Roster Breakdown: Why San Francisco is a True WCC Contender
The University of San Francisco brings in elite transfers and returns Tyrone Riley. Could this be the year they break through in a loaded WCC?
The San Francisco Dons have won 20+ games in eight of their last nine seasons with three different coaches. Their last coach? Now National Champion Todd Golden. Following Golden’s departure, Chris Gerlufsen took over the reigns and he has the Dons rolling with a 68-35 record over three seasons.
Wildly enough, despite this incredible run by the Dons, they’ve made the NCAA Tournament just once in 2022 during Golden’s last season. They ended up losing to Murray State in the first round as a ten seed. While the West Coast Conference is continuously a top eight conference in the country, the was the last time it earned three bids.
Could we see a three-bid West Coast Conference in Gonzaga’s last season in the conference? There’s a genuine chance.
The San Francisco Dons are assembling one of the most impressive rosters among the non-power conference ranks. Retaining star guard Tyrone Riley IV, while bringing in five high-profile transfers, Chris Gerlufsen is going to have the Dons competing at the top of the conference.
Partnering with Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s and the West Coast Conference is going to be one of the premier non-power conference leagues once again. Let’s take a look at who they have so far on their roster.
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Roster Turnover
Among those on the roster last season, just three lost their eligibility:
Marcus Williams
15.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.5 steals
Carlton Linguard Jr.
8.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Robby Beasley III
1.9 points, 1 rebounds
Marcus Williams ended his three year career at San Francisco after spending his first two seasons at Wyoming and Texas A&M. What a run it was as he finished his junior year averaging just 7.8 points per game while coming off the bench, to becoming one of the best guards among the non-power conferences. Williams will be sorely missed on this roster next season.
Linguard Jr. played a key role for the Dons as he was a 7’0 center that had a strong ability to shoot. He drained 30.3% of his three point shots on 4.1 attempts per game, while starting in all 35 games. He won’t be drafted, but I am curious to see if he ends up on a Summer League or G-League roster this year due to his unique abilities.
Robby Beasley III had quite a journey in his career. He spent his first two seasons at Montana where he started in 32 games his sophomore season and averaged 11.8 points per game. He transferred to UC Davis, seeing a slight reduction in production, and then to San Francisco where he averaged just 10 and 12 minutes per game over the last two seasons.
Considering the skillset that this team had last season, their losses in the portal included just four players:
Malik Thomas
19.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals
Jason Rivera-Torres
2.4 points, 2.1 rebounds
James O’Donnell
2.1 points, 2.6 rebounds
Karl Poom
0.4 points, 0.8 rebounds
Malik Thomas is obviously a huge loss. He just announced that he’ll be transferring to Virginia to finish out his collegiate career. Regardless, Thomas emerged as one of the best players in the country during his time at San Francisco. He’s entered the NBA Draft and will most likely return to college next season now that he’s been granted another season in search of securing quite the NIL package from Virginia.
Among the other three, each were just role players in the rotation. Rivera-Torres transferred in from Vanderbilt as a sophomore and still has potential in my opinion. He’s committed to Monmouth where he’ll surely be given an opportunity to shine in an expanded role. James O’Donnell is just a freshman, but in what opportunities he had at USF, he impressed. Watch for him to transfer down similarly to Rivera-Torres. Poom was another foreign prospect for the Dons that was going to be a long-term development player. After appearing in just 10 games, he’ll be seeking a larger opportunity elsewhere.
Roster Additions
Now, lets get to the new additions that has the Dons as one of the top incoming transfer portal classes:
Aidan Braccia (Belmont)
1.5 points (2 games)
Vukasin Masic (Portland)
10.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists
Guillermo Diaz Graham (Pittsburgh)
6.2 points, 5 rebounds, 1.5 assists
Mookie Cook (Oregon)
1.1 points, 0.5 rebounds (24 games, 4.3 minutes/per)
David Fuchs (Rhode Island)
7.4 points, 7.5 rebounds
The Dons have some intriguing pieces coming in here. Looking at the two power conference additions in Guillermo and Mookie Cook, there’s a lot to like. Diaz Graham spent his first three seasons at Pitt where he turned himself into a starter this past season, starting in 25 of his 32 games. He stands in at 7’0, so a nice replacement for Carlton Linguard Jr. He even shot 31.6% from deep on 3.6 attempts per game last year, so truly he’s a near identical replacement. Cook appeared in 24 games, but averaged just 4.3 minutes per game. Coming out of high school, he was a highly regarded prospect with offers from Michigan, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Creighton, Illinois, Arizona, Kansas, Auburn, and many more top schools.
Vukasin Masic has bounced around several non-power conference schools as he started out at Hofstra, then Maine, and he spent his last two seasons at Portal. He took a huge step forward for the Pilots as he shot 41.7% overall and 36.2% from deep last year. The 6’5 guard will plug into the Dons rotation nicely at the three spot or as a secondary ball handler at the two.
