Hopefully, this season will be the beginning of some stability to the WAC, as TCU bolts and Louisiana Tech & Boise St. join the ranks. Yeah, it's a two-for-one swap., but the WAC comes out on the short end! As for the teams, Fresno St. was looking at a killer season until PG Tito Maddox decided to accept more "goodies" after already being warned in the past. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, eh? This after pulling his name from last summer's NBA Draft. Oh well. The Bulldogs will still be the league's premier team and should land in the NCAA Tournament once again. The other two teams close behind are Tulsa and UTEP. Both have plenty of players back from last season's NIT teams, and should find themselves back there this season. As for the rest, you can pretty much ignore them, except maybe Louisiana Tech, who could make a surprise run!
ON THE RISE: UTEP
Coach
Rabedeaux has done a tremendous job rebulding this program after
Hall of Famer Don Haskins left. Besides diving into the JUCO ranks,
he's attracting much better talent from the high school ranks,
as well. The loss of high scoring Brandon Wolfram would kill some
programs, but this year's squad may be even better without him.
PG Eugene Costello is as exciting as they get, and a strong frontline
of Brian Stewart & Roy Smallwood, should make them a much
more balanced (and dangerous) team this season!
IN DECLINE: SMU
Even
with talented players like Jeryl Sasser & Willie Davis, the
Mustangs could never make it to the Big Dance. Without them, they'll
be lucky to stay in the league's upper echelon. Damon Hancock
& Quinton Ross provide some punch on the wings, but there's
a hole at PG and they still have a pretty inept frontline, so
don't expect much from anyone else. Postseason play would be a
surprise this season!
|
Eugene Costello Damon Hancock Gerrod Henderson Kevin Johnson Melvin Ely |
5' 10" 6' 4" 6' 4" 6' 7" 6' 10" |
Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Sr. |
G G G F C |
UTEP SMU Louisiana Tech Tulsa Fresno St. |
1. FRESNO ST.
Strengths:
Good
shooting team. Excellent frontcourt. Good team defense - forces
lots of turnovers.
Weakness: Poor rebounding team. Questionable backcourt.
Little depth.
Outlook: How far this team goes depends on how newcomer
Chris Sandy handles the point. Everything else is in place for
a good season.
|
Probable Starters PG: Chris Sandy, Jr. |
Top Reserves 6th: Noel Felix, Jr. |
2. TULSA
Strengths:
Quick,
solid backcourt. Excellent team defense. Good rebounding team.
Good 3-pt & FT shooting team.
Weakness: No true center. Too many turnovers.
Outlook: If the PG situation doesn't pan out at Fresno,
Tulsa will probably overtake them and win this conference!
|
Probable Starters PG: Greg Harrington, Sr. |
Top Reserves 6th: Antonio Reed, Jr. |
3. UTEP
Strengths:
Excellent
shooting team, especially from the FT line. Good team defense.
Very quick & experienced team.
Weakness: Poor rebounding team. Poor ball handling &
distribution. Loss of Wolfram.
Outlook: UTEP has always been one of my favorites, so it's
good to see them coming back to life! Any less than this would
be considered a dissappointing season.
|
Probable Starters PG: Eugene Costello, Sr. |
Top Reserves 6th: Nick Enzweiler, So. |
4. SMU
Strengths:
High
scoring offense. Good rebounding team. Limit their turnovers.
Lots of experience.
Weakness: Little inside scoring. Question mark at PG. Poor
teamwork.
Outlook: Still have some players, but they're substantially
weaker than the league's top three teams!
|
Probable Starters PG: Voc Atkins, So. |
Top Reserves 6th: Mike Niemi, Sr. |
5. LOUISIANA TECH
Strengths:
Good
team offense. Team quickness. Lots of depth & expereience.
Weakness: Poor rebounding team. Poor 3-pt shooting team.
Outlook: Henderson & Meeking can play in any league,
and the rest of the team isn't bad either. Definitely a sleeper
to watch!
|
Probable Starters PG: Lavelle Felton, Jr. |
Top Reserves 6th: Michael Wilder, Jr. |
6. HAWAII
Strengths:
Good
3-pt & FT shooting team. Good teamwork.
Weakness: Big holes at PG & C. Little inside scoring.
Poor ball handling & distribution. Poor team defense.
Outlook: Savovic will be tough to stop at times, but there
are too many question marks for this team to make their usual
WAC Tournament run!
|
Probable Starters PG: Mike McIntyre, Sr. |
Top Reserves 6th: Mindaugas Burneika, Sr. |
7. SAN JOSE ST.
Strengths:
Excellent
team defense. Good FT shooting team. Lots of experience.
Weakness: Pitiful team offense. Poor ball handling &
distribution. Lack team quickness.
Outlook: The arrival of Baker may help them enough offensively
to win some games against some of the league's deadbeats!
|
Probable Starters PG: Scott Sonnenberg, Sr. |
Top Reserves 6th: Andre Valentine, Sr. |
8. BOISE ST.
Strengths:
Decent
shooting team. Good size.
Weakness: Poor team defense. Weak rebounding team. Poor
ball handling & distribution. Poor FT shooting team.
Outlook: Don't know much about this team, but they've got
the size to play in this conference. We'll see if they have the
talent.
|
Probable Starters PG: C.J. Williams, Jr. |
Top Reserves 6th: Joe Skiffer, Jr. |
9. NEVADA
Strengths:
Decent
backcourt. Aggressive team defense.
Weakness: Poor shooting & rebounding team. Little inside
scoring. Too many turnovers.
Outlook: The Wolfpack will be battling Boise St. &
Rice to stay out of the basement. Not a good place to be!
|
Probable Starters PG: Andre Hazel, So. |
Top Reserves 6th: James Bayless, Jr. |
10. RICE
Strengths:
Good
team defense. Big, deep frontcourt.
Weakness: Pitiful offense, thanks to their poor shooting.
Poor ball handling & distribution.
Outlook: Mike Wilks was the only one who could score on
this team, and he's gone now! 60 points/game might be a stretch
for the Owls!
|
Probable Starters PG: Rashid Smith, So. |
Top Reserves 6th: Michael Walton, Jr. |
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