The Sports Bankโs college basketball season previews undergo a facelift this season. Rather than counting down the top 111 teams in 111 days, we will go conference-by-conference, breaking down each team beginning with theย Pac-12.
Ernie Kent wasnโt exactly a sexy hire for the Washington State Cougars this off-season but does bring a level of familiarity to the Pac-12 stemming from his days at Oregon. He faces the challenge of what Ken Bone couldnโt do during his five years at Wazzu; return the Cougars to a high level of play like they experienced during the Tony Bennett era.
WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS
Last Season: 11th, 3-15 in Pac-12, 10-21 overall
Predicted Pac-12 Finish: 10th
Projected Depth Chart
F/C: Jordan Railey (Sr)/Junior Longrus (Jr)/Josh Hawkinson (So)
F: Dexter Kernich-Drew (Sr)/Aaron Cheatum (Jr)/Brett Boese (Jr)
G/F: Que Johnson (So)
SG: Davonte Lacy (Sr)/Dominic Ballard (Jr)
PG: Ike Iroegbu (So)/Jackie Davis (Fr)/Ny Redding (Fr)/Trevor Dunbar (Fr)
Gone: C-D.J. Shelton, SG-Will DiIorio, PG-Royce Woolridge (transfer-Grand Canyon), PF-James Hunter (transfer-South Dakota)
2014-2015 Outlook:
Kent has the luxury of returning Washington Stateโs top scorer in Davonte Lacy who finished second in the Pac-12 in points per game a year ago. Lacy and rising sophomore wing Que Johnson form a solid one-two punch that will be relied upon heavily to shoulder the scoring load.
The backcourt will be the glaring strength for the Cougars with Ike Iroegbu replacing Royce Woolridge at the point and Dexter Kernich-Drew providing more experience on the wing. Iroegbu played quality minutes off the bench as a freshman while Kernich-Drew started 21 games though mostly playing out of position in a power forward type role. Jackie Davis is the best of Kentโs incoming class and should factor into the equation right away.
Replacing D.J. Sheltonโs production up-front is the biggest concern for Wazzu. Jordan Railey is returning starter but really nothing more than a big body down low. Junior Longrus used his toughness and physicality on the glass to be a bench contributor last season but isnโt much of a scoring threat. JUCO transfer Aaron Cheatum could add some offensive firepower to the frontcourt but finding a low post scoring option could really hold the Cougars back this season.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/14 at UTEP
11/17 vs. TCU
11/27 vs. UC-Santa Barbara (Great Alaska Shootout)
11/28 vs. Rice/Mercer (Great Alaska Shootout)
11/29 vs. Colorado State/Missouri State/Pacific/Alaska-Anchorage (Great Alaska Shootout)
12/10 at Gonzaga
OTHER PAC-12 PREVIEWS:
David Kay is a senior featureย NBA Draft,ย NBA, andย college basketballย writer for the Sports Bank.ย He also heads up theย NBAย andย college basketballย material atย Walter Football.comย and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities.ย David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu.ย He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and theย most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draftย on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.)ย You can follow him on Twitter atย David_Kmiecik.
