LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Portland senior point guard Alec Wintering was named to the 2016-17 Preseason All-West Coast Conference Team as voted by the league's head coaches, the WCC announced on Monday at the WCC Basketball Tip-Off hosted at Spectrum SportsNet Studios. Portland was picked to finish eighth in the WCC Preseason Poll, while Gonzaga edged Saint Mary's as the predicted league favorite.

Wintering finished third in the WCC in scoring during league play last season at 20.6 per game and averaged 18.3 points overall. He also added 4.9 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting 80 percent from the foul line and 41 percent from three-point range.

His remarkable junior season included two WCC Player of the Week awards, cracking the 1,000-point mark for his career, moving into the top five all-time in program history for assists, and finishing the year  with the second most points scored in school single-season history (584).

Wintering became the first Pilot in history to record consecutive 30-point games after a career-high 34 points against Pepperdine on Dec. 23 to earn his first weekly honor. That was followed by a 31-point performance at San Francisco on Dec. 31.

The Charlotte, N.C. native ranks No. 4 all-time for UP in assists (467) and free throws made (405), No. 5 in three-point percentage (.410) and No. 6 in steals (141). He also earned All-WCC Second Team honors as a sophomore.

The Pilots won their exhibition opener against Multnomah last Saturday by an 87-57 margin. Portland will host its final exhibition game on Friday against Evergreen State at 7 p.m. and then welcome UC Riverside to the Chiles Center for the regular season opener on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.

Tickets for Portland's 16-game 2016-17 home schedule are available now by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets or calling the Pilot Box Office at (503) 943-7525. Season tickets start at $88 or Mini Packages featuring five of the top home games are also available for purchase. Single game tickets are also on sale now for a majority of games.

2016-17 WCC Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll

Team (First Place Vote)		Pts.
1. Gonzaga (7)		79
2. Saint Mary's (3)		75
3. BYU		65
4. Pepperdine		53
5. Santa Clara		49
6. Loyola Marymount		34
7. Pacific		29
8. Portland		28
9. San Francisco		27
10. San Diego		11

 
2016-17 All-WCC Preseason Men's Basketball Team

Name	Institution	Yr.	Pos.
Jared Brownridge	Santa Clara	Sr.	G
Nick Emery	BYU	So.	G
Przemek Karnowski	Gonzaga	Sr.	C
Eric Mika	BYU	So.	C
Lamond Murray Jr.	Pepperdine	Sr.	G/F
Emmett Naar	Saint Mary's	Jr.	G
Josh Perkins	Gonzaga	So.	G
Dane Pineau	Saint Mary's	Sr.	F
Joe Rahon	Saint Mary's	Sr.	G
Alec Wintering	Portland	Sr.	G