2018-19 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Prospectus
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PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW PAC-12 TOP 2018-19 STORYLINES u 6 of the league’s teams – ARIZONA STATE, COLORADO, OREGON, UCLA, USC and WASHING- TON – appear on several national media outlets’ early top 25 rankings for the 2018-19 campaign. u 2nd - For only the second year since 2009, continuity reigned on the sidelines at all 12 Con- ference programs as no head coaching changes were made in the offseason. The most recent year that occured was in 2012 and the league went on to place five teams in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. u 95%+ - WASHINGTON will enter its second season under head coach Mike Hopkins as the nation's most experienced major conference team as the Huskies boast the highest percentage of returning minutes and scoring (95.9%) among Power 5 programs. UW returns all five starters and better than 95 percent of its rebounding, assists, threes, blocks and steals as well. u 8 - Pac-12 programs boast eight of the top 40 re- u Over the past two years, four different Pac- cruiting classes in the country according to 247Sports, including three in the top 10 (Oregon, UCLA, 12 programs have produced both NBA MVPs Arizona State), as well as the second-most top 50 (10) and top 100 (19) signees of any league. and No. 1 Draft selections. u 2 of 5 - Two of the nation's top five recruiting BACK-TO-BACK NBA MVPS classes landed at OREGON (#4 ESPN) and UCLA (#3 James Harden, ARIZONA STATE ESPN) with both programs landing five-star big men Russell Westbrook, UCLA in 7-2 forward Bol Bol (son of NBA legend Manute Bol) to the Ducks and 7-1 post Moses Brown to the BACK-TO-BACK NBA DRAFT NO. 1 PICKS Bruins. Oregon also secured five-star wingLouis King Deandre Ayton, ARIZONA alongside a trio of four-star signees, while UCLA added Markelle Fultz, WASHINGTON a quartet of four-star signees, highlighted by Shareef O'Neal (son of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal). u Also over the past two years, the Pac-12 USC landed the league’s fourth five-star recruit in Seattle Metro Player of the YearKevin Porter Jr. has produced 21 NBA Draft picks including a u 9 - Nine student-athletes who earned all-league accolades in 2017-18 return to rosters this national-best and league-record 14 in 2017. winter. Four All-Freshman Team selections (Daejon Davis - STAN; Jaylen Nowell - WASH; Kris The Pac-12 has produced 49 NBA Draft Wilkes - UCLA; McKinley Wright IV - COLO), three picks and 26 first-round selections in the last All-Conference performers (Noah Dickerson - WASH; six years, totals that are second among all Tres Tinkle - OSU; Payton Pritchard - ORE) and a pair conferences. of All-Defensive team honorees (Matisse Thybulle - WASH; Kenny Wooten - ORE). u 6 - Additionally, six NBA Draft early-entry candidates elected to return to Pac-12 programs, highlighted by First Team All-Conference pick Noah Dickerson, All-Rookie Team member Kris Wilkes and reigning Pac-12 Most Improved Player Robert Franks (WSU). Jaylen Hands and Cody Riley (UCLA), and Sedrick Barefield (UTAH) also tested the Draft waters before electing to return to campus. u The Pac-12 has had a Conference-record u 4 - Four all-league transfers will be eligible for Pac-12 programs this season in ARIZONA’s Justin nine teams finish in the RPI top 100 in two of Coleman (Samford), ARIZONA STATE’s Rob Edwards (Cleveland State), CALIFORNIA’s Paris Austin the last three years. (Boise State) and OREGON’s Ehab Amin (Texas A&M-CC). Both the Wildcats and Sun Devils will u The Pac-12 had seven programs reach be aided by additional immediate-impact transfers in UA’s Chase Jeter (Duke) and Ryan Luther the 20-win plateau in 2017-18, equaling the (Pittsburgh), and ASU’s Zylan Cheatham (San Diego State). most in league history. u 7-0+ - Big - really big - men will dot the rosters of nearly every Pac-12 program this season u In 2016-17, the league had three 30-win as 14 players who stand at least 7-foot tall will suit up for nine Conference teams. WASHINGTON teams for the first time in league history, and freshman Riley Sorn is listed as the tallest player in the Conference at 7-4, followed closely by four 25-win programs for only the second CALIFORNIA rookie Connor Vanover at 7-3. By contrast, only eight players listed 7-foot and above time in league history. appeared on league rosters in 2017-18. u Pac-12 has sent a Conference-record ty- ing eight teams to the postseason (NCAA and Records Watch: NIT) in four of the past six seasons, includ- u With 291 boards in his senior season, WASHINGTON’s Noah Dickerson can become only the ing a league-record seven NCAA Tournament 15th member of the Conference’s 1,000 career rebounds club. Dickerson, who enters 2018-19 with teams in 2016 and three Sweet 16 teams 709 caroms, grabbed 284 boards as