Since taking the top job on March 9th, 2008, Zaninovich has led the WCC to new heights. The following is a season-by-season retrospective of the major events and advancements in and around WCC basketball since Jamie Zaninovich was first hired.
2007-2008
Zaninovich took over the conference on the heels of one of its most successful years. His first year saw a number of good things come to fruition that had been in the works under previous commissioner, Mike Gilleran. The 2008 NCAA Tournament had Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and San Diego dancing. The WCC was the nation's fourth highest rated conference in APR (Academic Progress Rate).
2008 Offseason
Zaninovich quickly put his own mark on the conference. In a previous job, working at Princeton, Zaninovich signed a major TV deal with ESPN. He would do the same for the WCC soon after his arrival. As part of his goal to increase exposure for the conference, basketball games were moved to Thursday/Saturday from Saturday/Monday, in order to increase TV viewership.
Also in 2008 the WCC Tournament was moved to Las Vegas (though it would not take place there until 2009). ESPN agreed to broadcast the men's semifinals and final as well as the women's final.
2008 - 2009
Along with his work to increase the conference's availability on TV, Zaninovich was aware that the conference needed to increase its digital presence. In late 2008 the WCC debuted its Facebook page. The WCC's press release detailing the page launch serves as a reminder that Facebook wasn't always the behemoth we know today. Back then everybody and their parents didn't have an account, so the release encouraged readers to sign up, "To view the WCC's Facebook page, you must be a Facebook member. If you are not already, it is free to become one."
- Gonzaga began season ranked #10, climbed as high as #4 before finishing back at #10.
- Gonzaga made the NCAA Tournament as a four seed. Advanced to Sweet 16 before falling to eventual National Champion North Carolina.
- Saint Mary's participated in the NIT.
- Portland participated in the CIT.
- Saint Mary's Patty Mills was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers.
- WCC teams combined for a 129-129 overall record or a .500 winning percentage.
- WCC launched twitter account @WCCsports.
- "WCC Live", the conference's online radio show, is launched.
- The WCC presence in Las Vegas is increased beyond just The Orleans through a partnership with Palms and Palms Place.
- A record number of student-athletes make the Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Student-athletes with at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale make the Honor Roll.
- Gonzaga opened season in the "others receiving votes" category of the AP and Coaches Polls. The Zags climbed as high as #13 before finishing at #22.
- Portland spent one week, beginning November 30th, in the polls at #25.
- Gonzaga and Saint Mary's both made NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga as an eight seed with an at-large bid and Saint Mary's as a ten seed with the WCC's auto-bid.
- Saint Mary's advanced to the Sweet 16.
- Portland and Loyola Marymount participated in the CIT.
- WCC teams combined for a 135-124 record or a .521 winning percentage.
- For the second straight year the number of student-athletes named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll sets an all-time record.
- Jamie Zaninovich received a contract extension through June 30, 2014.
- On September 1st, the WCC and Brigham Young University officially announcd that BYU would be joining the conference for the 2011-2012 academic year. The WCC had not seen a change in membership since 1979 when Gonzaga and San Diego became full members.
- Gonzaga began the season ranked #12 in the polls, climbed as high as #11 before finishing the season unranked.
- Saint Mary’s spent four weeks in the AP Poll. The Gaels entered at #21 on January 17th, but would climb no higher.
- Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s shared the regular season title.
- Gonzaga made the NCAA Tournament as an 11 seed and advanced to the round of 32. The Zags lost to 3 seed BYU in a serendipitous preview of a future WCC rivalry.
- Saint Mary’s participated in the NIT.
- Portland and Santa Clara participated in the CIT. The Broncos won the CIT.
- Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara and Portland all won at least 20 games. Only once before in conference history had four teams won at least 20 games (1988-89).
- WCC teams combined for a 132-126 record or a .522 winning percentage.
- Fifteen teams from five WCC schools earned the NCAA’s APR Public Recognition Award. Portland had five teams recognized, Gonzaga and Santa Clara had three each while Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine had one a piece. The WCC’s only men’s basketball team recognized was Gonzaga’s.
- BYU officially joined the WCC on July 1st.
- The WCC introduced new logos and branding, departing from the previous logo introduced in 1995.
- The WCC and ESPN reached an agreement on an eight year TV deal. Under the agreement ESPN networks will broadcast a minimum of 48 WCC appearances (essentially a WCC team playing in a game, so a conference game counts as two appearances) annually.
