2019-20 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Prospectus
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PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW PAC-12 TO MOVE TO 20 GAMES, PAC-12 TOP 2019-20 STORYLINES ADD SCHEDULE STANDARDS u 3 - For the first time since 2014-15, three head coaches will make their Pac-12 debuts this u The Pac-12 Conference Council and Athletics season in CALIFORNIA’s Mark Fox, UCLA’s Mick Cronin and WASHINGTON STATE’s Kyle Smith. Directors Committee, on recommendation from The trio has averaged 20.9 wins and combined for 16 NCAA Tournament appearances and 27 total the league’s head coaches, approved a change postseasons in 39 years of head coaching experience. to the format of the men’s basketball sched- ule at its annual spring meetings in May 2019. u 4 - Four NBA Draft early-entry candidates elected to return to Pac-12 programs - First Team The men’s league schedule will increase to 20 All-Conference pick Tres Tinkle and teammate Ethan Thompson (OREGON STATE), All-Rookie Team games beginning with the 2020-21 season. member CJ Elleby (WASHINGTON STATE) and reigning Pac-12 Tournament Most Valuable Player “We continually work with our membership to Payton Pritchard (OREGON). identify strategic initiatives which can lead to future success in Pac-12 Men’s Basketball. u 4 x Top 11 - Pac-12 programs boast five of the top 40 recruiting classes in the country We believe moving to a 20-game schedule will according to 247Sports, including three in the top 10 (#4 OREGON, #6 ARIZONA, #7 USC) and lead to more competitive schedules and help four in the top 11 (#11 WASHINGTON). our programs and league achieve our goals of enhancing the Pac-12 basketball brand and preparation for postseason play,” said Pac-12 u 5 - Five Pac-12 teams – ARIZONA, COLORADO, OREGON, USC and WASHINGTON – appear Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Of- on several national media outlets’ early top 25 rankings for the 2019-20 campaign. ficer Jamie Zaninovich. The Council and ADC also voted to approve u 5 - The Conference will welcome five 2019 McDonald’s All-Americans –Nico Mannion & Josh the head coaches’ recommendation to place Green (ARIZONA), Isaiah Mobley (USC), Jaden McDaniels & Isaiah Stewart (WASHINGTON) – the two additional Conference contests in the which equals the most ever for the league (2006, 2012). months of November and December with strong preference for weekend dates when students are on campus. u 5 - A quintet of junior college transfers who earned All-America recognition will join Pac-12 rosters this season in ARIZONA STATE’s Alonzo Verge Jr. and Khalid Thomas, OREGON’s Chris Du- “Strategic scheduling - both conference and arte, UTAH’s Alfonso Plummer and WASHINGTON STATE’s Isaac Bonton. Duarte was the 2018-19 non-conference - are critical to the strength and NJCAA Division I National Player of the Year and No. 1 rated JUCO recruit according to 247Sports, well-being of any league,” said Oregon State while Thomas (No. 2) and Verge Jr. (No. 5) were both top-5 JUCO prospects. Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Barnes, who currently serves as ADC liaison to the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball head coaches and u 6 - Six Division I all-league transfers will be eligible for Pac-12 programs this season in ARIZONA’s was chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basket- Stone Gettings (Cornell) and Max Hazzard (UC Irvine), CALIFORNIA’s Kareem South (Texas A&M ball Selection Committee in 2015. “Our Athletics Corpus Christi), OREGON’s Shakur Juiston (UNLV) and Anthony Mathis (New Mexico), and USC’s Directors, head coaches and league administra- Daniel Utomi (Akron). WASHINGTON will receive a big boost when transfer guard Quade Green tors are all in alignment that an increase to 20 (Kentucky) becomes eligible following the fall semester, while USC will be loaded with shooters with Conference games is the best course of action the addition of Quinton Adlesh (Columbia). for our league moving forward.” “Changing to a 20-game Conference schedule u 7 - Seven 2018-19 All-Conference selections (4 All-Pac-12, 2 All-Freshman, 1 All-Defensive) will improve the strength of schedule for all 12 from last season are slated to return to the league for 2019-20. COLORADO will be the first league teams and that’s very important for the overall program in a decade (California - 2009-10) to return a pair of First Team All-Conference selections success of the league,” said Oregon head coach as the Buffaloes welcome back Tyler Bey and McKinley Wright IV. OREGON STATE’s Tres Tinkle Dana Altman, the active Conference leader and (First Team) and ARIZONA STATE’s Remy Martin (Second Team) also return along with All-Freshman 29th in NCAA Division I history with 645 career picks Timmy Allen (UTAH) and CJ Elleby (WASHINGTON STATE) and All-Defensive member Kylor victories. “It will also be really positive