USC: The Trojans have six new players this season, including highly-touted freshman point guard Jordan McLaughlin. Head coach Andy Enfield expects McLaughlin, ranked No. 4 nationally among point guard recruits by ESPN, to contribute immediately.

"Jordan is a terrific student-athlete," Enfield said. "He's a student of the game. He understands where his teammates need to be. He lead's by example, he's a very hard worker, he has an amazing attitude … We're expecting big things from him. I think he came to USC for that opportunity, to be relied upon as a freshman. He'll have that opportunity as a freshman.

WSU: DaVonte Lacy is known for feeling a kinship with the jungle's king. He has a huge lion tattoo on his left arm that reads "Soul of a Lion" and his philosophy on social media is that a "lion does not concern himself with the opinions of sheep."

It sounds like new Cougars coach Ernie Kent may have found his spirit animal as well.

"Having been out of (coaching) for four years, the definition I use, I feel like I've been a big bear in hibernation and now you get a chance to come out and eat!" Kent said.

We have more Pac-12 media day highlights after the jump.

…

OSU: Wayne Tinkle takes over an Oregon State team that has lost a lot of talent from a team that wasn't very good last season, and he knows it. "We have a monumental task of turning the program around," he said, and that was in his opening remarks.

UW: The Huskies were No. 10 in the Pac-12 last season in scoring defense and dead last in opponent field goal percentage, allowing teams to shoot .475 from the field.

"We've hit that hard early," coach Lorenzo Romar said. "I think trying to create an identity in that regard, making sure our group understands the importance of what we're going to do on the defensive end. If we're going to be successful at all, if we're going to win big games this year, advance to the NCAA tournament, it will be because we played good on the defensive end."

Utah: The Utes were picked to finish No. 2 in the Pac-12 media poll and Delon Wright is a big reason why. The First Team All-Pac-12 guard led the league in steals last season with 2.56 per game, ranked third in assists with 4.89 and his 6.8 rebounds per game were twelfth. He did all that while scoring 16.9 points per game.

"I think he's a classic definition of a stat sheet stuff," coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "He steals, blocks shots, assists, obviously the ability to score … Finally, the most important thing, is his ability to now be a leader. I think maybe in his first year out of junior college he sat back a little bit and let it come to him. As we all know, the typical junior college player, it takes maybe until Christmas before you know they're even on the roster."

Cal: After Mike Montgomery stepped down as the Golden Bears coach California brought in Cuonzo Martin, who compiled a 63-41 record at Tennessee, including a 32-20 record in SEC play. He spoke a little bit about the stylistic differences between Pac-12 and SEC teams.

"I think Pac-12, SEC, I think it's coaching," Martin said. "I think you coach according to your personnel. I think out west it's more of a fast-pace, free-flowing style of offense. Back east, more physical, banging type of game. At the end of the day, talent wins out. You put your guys in a position to be successful."

He added that while he does not like to play a zone defense, the Golden Bears will play zone "until we get to the level that we need to be defensively as far as our man-to-man is concerned."

ASU: The poll had Arizona State finishing No. 9, but head coach Herb Sendek says he isn't concerned because after his top-ranked instate rival, everything is up in the air in his opinion.

"I could see where Arizona would be the unanimous pick or almost, I hear, unanimous pick (UCLA got one vote). I think that's clear-cut," Sendek said. "As for the rest of the league you could probably put everybody in a hat, shake it up, have just as good a chance at predicting the order of finish as we are able to do sitting here today."

Stanford: The Cardinal were considered underperformers last season and coach Johnny Dawkins' job security was in question throughout the regular season. Then the Cardinal caught fire in the postseason, making the Pac-12 tournament semifinal and then advancing to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16. Dawkins says that experience will make Stanford a better team this season.

"It's about standards, you know? Last year we were able to set the bar. What we want to do is you can never take that for granted," Dawkins said. "You have to have standards to meet or exceed what you've accomplished. That's what we try to give our guys. Hopefully that can become our culture."

Colorado: Last year Colorado was the second-worst shooting team in the conference, hitting just .435 from the field. Coach Tad Boyle says that to hit more shots the Buffaloes need to take better looks.

"My job as a coach is to make sure we're taking good shots," Boyle said. "I've got to do a better job of that I think with our whole team. It's really guys like Askia (Booker), they have to get in the gym, which he has done. He has an unbelievable work ethic. It's incumbent on our players that they can make open shots and we're taking the right shots."

Oregon: Oregon's had a turbulent offseason and now has to integrate six new players onto a team that has lost many of its key contributors.  Coach Dana Altman knows he has his work cut out for him this year.

"Our team faces some challenges this year," Altman said. "We have a limited roster, not much experience back. Our guys are going to have to stay healthy … It will be an interesting year. We're going to go through some ups and downs. Our guys are going to have to continue to fight, continue to get better. If they do that, I think we can have a good ballclub.
 
UCLA: The two programs with the most national championships in men's college basketball will face off when UCLA takes on Kentucky on Dec. 20. Both teams lost a lot of talent over the offseason, but Kentucky is expected to once again have one of the country's most talented teams while UCLA is a bit of an unknown.

Coach Steve Alford says that while it's natural to build up a game between two such storied programs, he's just worried about navigating a nonconference schedule that will also include Oklahoma, Gonzaga, and either Butler or North Carolina.

"We have so much in front of us beforehand being an inexperienced group … We're not going to put any more emphasis on one game," Alford said. "It's a process, it's a journey. It's a long season. Get better each month if we can get better. Are we ready to play the likes of Kentucky today? No. I hope we're a little bit better ready for that when we get to mid December.

Arizona: Star forward Brandon Ashley missed the latter part of Arizona's season due to injury, but he was right beside coach Sean Miller at media day and said his foot feels 100 percent.

Arizona was picked by the media to win the conference and the return of the long and athletic forward is a big reason why.

"I think everybody out here, if you followed us closely a year ago, recognized the importance that he had while he was playing, "Miller said. "Keep in mind we were 21-0 last year (when he got hurt.). Brandon never lost. Then he got injured. We worked hard to reinvent ourselves, but I think when it all ended we wished that he was with us from start to finish."

---

---