David Fuchs spent his first two collegiate seasons with the Rhode Island Rams and the results were nearly identical. Last year, he shot 58.7% overall and 29.4% from deep on just 17 attempts. The 6’9 forward was a menace on the glass as he’s averaged 2.1 offensive rebounds per game on his career so far.
Aidan Braccia appeared in just ten games in two seasons for Belmont, in which only two came last season. The 6’1 incoming junior is from Atherton, California, so he most likely wanted to come a bit closer to home than Nashville, Tennessee.
Legend Smiley is also joining the class as an incoming freshman. He held offers from USC, St. John’s, Weber State, Washington, and Seattle. Per ESPN, he is a four-star prospect and was ranked second in the state of Washington coming out of Link Academy. He’s a 6-4 guard that will be looking to break the rotation on a tough roster.
Roster Continuity
Returning next for the Dons:
Saba Gigiberia
1.7 points, 1.8 rebounds
Isa Silva
DNP
Ryan Beasley
9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1 steal
Junjie Wang
6.2 points, 3.3 rebounds
Ben Abosi
2.4 points, 2.1 rebounds
Tyrone Riley
9.6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1.2 steals
Possibly: Ndewedo Newbury
8.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 blocks
The largest piece here is Tyrone Riley. He was one of the most electric freshmen among the non-power conference ranks and is poised to burst into stardom this coming year. Our scouting contributor
released a deep dive into Riley and what makes him so special earlier this offseason. I encourage you to give it a read (linked below) as Riley is going to be a name that you’ll want to know.
I listed Ndewedo Newbury as “possibly” returning because I truly don’t know what his status is. The senior has spent four years at San Francisco and he was a huge piece for the Dons at the beginning of the year last season. However, he suffered a season ending injury which limited him to just 11 games. I believe that he should have one year remaining, but there’s been no official announcement on whether or not he’s returning next season.
Ryan Beasley and Junjie Wang are both incoming juniors and they are huge contributors to the Dons’ rotation. Wang is a 6’9 forward that has a nice shooting ability as well. He shot 40.8% overall and 29.9% from deep last season on 107 attempts. In the West Coast Conference tournament he put up ten points and six rebounds against Gonzaga and ten points and ten rebounds against Washington State. Beasley is a 5’11 guard with a strong prowess to score. He shot 44.3% overall and 29.9% from three points last season. Notably, he had a 2.4 assist to 1.2 turnover ratio. I love the ball handling ability from Beasley. If he can take another step forward this season, watch out.
Gigiberia, Abosi, and Silva are all a bit of a question mark. Abosi appeared in 30 gamesa and averaged 12.7 minutes per game. The 6’6 forward provided some strong minutes as a freshman. Against Washington State in the WCC tournament, he posted seven points with three rebounds and two assists. Gigiberia is a 5th year 7’2 center. In 23 games, he averaged 4.1 minutes per game. His role probably won’t change too much next year. Silva transferred in from Long Beach State where he averaged 2.4 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. He appeared in all 36 games and started 14, but averaged just 12.5 minutes per game. Similarly to Gigiberia, his role probably won’t change much next year.
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Expectations
It’s mid-May, so I’m not looking to make any crazy predictions here. We don’t even know what the Dons schedule is. However, with the changes to rosters coming this summer in the house settlement, it’s safe to assume the Dons have just two scholarships (give or take) to play with as they build out the roster. On paper, unless they bring in another star player, it seems like their main players are already going to be on the team.
I love the height on this team. Guillermo Diaz Graham is a seven footer with an ability to expand his range and knock down some tough shots. Junjie Wang and David Fuchs are both 6’9 and if Ndewedo Newbury returns he’s a 6’7 forward as well. The key to these players is, they aren’t just tall…they can play as well. Each player will look to average 4-7 rebounds per game with a knack to crash the offensive glass. Offensive rebounding has been one statistic that the Dons have been just average in with Gerlufsen at the helm, so it’s safe to say that it’s not in his preferences for how he coaches, however, I’d be stunned if they don’t take a step forward this coming season.
In the backcourt, the Dons are loaded. Tyrone Riley is poised to skyrocket his stock this season, while Ryan Beasley and Vukasin Masic are going to be a strong supporting cast behind him. Mookie Cook brings strong potential as well, but the jury is out on whether or not he and Legend Smiley will crack the rotation in their first season with the Dons.
I’d love to see the Dons add a point guard with one of their last roster spots for next year. With the loss of Marcus Williams, Ryan Beasley will have to take over as the primary ball handler for the Dons next year. That’s completely fine, but outside of Beasley it becomes a huge question mark around who will run point when he’s not in the game. They have some options in Riley, Smiley, and Masic, but gaining another true point guard on the roster, even if it’s just providing 10-15 minutes a game will be a huge lift next season.
Overall, my expectations would be a top four finish in the WCC yet again, with the potential of reaching the NCAA Tournament. Even with losing Marcus Williams and Malik Thomas, the Dons have reloaded and they aren’t even done yet. In their last two seasons, they’ve been 55th or better in defensive efficiency and I don’t see that changing yet again. I’d be shocked if they weren’t classified as a “defensive-first” team in 2026.