for the Kelley (OREGON STATE). fans because each team will get to play 10 Pac- 12 games at home.” u 9 - In total, Pac-12 rosters will boast nine former McDonald’s All-Americans during the 2019- u Following support from the Pac-12 Council 20 campaign. In addition to the five freshmen, ARIZONA’sChase Jeter and Jordan Brown, USC’s and Pac-12 Athletic Directors at their meetings Charles O’Bannon Jr. and WASHINGTON’s Quade Green also were selected to the prestigious team. in May 2019, the CEO Group voted to introduce non-Conference scheduling standards to en- u - Pac-12 programs signed 10 of the top 50 recruits in the country according hance Pac-12 men’s basketball non-conference 10 x Top 50 schedules. to 247Sports’ Composite rankings, the second-most of any league in the nation (SEC - 11). The approved new non-conference scheduling u 90%+ - COLORADO will enter the 2019-20 season as the nation's most experienced major standards include the following elements: (i) conference team. CU returns all five starters and nearly 95 percent of its rebounding, assists, blocks a non-Conference five-year trailing average of and steals as well. opponents’ NET ranking must be 175 or less, (ii) no participation in road buy games, (iii) no regular season games against non-Division Records watch: I opponents and (iv) no road games versus a u It would take a singular season, but OREGON STATE’s Tres Tinkle could join UCLA’s Lew Alcindor non-conference opponent with a five-year trail- (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Stanford’s Adam Keefe as the only players in Conference history to ing average of 200 NET. reach the 2,000-point, 1,000-rebound plateau. Tinkle could also become the only player in league annals to hit those milestones along with 300 assists and 150 steals. 2 2019-20 PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL PROSPECTUS PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW RETURNING STARTERS (31) CAREER LEADERS (ACTIVE) RETURNING PRODUCTION Arizona (1) POINTS SCORING Chase Jeter, Sr., C/F .....................10.9 ppg/6.6 rpg Tres Tinkle (R-Sr.), OSU...................................................1661 1. Colorado ........................................ 94.9% Payton Pritchard (Sr.), ORE .............................................1303 2. Oregon State .................................. 70.1% Arizona State (3) Jonah Mathews (Sr.), USC .................................................974 3. Arizona State .................................. 57.2% Remy Martin, Jr., G ..................... 12.9 ppg/5.0 apg Nick Rakocevic (Sr.), USC .................................................965 4. California........................................ 52.2% McKinley Wright IV (Jr.), COLO ..........................................910 5. Stanford ......................................... 47.7% Rob Edwards, R-Sr., G .................11.1 ppg/3.3 rpg Ethan Thompson (Jr.), OSU ...............................................740 6. UCLA ............................................. 47.6% Romello White, Jr., F ......................8.7 ppg/5.2 rpg Remy Martin (Jr.), ASU .....................................................721 7. Washington State ........................... 45.7% Tyler Bey (Jr.), COLO .........................................................684 8. USC ............................................... 41.6% California (3) Prince Ali (Sr.), UCLA ........................................................663 9. Arizona .......................................... 37.8% Paris Austin, R-Sr., G .................. 11.6 ppg/4.3 apg Daejon Davis (Jr.), STAN ...................................................648 10. Utah .............................................. 33.5% Matt Bradley, So., G .....................10.8 ppg/3.6 rpg Rob Edwards (Sr.), ASU ........................... 1219* (310 at ASU) 11. Oregon ........................................... 31.3% Andre Kelly, So., F ..........................6.3 ppg/3.7 rpg Paris Austin (Sr.), CAL .................................855* (337 at CAL) Dylan Smith (Sr.), ARIZ ............................. 837* (377 at ARIZ) 12. Washington .................................... 19.8% Colorado (5) REBOUNDS REBOUNDING Tyler Bey, Jr., G/F .........................13.6 ppg/9.9 rpg Tres Tinkle (R-Sr.), OSU.....................................................670 1. Colorado ........................................ 95.9% McKinley Wright IV, Jr., G ............ 13.0 ppg/4.8 apg Nick Rakocevic (Sr.), USC .................................................665 2. Oregon State .................................. 75.4% Shane Gatling, Sr., G ......................9.7 ppg/1.9 rpg Tyler Bey (Jr.), COLO .........................................................519 3. California........................................ 58.3% D’Shawn Schwartz, Jr., G/F ............9.2 ppg/3.7 rpg Payton Pritchard (Sr.), ORE ...............................................416