Where has all the good Pac-12 men’s basketball gone?
So far, the 2011-12 season has been a dreadful one for the Pac-12. Only a select few squads have a realistic shot of making the NCAA tournament, and several programs within the conference have completely tanked.
Just a few years ago, the Pac-10 conference was in its heyday. This season, the league floundered against the other major conferences and hasn’t had a ranked team since the week of Nov. 28, when Cal was No. 24 in The Associated Press rankings.
From 2007 to 2009, the Pac-10 dominated the college basketball landscape. The high number of conference players currently in the NBA highlights this dominance. In the 2008 and 2009 drafts combined, 21 Pac-10 players were selected, including an astounding 13 in the first round.
One of the first-rounders was ASU’s own James Harden, who is currently starring for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Pac-10 was well represented at March Madness during that three-year stretch, too. From 2007 to 2009, the league averaged six bids per year — well above the two or three the recently expanded conference will end up scoring this season.
Back then, the Pac-10 even had a national powerhouse among its ranks, as UCLA made three straight trips to the Final Four.
That’s far from the case this year. On most nights, the level of play in the conference should be classified as Mid-Major, not Division I.
Several factors have contributed to the sudden downward plunge for the Pac-12.
For one, it’s hard to be good when there’s a pervading lack of discipline throughout the league. Numerous teams have been hurt by wayward behavior, most notably UCLA.
Reeves Nelson, the Bruins’ star forward, was kicked off the squad shortly after gracing the regional cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated college basketball preview.
Additionally, UA and Oregon State nearly brawled in their overtime game on Jan. 12. Yet, no players involved in the incident were suspended.
Here in Tempe, the Sun Devils are no strangers to suspensions, as Keala King, Chris Colvin and Kyle Cain were all suspended in early January. King, a talented and highly utilized sophomore guard, was dismissed from the team a few days later.
It’s also difficult to succeed when coaches are shuffling in and out the door. The legendary Lute Olson retired from UA in 2008, leaving the program in a coaching limbo for a season before the Wildcats were able to land Sean Miller from Xavier the next spring. The glaring gap of time between reputable coaches cost UA recruits and ultimately contributed to the demise of its 25-year NCAA tournament appearance streak.
Additionally, in 2009, Tim Floyd’s job and legacy were erased by the O.J. Mayo scandal at USC, in which then-freshman guard Mayo received improper benefits for playing. The impact of Floyd’s departure on the Trojans’ program is clear this season, as USC (6-21, 1-13 Pac-12) has sat in the cellar of the conference all year long.
Finally, the lack of good basketball in the league can be directly attributed to its obvious lack of superstars. There are zero household names in the Pac-12 this season. Even at ASU, the program’s best player, junior guard Trent Lockett, isn’t highly praised outside the confines of Tempe.
Maybe fans just aren’t being realistic. Maybe those golden years between 2007 and 2009 were too good to be true. Maybe the conference will never again have the type of talent that it did when Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Klay Thompson, Derrick Williams and the like ruled hardwoods all over the West coast. Maybe the Pac-12 will never have another truly iconic coach, like Olson was in Tucson, and maybe it won’t ever return to being one of the best basketball conferences in the country.
Only time and a lot of rebuilding will tell.
Reach the columnist at kjnewma2@asu.edu
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