Cougars picked last in Pac-12 basketball poll

The Pac-12 held its debutante ball, er, Media Day on Thursday in San Francisco and while each head coach brought along a veteran player to represent the program, freshmen were the precocious focus.

And because nobody really knows which team’s freshmen will be the best yet, the preseason media poll was concocted with a base of past performances, a dash of recruiting rankings and seasoned with guesswork.

Arizona, the program most able to attract the sort of talents who just need to taste the college experience for a semester or so before bolting to the NBA, has three incoming players that the media thinks highly enough of to make the Wildcats the preseason favorite.

Although Sean Miller wishes his players would stick around a little longer.

“If you had said (when I started) that I would sign 35 guys in seven years, I’d say I’m probably not going to be the coach at Arizona,” Miller said.

California, which went 18-15 last season, was picked to finish second in the conference on the strength of its incoming recruiting class.

Oregon State, USC and Washington will all be hoping that highly-ranked freshmen will lead them to successful season.

With seven new players this season, Washington State will be relying on newcomers as much as any team. And the Cougars are pretty excited about them.

“This is the most depth we’ve had in our program so far,” said junior forward Josh Hawkinson. “We have a bunch of new guys who came and have really blended in. And then also, for me, stepping out and expanding my range opens up opportunities for the rest of my team to score, as well.”

But because the Cougars recruiting class wasn’t given the same fanfare as those of its peers, WSU as nearly universally selected as the conference’s worst team.

Coach Ernie Kent doesn’t have time for that noise. Not with this group, who he’s been trying to instill confidence in since his own introductory press conference.

Kent has compared this group, particularly the posts, favorably to his Oregon teams that went to two Elite Eights and on Thursday called them his best team in its ability to “get things done.”

While getting things done could merely be an allusion to the team’s 3.2 GPA or the bonding that took place over the last year, he followed that statement with strictly basketball-related examples.

“I’ve got two seven-footers who are pretty big basketball players that are going to help us (newcomers Conor Clifford and Valentine Izundu). I’ve always had really good guards,” Kent said. “And with the type of character I’ve seen on this team and how hard this team has worked in the weight room this summer … if we’re the last place team, this conference is going to be a really, really good conference.”

Kent also told reporters that he expects this team’s style of play to more closely resemble the 40-minute sprint his teams were known for at UO and St. Mary’s, largely in part due to the defensive abilities of the aforementioned post players.

WSU to hold pregame practice on Saturday

Fans can get an early glimpse of the Cougars when they practice at Hollingberry Fieldhouse’s Food Fair at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday prior to the football team’s Homecoming game against Oregon State.

The practice will consist of 30 minutes of shooting and defensive drills on a half-court. The team will sign autographs afterward.

The Cougars will also hold an open practice two hours at Chiawana High in Pasco on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to noon. WSU will provide pizza and drinks at the event, which will end with an autograph session.