The next person to tell me the Pac-10 is terrible will probably send me over the edge.
We get it, geniuses. The conference is down. The reason why is incredibly clear.
In the last three NBA Drafts, the Pac-10 had 26 players taken, including 16 in the first round. Of the 16 first- round draft picks, 14 were underclassmen and three of the second round picks were as well.
Here are some of the names that could be competing in the Pac-10 if they hadn’t been drafted: Spencer Hawes, O.J. Mayo, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Jerryd Bayless, Ryan Anderson, James Harden, Jordan Hill, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, Taj Gibson and Chase Budinger.
Just imagine how much better UCLA would be with Westbrook, Love and Holiday. How about adding Hawes to Washington’s talented lineup? Stanford would have the Lopez twins, USC would be stacked with Mayo, Gibson and DeRozan and Arizona would have Bayless and Budinger.
We all know what the first place Sun Devils would look like if Harden was still around.
That is why the Pac-10 isn’t terrible. It is recovering from stocking the NBA with talent.
