The once glorious Pac-10 is in shambles after a miserable year in which their regular season champion, California, is 1–5 against the RPI Top 50. Their best win came against third place Washington at home.
And Washington is barely in the RPI Top 50 at No. 49.
For starters, the Pac-10 can thank the past two NBA drafts for their speedy demise.
The 2008 NBA Draft went something like this: USC’s O.J. Mayo at No. 3, UCLA’s Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love at Nos. 4 and 5, Brook Lopez from Stanford at No. 10, followed by Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless at No. 11.
The Pac-10 provided essentially half of the top 11 picks in one of the best draft classes in recent memory with no player having stayed in college past his sophomore year.
Last year told a similar story. The Pac-10 continued their generosity by providing Arizona State’s James Harden at No. 3, Arizona’s Jordan Hill at No. 8, USC’s DeMar DeRozan at No. 9, and UCLA’s Jrue Holiday and Darren Collison at Nos. 17 and 21.
The NBA departures decimated a conference and a team—UCLA—that had gone to three straight final fours from 2006 to 2008.
For the first time in NCAA Tournament history since the 65-team format began, a Power Six conference may only send one automatic entry into the big dance. The Pac-10 holds the “honorable distinction” of possibly making history.
However, it’s not all about the NBA pillaging the Pac-10.
Barely into 2010, USC had the best non-conference showing with quality wins against then-No. 8 Tennessee and then-No. 20 UNLV in the midst of an eight-game winning streak.
Less than a day after winning their eighth game in a row, coach Kevin O’Neill called the team in and explained that the upper administration decided to self-impose sanctions on the basketball team, which includes a postseason ban.
The penalties were related to recruiting violations involving former coach Tim Floyd, former player O.J. Mayo, and Mayo’s relationship with agent/booster Rodney Guillory.
Thus, the hottest team in the Pac-10 was now unable to compete in the conference tournament or the NCAA Tournament.
“My heart sank for a second,” said senior point guard Mike Gerrity. “I was frustrated. That’s what you play college basketball for—to play in March.”
What followed for the Trojans was losing five out of the next seven games and finishing the season on a five-game losing streak. They had nothing left to play for in an essentially lost season.
Coaching Carousel
Oregon’s Ernie Kent has reportedly been told that he will be fired at the conclusion of the season and Washington’s Lorenzo Romar could find himself on the hot seat if the Huskies fail to make the NCAA Tournament.
O’Neill, Arizona’s Sean Miller, and Washington State’s Ken Bone are first-year coaches at their universities.
The messy situation between O’Neill and Arizona began when O’Neill was an assistant under legendary Wildcats coach Lute Olson. Olson took a personal leave of absence in the 2007–2008 season, leaving O’Neill as the interim head coach. O’Neill was then designated by athletic director Jim Livengood as heir-apparent to Olson when Olson retired.
Olson’s return along with an inconsistent season with O’Neill at the helm prompted conflict, forcing O’Neill to leave Arizona. However, Olson suddenly retired in October of 2008 for medical reasons, throwing Arizona into chaos once again.
Russ Pennell was named interim head coach and then Miller was hired from Xavier after a nationwide search at the conclusion of the season. The Wildcats have now had four coaches in four years.
The coaching musical chairs has affected everyone surrounding the Arizona program. NBA rookie sensation Brandon Jennings originally signed with Arizona but chose to play in Rome for a year instead.
Jeff Withey transferred to Kansas after Olson’s retirement and the Rivals.com No. 13-ranked recruit for 2009, Abdul Gaddy, de-committed from Arizona and is now at Washington. The instability also contributed to stars Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger leaving early for the NBA.
The rebuilding job Miller was left with has made this season difficult. O’Neill was in an even tougher situation in the wake of the Mayo scandal and Floyd’s subsequent resignation.
Can Only Get Better
Despite the weakest set of teams in perhaps the history of the Pac-10 this year, there is hope for the future. Josh Selby, Rivals’s No. 4-rated recruit, and No. 21-rated Doron Lamb have narrowed their final college choices to include Arizona.
Reunited teammates No. 13-rated Terrence Jones and No. 43-rated Terrence Ross are rumored to be leaning toward Washington in a possible package deal.
UCLA is also primed to make a return to better days with commitments from No. 19-rated Josh Smith and No. 41-rated Tyler Lamb.
The nation will find out whether or not the Pac-10 will make history this year on March 14 during Selection Sunday. Look on the bright side—at least things can’t get much worse next year.
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