 2011 MLB First Year Player Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Kyle Andrew Smith is an American college basketball coach who is the men's head coach for the Stanford Cardinal of the Pac-12 Conference. Prior to joining the Cardinal, Smith was the head coach at Columbia University, the University of San Francisco, and Washington State University. In his final season at Columbia, he led the team to a CIT Championship over UC Irvine. His coaching style has been dubbed “Nerdball”, which is a system that utilizes analytics to track and make decisions on many aspects about the team.
Paul Bernard Thomas is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the women's basketball head coach at Saint Mary's College of California. He previously served as head coach at Hamline and Cal Poly Pomona.
The 2014–15 Saint Mary's Gaels women's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California in the 2014–15 college basketball season. It was head coach Paul Thomas's ninth season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels, members of the West Coast Conference, played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion. They finished the season 23–11, 13–5 in WCC play to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WCC women's basketball tournament to BYU. They were invited to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Hawaii in the first round, Fresno State in the second round and Sacramento State in the third round before losing to UCLA in the quarterfinals.
The 2014–15 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Randy Bennett's fourteenth season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels competed in the West Coast Conference and played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion. They finished the season 21–10, 13–5 in WCC play to finish in a tie for second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WCC tournament to Portland. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Vanderbilt.
The 2015–16 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Randy Bennett's fifteenth season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels competed in the West Coast Conference and played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion. They finished the season 29–6, 15–3 in WCC play to win a share of the WCC regular season conference championship. They defeated Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine to advance to the championship game of the WCC tournament where they lost to Gonzaga. As a regular season conference champion, and #1 seed in their conference tournament, who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As a #2 seed, they defeated New Mexico State and Georgia to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Valparaiso.
The 2016–17 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Randy Bennett's 16th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels competed in the West Coast Conference and played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California. They finished the season 29–5, 16–2 in WCC play to finish in second place. In the WCC tournament, they defeated Portland and BYU before losing to Gonzaga in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 7 seed in the West region, they beat VCU in the first round before losing to No. 2-seeded Arizona in the second round.
The 2017–18 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 17th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 30–6, 16–2 in West Coast Conference play to finish in second place. As the No. 2 seed in the WCC tournament, they defeated Pepperdine in the quarterfinals before losing to BYU in the semifinals. They were one of the last four teams not selected for the NCAA tournament and as a result earned a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Southeastern Louisiana in the first round and Washington in the second round before losing to Utah in the quarterfinals.
The 2017–18 Saint Mary's Gaels women's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gales, led by twelfth year head coach Paul Thomas, played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion and were members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 20–11, 13–5 in WCC play to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WCC women's tournament to Pacific. They received an automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to New Mexico in the first round.
The 2018–19 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 18th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 22-12, to finish in 2nd place. In the WCC Tournament, they defeated San Diego in the semifinals and beat Gonzaga in the championship to win the WCC Tournament. Therefore, they received a automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and they lost in the first round to Villanova.
The 2018–19 Saint Mary's Gaels women's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gales, led by thirteenth year head coach Paul Thomas, played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion and were members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 21–12, 12–6 in WCC play to finish in fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the WCC women's tournament, where they lost to Gonzaga. They received an at-large bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Hawaii in the first round before losing to WCC member Pepperdine in the second round.
The 2020–21 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team were led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 20th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 14-10, 4-6 to finish in 7th place. They defeated Pepperdine in the quarterfinals in the WCC Tournament before losing in the semifinals to Gonzaga. They received an invitation to the NIT where they lost in the first round to Western Kentucky.
The 2007–08 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California in the 2007–08 college basketball season, coached by Randy Bennett for the 7th consecutive year. The Gaels competed in the West Coast Conference and played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion. They finished conference play with a record of 12–2 to place second. They reached the semifinal round of the 2008 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament, but received an at-large bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they entered as the No. 10 seed South Region. The Gaels were beaten by No. 7 seed Miami (FL) in the opening round to end their season 25–7.
The Drake–Northern Iowa rivalry is the American collegiate athletics rivalry between the Drake Bulldogs sports teams of Drake University and Northern Iowa Panthers sports teams of the University of Northern Iowa.
The 1996–97 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California in the 1996–97 college basketball season, coached by Ernie Kent for the 6th and final season. The Gaels competed in the West Coast Conference and played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion. They finished conference play with a record of 10–4 to place second. They won the 1997 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament to receive an automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they entered as the No. 14 seed West Region. The Gaels were beaten by No. 3 seed Wake Forest in the opening round to end their season 23–8.
