Gonzaga wasn't a trendy pick to win the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference this season after losing its top player - current Penn State freshman guard Myles Dread - to graduation, and a run of early injuries didn't help.

When the league year was over, though, the Purple Eagles were left holding the WCAC crown, the highlight of a 28-9 campaign.

“My expectation every single year - I don’t care what our talent level is - we’re trying to win the WCAC Championship," Gonzaga coach Steve Turner said. "The resilience of this team is I think what made us special. To go and battle through the injuries that we had earlier in the year - and to listen to all the doubters doubt us and write us off, and to find our kids going down the stretch to win 17 out of 18 games to win a championship, it’s a testament to their composure and their ability to work and to trust. That’s what made this season special for us.”

The Purple Eagles will lose guards Josh Watts (Brown), Anwar Gill and Josh Marshall (Navy football), but return a good number of their contributors.  2020 forwards Terrance Williams and Myles Stute will give Gonzaga the conference's top returning front court, while 2020 guard Chuck Harris and 2021 wing Malcolm Dread also played major minutes.

“You know this in the WCAC: it’s a big loss every year," Turner said. "So it's next man up, and I think at the end of this game [Saturday vs. St. Frances], you got a little taste of seeing some of the young guys get some opportunities who stepped up and helped us. So all year long, our freshmen got some spot minute - Devin Dinkins did a tremendous job for us early in the year, especially when Chuck was down and out. Down the stretch I started seeing myself get good Judah [Mintz] minutes, get Quinn [Clark] minutes, and you know those guys are ready. They’ve been biting their tongue to be able to have their opportunity, and it’s going to come with us losing three really good seniors. So we’re excited; 11 out of 14 guys back? I like where we sit right now.”