- For the third straight year the number of student-athletes to make the Commissioner’s Honor Roll set an all-time high.
- Gonzaga began the season ranked #23 in the polls, climbed as high as #19 before finishing the season unranked. The Zags were #24 in the second to last poll of the season but the loss to Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament Championship Game caused them to fall out of the top-25 for the final poll.
- Saint Mary’s entered the polls at #24 on January 16th, climbed as high as #16 before finishing the season back at #24.
- Saint Mary’s broke Gonzaga’s stranglehold on the WCC. The Gaels snapped the Zags’ streak of 11 straight regular season titles. They also snapped the Zags’ streak of 14 straight regular season and/or tournament titles.
- For the first time in conference history three teams participated in the NCAA Tournament and five participated in the postseason.
- Saint Mary’s made the NCAA Tournament as a seven seed with the auto-bid. The Gaels fell in the Round of 64 to ten seed Purdue.
- Gonzaga made the NCAA Tournament as a seven seed with an at-large bid and advanced to the Round of 32 before falling to two seed Ohio State.
- BYU made the NCAA Tournament as a 14 seed. The Cougars played in the First Four and defeated 14 seed Iona with the greatest comeback (in terms of deficit overcome) in NCAA Tournament History. The Cougars fell in the Round of 64 to three seed Marquette.
- Loyola Marymount participated in the CIT and advanced to the quarterfinals.
- San Francisco participated in the CBI.
- For the first time in history three WCC teams finished with at least 25 wins (BYU, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s).
- For the first time in history five WCC teams finished with at least 20 wins (BYU, Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, LMU and San Francisco).
- WCC teams combined for a 158-132 record or a .545 winning percentage.
- Gonzaga’s Robert Sacre was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers.
- The University of the Pacific accepted an invitation to rejoin the WCC effective July 1, 2013. Pacific was a founding member of the WCC.
- For the fourth straight year, as should be expected when adding another school and especially one of BYU’s academic standing, the Commissioner’s Honor Roll set an all-time record for student-athletes who qualified.
- The WCC was represented by 29 current or former student-athletes or coaches at the 2012 London Olympics. Men’s basketball was represented by Gonzaga’s Ronny Turiaf (France), Pepperdine’s Yakhouba Diawara (France) and Saint Mary’s Australian duo of Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova. The French finished 6th and the Australians finished 7th.
- The WCC and Time Warner Cable SportsNet reached an agreement to increase the TV distribution of WCC games. The deal included a WCC Game of the Week on Saturday afternoons, a weekly WCC talk show as well as a minimum of 15 games to be produced by Time Warner Cable SportsNet in the 2012-13 season and 22 games in future seasons.
- Between the ESPN and Time Warner Cable SportsNet agreements, over 85% of the 2012-13 conference games would be televised either nationally or regionally.
- Additionally, the conference began an online network, WCC Digital, that would stream, free-of-charge, some of the non-televised games.
- Gonzaga began the season ranked #21 in the polls and climbed all the way to #1, a position the Zags held for the final two polls of the season. The Zags became only the second WCC team to reach the #1 position. San Francisco is the only other WCC school to be ranked #1, a position the Dons held for 27 total weeks during the 1950s and 1977.
- Gonzaga became the first WCC team to post a 16-0 conference record.
- During the WCC Tournament the WCC and The Orleans Arena came to an agreement to continue holding the WCC Tournament at the venue through the 2016 season.
- Gonzaga made the NCAA Tournament as a one seed with the WCC’s auto-bid. The Zags advanced to the round of 32 before being upset by nine seed and eventual Final Four participant Wichita State.
- Saint Mary’s made the NCAA Tournament as a 11 seed with an at-large bid. The Gaels played in the First Four before falling to six seed Memphis in the Round of 64.
- BYU participated in the NIT as a three seed. The Cougars advanced to the NIT Quarterfinals before falling to two seed and eventual champion Baylor.
- Santa Clara participated in the CBI and won the CBI Championship.
- For the second time in as many years, and ever, three WCC teams finished with at least 25 wins. Gonzaga (32), Saint Mary’s (28) and Santa Clara (26).
- For the third time in history and the second time under Jamie Zaninovich, four WCC teams finished with at least 20 wins. Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara and BYU (24).
- No WCC team finished with less than 11 wins.
- WCC teams combined for a 175-130 record or a .574 winning percentage.
- BYU’s Brandon Davies and Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk were invited to the NBA Draft Combine.
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