Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include quotes from AJ Marotte, Scott Rueck and Kelsey Rees. 

Several players from the Oregon State University men’s and women’s basketball teams were named to the West Coast Conference all-conference teams, which were released this Tuesday morning.

Michael Rataj was OSU’s sole player on the men’s first team, joining nine other players, including the likes of Augustas Marčiulionis from Saint Mary’s College and Graham Ike from Gonzaga University.

Head coach Wayne Tinkle was pleased with Rataj’s designation.

“I’m just proud of him, you know, he embraced playing a different position and I think that’s a big reason why he had a jump playing power forward spot,” Tinkle said. “Really kinda taking the bull by the horns and leading this team – a team full of young guys, a bunch of new guys- says a lot about his character. And then obviously, the success that he had out on the court. He’s worked really hard, he’s listened, he continues to improve, and we’re gonna need him to be that leader for us here in the postseason as well.”

Parsa Fallah was one of the five WCC players named to the men’s second team, and Nate Kingz was selected as an honorable mention.

OSU’s women’s team saw two nominations to the all-conference first team Tuesday morning as well. They saw both guard and forward representation in seniors AJ Marotte and Kelsey Rees, respectively.

“Individual awards are really team awards, and I think they acknowledge that,” head coach Scott Rueck said. “Those are two well-deserved all-conference awards. I mean, AJ’s been so steady for us and does long minutes, you know, and has just gotten more and more impactful as the year’s gone on… and you know, Kelsey’s as versatile of a big as you’re gonna find and has demonstrated that, has elevated her defensive game, has played huge minutes – just like AJ, I mean, they’re out there pretty much the whole time.”

With the first team dominated by schools from Oregon and Washington, only two athletes are playing out of California. They are joined by players such as Gonzaga’s Yvonne Ejim and Maisie Burnham from the University of Portland.

“We couldn’t have done that without each other and without our team, and so haven’t really thought that much about it but it is definitely an honor, like, we put a lot of work in,” Marotte said. “But I think both of us are kind of in the ‘we’re not done yet, we have a lot more to accomplish’ mindset right now.” 

Rees agreed.

“It’s a very nice thing, it’s lovely to have, but it’s not what you remember about the season,” Rees explained. “We’re both really excited about the chance we have in the WCC tournament coming up, and that’s the focus. Very honored to be honored, but definitely focused on the team and the WCC tournament.”

The men’s and women’s WCC tournament kicks off this Thursday, March 6. 

The OSU men’s team will face either Pepperdine University or Portland on March 8, being ranked fifth overall. The women’s team, who start further ahead in their respective bracket sitting at fourth overall, will face their first opponent in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament on March 9.