a junior in 2017-18. with Oregon reaching the Final Four in 2017. u With another 100-steal season, WASHINGTON’s Matisse Thybulle could become only the second u The Pac-12 has produced a consensus member of the Conference’s 300 career steals club. Thybulle, who has 205 career thefts following All-American each of the last five seasons (a 101 as a junior in 2017-18, would join OSU’s Gary Payton (321) as the lone members. feat matched only by the ACC), highlighted u WASHINGTON STATE set a league record with 341 made threes in 2017-18. The Cougars return by a national-best and league-record tying three of their top four marksmen from that record-setting team and add JUCO All-American Ahmed four in 2017. Ali, who once hit 22 threes en route to 103 points in a single high school game. 2 2018-19 PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL PROSPECTUS PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW RETURNING STARTERS (30) CAREER LEADERS (ACTIVE) RETURNING PRODUCTION Arizona (0) POINTS SCORING Stephen Thompson Jr. (Sr.), OSU .......................... 1269 1. Washington .................................... 95.9% Arizona State (2) Noah Dickerson (Sr.), WASH ................................. 1165 2. Oregon State .................................. 72.2% Romello White, R-So., F ...............10.5 ppg/7.1 rpg David Crisp (Sr.), WASH ........................................ 1067 3. Colorado ........................................ 66.9% Vitaliy Shibel, R-So., F ....................1.8 ppg/1.8 rpg Tres Tinkle (R-Jr.), OSU ......................................... 1037 4. Washington State ........................... 56.6% Bennie Boatwright (Sr.), USC .................................. 978 5. UCLA ............................................. 50.0% California (3) Matisse Thybulle (Sr.), WASH .................................. 915 6. California........................................ 49.7% Juhwan Harris-Dyson, So., G ..........6.2 ppg/3.4 rpg Payton Pritchard (Jr.), ORE ..................................... 811 7. USC ............................................... 49.2% 8. Oregon ........................................... 48.2% Darius McNeill, So., G ..................11.3 ppg/2.9 rpg Robert Franks (Sr.), WSU ........................................ 766 9. Stanford ......................................... 42.6% Justice Sueing, So., F ...................13.8 ppg/5.4 rpg Sedrick Barefield (Sr.), UTAH .................................. 600 10. Arizona State .................................. 42.3% Jaylen Nowell (So.), WASH ...................................... 545 11. Utah .............................................. 35.9% Colorado (4) 12. Arizona .......................................... 15.4% Tyler Bey, So., G/F ..........................6.1 ppg/5.1 rpg REBOUNDS Dallas Walton, So., F/C ...................5.7 ppg/3.4 rpg Noah Dickerson (Sr.), WASH ................................... 709 REBOUNDING McKinley Wright IV, So., G ........... 14.2 ppg/5.5 apg Tres Tinkle (R-Jr.), OSU ........................................... 427 1. Washington .................................... 95.8% Namon Wright, Sr., G .....................9.7 ppg/3.5 rpg Bennie Boatwright (Sr.), USC .................................. 404 2. Arizona State .................................. 68.1% Nick Rakocevic (Jr.), USC ....................................... 357 3. Colorado ........................................ 63.5% Oregon (2) Robert Franks (Sr.), WSU ........................................ 327 4. Oregon State .................................. 62.4% Payton Pritchard, Jr., G ................14.5 ppg/4.8 rpg Matisse Thybulle (Sr.), WASH .................................. 304 5. USC ............................................... 56.8% Paul White, R-Sr., F ........................9.4 ppg/3.5 rpg Jayce Johnson (Jr.), UTAH ...................................... 301 6. Washington State ........................... 52.8% Sam Timmins (Jr.), WASH ....................................... 277 7. UCLA ............................................. 48.0% Oregon State (3) Payton Pritchard (Jr.), ORE ..................................... 269 8. California........................................ 43.9% Ethan Thompson, So., G ................9.9 ppg/4.1 rpg Romello White (So.), ASU ........................................ 220 9. Oregon ........................................... 44.3% Stephen Thompson Jr., Sr., G .......15.8 ppg/3.1 rpg 10. Stanford ......................................... 42.8% Tres Tinkle, R-Jr., F ......................17.6 ppg/7.2 rpg THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS 11. Utah .............................................. 39.2% David Crisp (Sr.), WASH .......................................... 182 12. Arizona .......................................... 16.6% Stanford (2) Stephen Thompson Jr. (Sr.), OSU ............................ 169