Blogging with the Devils

Another Final Four. Another circus.

Sure enough, one week of expected and bizarre activity has already transformed the Pac-10 next winter. Hard to believe since it’s April, but no other conference has (so far) gone through such upheavel.

Most of this basketball hurricane has past but there are a few unknowns still waiting to be answered.  Most speculation won’t end until June 16, the last day underclassmen can withdraw their name from the NBA lottery (unless they’ve hired an agent).

Take a look at what the league lost in the past week, and it’s easy to see why Andy Katz has ASU ranked No. 15 — second in the Pac-10 — heading into next season. We know how little merit this stuff has today, but it’s not far-fetched.

Mixed messages keep coming out of Westwood about the fate of UCLA’s Kevin Love, Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook.

At least one of the three will leave, and probably two.  The sophomore Westbrook appears most likely to stay another year, but his draft stock was enhanced by a strong showing in the NCAA tournament, while Collison’s inconsistency on offense didn’t help his cause.

Terrific all-around point guard Darren Collison didn’t fare too well offensively in the NCAA tournament. If it potentially costs him a spot in the NBA lottery (top 14), he may return to UCLA. 

Then there’s Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Alfred Aboya, both of whom are currently juniors but are on pace to leave school early if they so choose.

The Bruins have a pair of excellent backcourt recruits coming in, but they’re still going to take a hit.

Stanford 7-footers Brook and Robin Lopez are leaving early for the NBA, and Anthony Goods may jump as well. Three days later, Pac-10 Coach of the Year Trent Johnson bolted for Louisiana State and doubled his salary. The Cardinal administration has egg on its face for letting one of the better coaches (even if he was rigid and a mercurial personality) leave when all it had to do was offer Johnson a formal contract extension that was circulating for months. Get ready for more rumblings of Randy Bennett (St. Mary’s), Mark Fox (Nevada) and Mark Few (Gonzaga).

The Cardinal could have re-hired Mike Montgomery (though that wasn’t likely even with all his success and ties to the school), but California signed him the week before to replace the fired Ben Braun. The Bears have underachieved for the past few years, and it could get worse if sophomore Ryan Anderson decides to go pro.

Anderson was the Pac-10 leading scorer and third-leading rebounder, but a string of solid NBA workouts and a new coach at Cal may sway him to greener pastures. 

Washington State retains coach Tony Bennett after flirtations with Indiana and LSU, but loses three of its top four players: Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver, and Robbie Cowgill.

O.J. Mayo is gone from USC (shocking absolutely nobody). If Daniel Hackett, Davon Jefferson and Taj Gibson all return, the Trojans will be very good. It’s a group to watch as NBA draft deadline approaches.

Oregon loses its three leading scorers.

Jerryd Bayless is leaving Arizona. Chase Budinger might (he was oh-so-wise to not sign with an agent), and though All-American Brandon Jennings is coming in, duplicating Bayless’ production is an unreasonable expectation.

The Wildcats still lack depth but if they return to a running style under Lute Olson, they could be interesting with a return to good health.

Hard to blame Jerryd Bayless for making the jump, given the likelihood he’ll be a top-five draft pick. Given how big a recruit he was (and being a local kid), does he leave a legacy behind after one season? 

This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Men's Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.