July 26, 2010

Pac-10 Notebook: Montgomery locks stellar incoming class

California coach Mike Montgomery knew that he would have to turn his program over with losing four key performers as seniors in Jerome Randle, Jamal Boykin, Patrick Christopher, and Theo Robertson.

When the signing period ended, Montgomery had fulfilled his quest as he had signed three shooting guards, a point guard, and a power forward that were all rated in various national recruiting services.

Allen Crabbe and Alex Rossi are the two highest rated shooters as Crabbe was the state of California's high school player of the year at tiny Price High School in Los Angeles.  He could be an immediate impact performer in helping Montgomery keep the Bears afloat in what will be a tougher PAC-10 in 2010-11.

Rossi could play right away, as well, with the Bears losing all the shooters.  He is known as a catch-and-shoot player who can knock down the three with regularity and shoot the mid-range jumper as well.

Canadian Emerson Murray of St. George's School in Surrey, B.C., is the latest addition to the team as he missed most of his senior year with a broken ankle, but averaged 24 ppg. as a senior.

Finally, 6-2 point guard Gary Franklin and 6-9 power forward Richard Solomon are ranked in Rivals' Top 150.  The recruiting class earned a final rating of No. 24 by ESPN.com.

ARIZONA:  Improvement is the next step in the rebuilding process for the Wildcats, according to second-year coach Sean Miller.  Miller also sees stability in the program as a major key in Arizona improving and returning to the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats were a very youthful team that competed at a high level last season, so with four starters and 11 letter winners returning, Miller has to be cautiously optimistic.

"I believe that our team will be bigger and stronger," he said, " We played a rotation of nine players last year and I believe that we can play nine or 10 this year, but each of the nine or 10 can be a bit more qualified - a little bit bigger and stronger - from where they were a year ago."

As a freshman, Derrick Williams led UA with 15.7 ppg. and 7.1 rpg. and will be major catalyst as the Wildcats move forward.

ARIZONA STATE: As the Sun Devils come off a 22-11 season where they arguably should have been the third PAC-10 entrant into the NCAA Tournament, ASU administration announced that there would be no ticket pricing increases at Wells Fargo Arena for the upcoming year.

Vice President for University Athletics Lisa Love noted that 54% of the seats are priced at $250 or less and 13% fewer seats actually require a Sun Devil Club Annual Fund contribution.  Three court level sections fall under this umbrella.

In a sports economic landscape that is seeing professional seat licenses dot many arenas and stadiums, it is refreshing to see the Sun Devils do right by their fans even after coach Herb Sendek's squad is the only league team to win 20-plus games in each of the last three seasons.

STANFORD: Josh Owens and Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins breathed a sign of relief as the former was cleared to play again for the Cardinal.  Owens was a starter as a sophomore, but missed the entire 2010-11 season as he had an unreleased medical problem.

Owens has the experience Dawkins may rely on inside as he started 28 of 34 games two years ago plus shot 56.1% from the floor.  Potentially, the 6-9 forward has the athleticism and the basketball to have a good shot to retake his spot in the paint as the Cardinal look to move back up into the upper echelon of the Pac-10 field.

UCLA: Bruins coach Ben Howland locked in a pair of immediate impact players in 6-9, 320-pound center Josh Smith of Kentwood (Wash.) High School and 6-4, 195-pound Santa Ana (Calif.) guard Tyler Lamb.

Smith is ranked the No. 2 center in the nation, according to ESPN.com, as he might be the best back-to-the-basket post man coming into the college ranks this season.  Howland had recruited him for three years, so the Washington big man is well-known to the Bruins staff and could be a force in turning the UCLA basketball fortunes forward once again.

Howland likes Lamb's versatility and ability to play multiple positions as well as his skillfulness in transition.  He played at the famed Mater Dei High School, so he carries the intangible of knowing how to win into camp in Westwood this fall.

UCLA dipped into Indiana's backdoor and nabbed Bloomington South shooting guard Matt Carlino.  Rated the No. 34 shooting guard in the nation by ESPN.com, Carlino re-opened his recruitment in March after verbally committing to Hoosiers coach Tom Crean early.

Combo guard Lazeric Jones is a JUCO transfer from Logan (Ill.) Junior College who shot 52% from the floor a year ago.  Jones, who is rumored to be only the second JUCO prospect that UCLA has ever pursued, played with Bulls guard Derrick Rose at Simeon Career Academy in Chicago.

USC: Anyone who ever said Trojans coach Kevin O'Neill didn't have a sense of humor, well, he or she doesn't know Kevin O'Neill.

In early July, O'Neill was in Indianapolis watching the adidas Invitational AAU basketball tournament and compared himself with Trojans football coach Lane Kiffin with the fact that both had spent time as head coaches at Tennessee.

"I'm thinking I'm going to bring Lane with me to the game," O'Neill told govolsxtra reporter Mike Strange, of USC's basketball rematch with the Vols this coming December, "That should keep the heat off of me."

O'Neill and USC handed the talented Volunteers their first loss of last season at the Galen Center, 77-55, last December.  O'Neill will have a young team that will travel to Knoxville after playing at Kansas two days earlier.  How's that for ambition?

WASHINGTON:  The Huskies will go forward in 2010-11 without Quincy Pondexter, who may have arguably been the best player in the PAC-10 last season; however, coach Lorenzo Romar may be able to cast the responsibility on his inside-outside combination of Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Isaiah Thomas in the upcoming year.

Bryan-Amaning, a native of London, averaged 22.3 ppg. and led his under-23 English team to a second place finish in a tournament in France that featured four Euro teams.  Thomas, who was Romar's second-leading scorer at 16.9 ppg., had some minor toe surgery in April and should be ready once it is time for the opening of camp in the fall.  Pondexter was the only senior and that is reason enough to expect that this team, which reached the Sweet 16 last season, could win the PAC-10 and make a deep run next March.

WASHINGTON STATE: As the past season ended, it became more and more evident that Cougars coach Ken Bone wants to up-tempo his team more in the  coming years.  Overall, he did a good job across the boards in directing Wazzu to a 16-15 record as the Cougars turned down any post season opportunities when the season ended.

Adding big men was an objective and 6-9, 205-pound power forward, Patrick Simon of Ephrata (Wash.) High School was Bone's prime catch in his four-man recruiting class.

Simon is very versatile with a good dribble-drive game for a player his size.  He had verbally committed to Tony Bennett before Bennett left Pullman for Virginia last year.

OREGON: One of the first priorities of new athletic director Rob Mullens is to get new basketball coach Dana Altman inked to a contract.  The Ducks and Altman verbally agreed to a seven-year deal, valued at 1.8-million dollars per year in April, but the contract is yet to be officially signed.

According to reports in the Oregon media, former athletic director Mike Bellotti, who left his job in March, did not have a written contract, so Oregon wound up paying him $3-million dollars upon leaving.  It's amazing that in 2010, administration at a PAC-10 school is run this loosely.

OREGON STATE: Like Bone at WSU, Beavers' coach Craig Robinson was looking for post men as three of his four recruits equal two power forwards and on center.  The most intriguing of these could be Missouri City, Texas big man Eric Moreland. Moreland was on last season's UTEP squad, but upon appraising his talents, new Miners coach Tim Floyd did not feel like Moreland would be of use, so he started to help the forward find a school where he could play.

Robinson jumped at the chance of adding him to the roster.  Moreland did not play at all for the Miners last season, so Robinson is looking to get an NCAA waiver so he will be available immediately, based upon him not playing and the coaching change at UTEP.

Robinson feels like he will help the Beavers with depth... He is a project, but Robinson is familiar with Moreland, having recruited him out of high school.

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