Yoeli Childs Snubbed, Gonzaga’s Petrusev Named WCC Player Of The Year

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – In a mild surprise, Gonzaga big man Filip Petrusev, not BYU forward Yoeli Childs was named the WCC Player of the Year for the 2020 season.

The individual awards and All-WCC teams are voted on by the 10 coaches in the West Coast Conference and according to the league’s coaches Childs’ 22.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists were not enough to beat out Petrusev.

🏆 AWARD SZNNNNN 🏆
Here’s your #WCChoops MBB Award winners!

READ ➡️ https://t.co/UOjDIZCxuR pic.twitter.com/QR3kGReYLA

— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) March 3, 2020

Petrusev, a 6-11 sophomore, averaged 17.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season to help lead Gonzaga to a No. 2 ranking in the AP Top 25 and another outright WCC regular-season title.

Childs and Petrusev squared off one time this season in a nationally-ranked heavyweight match in Provo and it was Childs who led BYU to a home-court victory scoring 28 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Petrusev ended up with 14 points and two rebounds in the Zags lone loss of league play.

Why did Yoeli Childs not win the WCC Player of the Year Award?

The one knock on Childs’ candidacy was that he missed four WCC games due to an injury. Back on January 7th, the senior leader for BYU suffered a finger injury in practice that kept him sidelined for four games that included matchups against Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga away from Provo. BYU lost both of those games.

The WCC Men's Basketball Awards have been announced. I thought Yoeli Childs was the best player in the conference and thought Mark Pope should have been COY. 🤷‍♂️ #BYU pic.twitter.com/xWmPmM2x6N

— Jeremiah Jensen (@JJSportsBeat) March 3, 2020

When Childs has been in the lineup for BYU, the Cougars have been dominant. BYU lost one game in league play with Childs in the lineup and it was a one-point setback on the road against a Top-100 San Francisco team in Childs’ second game back from the finger injury. Since that defeat, BYU has reeled off nine consecutive victories heading into the WCC Tournament which begins this week in Las Vegas.

Childs wasn’t the only BYU Snub in WCC Awards

The WCC also dished out an award for Coach of the Year in the league and BYU’s Mark Pope seemed primed to potentially take home the award. Instead, the WCC awarded Pacific’s Damon Stoudamire who helped lead the Tigers to an 11-5 record in league play.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.