West Coast Conference Adds Another Basketball School As Gonzaga Nears Exit

When Gonzaga departs nan West Coast Conference for nan Pac-12 adjacent year, it will time off large shoes to fill. The Bulldogs' men's hoops program, aft all, has won 26 regular-season and 22 tourney titles successful nan convention it helped put connected nan map.

Attempting to switch Gonzaga's hoops prowess is simply a fool's errand, but nan WCC appears to beryllium reasoning extracurricular nan container pinch caller membership. On Friday, the convention announced nan addition of nan University of Denver for nan 2026-27 world year.

“This is an breathtaking time for nan University of Denver and an unthinkable opportunity to proceed to beforehand our exceptional world and diversion programs,” schoolhouse chancellor Jeremy Haefner said successful a release. “The excellence of schools that are portion of nan West Coast Conference is simply a cleanable complement to DU and will thief america proceed to enlistee nan very champion students and faculty.”

The move is an intriguing 1 for nan full mid-major world. First and foremost, nan West Coast Conference has nary existent full-time beingness extracurricular California, Oregon and Washington. The Pioneers, however, are utilized to specified awkwardness, having spent extended spells successful nan Sun Belt and (currently) nan Upper Midwest-centric Summit League.

Despite its formidable marketplace size, Denver's hoops teams collectively person been to 1 NCAA tourney all-time (the women went successful 2001, losing to Virginia Tech successful nan first round). Once a coagulated shot draw, nan Pioneers dropped nan athletics successful 1960—the aforesaid twelvemonth a caller master squad called nan Broncos moved into their stadium.

In an unfortunate twist for nan WCC, nan only 3 Denver programs to person won nationalist championships—men's hockey, men's lacrosse and skiing—will stay successful their existent leagues.

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