On Friday, GCU took its next step in becoming an athletics power by joining the West Coast Conference.
With that comes more exposure, a more defiined geographic footprint and better competition. The conference’s men’s basketball games are regularly shown on ESPN, and going head-to-head against Gonzaga, St. Mary’s – who GCU beat in the men’s tournament last year, Santa Clara and San Francisco consistently can help their tournament resumé year-in-and-year out.
So much so that GCU president Brian Mueller sees the WCC potentially becoming the Big East of the west coast.
But it’s not just men’s basketball. Women’s basketball, golf, baseball, soccer and softball are all formidable sports in the West Coast Conference.
The leaders of the university think they can also recruit athletes in a different way now and help this momentum continue.
Mueller, athletic director Jamie Boggs and men’s basketball coach Bryce Drew gave their reactions to the shift in the video at the top of this page.
Jordan Hamm
