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Entering the 1999 NCAA Tournament, optimism was high in thePacific-10 Basketball Conference. Three teams, Stanford, Arizona andUCLA were the front-runners to make the Final Four.
Throughout the regular season, each squad was a weekly shoe-in toreceive a Top 10 ranking. Stanford was coming off of a 1998 NCAA thatsaw them reach the semi-finals, only to lose a heartbreaker toKentucky, 86-85. Both the Bruins and Wildcats also fared well thatseason each reaching the Sweet 16.
However, 1999 was not going to be a memorable one for the Pac-10,as all three teams fell early. Fifth-seeded UCLA dropped to anoffenseless contest No. 12 Detroit, 56-53. No. 4 Arizona was next,falling to No. 13 Oklahoma, 61-60. The Washington Huskies also fellout in the first round, dropping a 59-58 contest to No. 10 Miami(OH).
No. 2 Stanford was the only Pac-10 team to win a game, droppingCoppin State in the first round. However, a title run wasn’t in thecards for Stanford which lost to Gonzaga 82-74 in the second round.
If it hadn’t been for the great runs of the NIT ChampionsCalifornia Bears and semi-finalist Oregon, the Pac-10 would havecompletely tanked in the post-season altogether.
Even after the forgettable 1999 postseason, the Pac-10 is onceagain vying to be the top conference in the country, perhaps boastingfour or five top 25 teams.
No. 2 Arizona (6-0) is once again off to a quick start behindsophomore forward Michael Wright. Wright, the Pac-10 Freshman of theYear in 1999 is averaging 15.5 points and 10 rebounds a game.
Filling in for last year’s Pac-10 Player of the Year, Jason Terry,is freshman Jason Gardner. The freshman comes in as the one of themost highly rated point guard prospects in the nation.
Another new player for the Wildcats is 7-foot-1 junior LorenWoods, a transfer from Wake Forest, who is averaging 11.7 points, andthree blocked shots in the early going.
Despite losing five seniors from last year’s team, No. 3 Stanford(5-0) is once again preparing for another run at the NCAA as theybring in their best recruiting class ever.
Leading that class is freshman Casey Jacobsen, the No. 3 shootingguard prospect in the nation. So far Jacobsen has averaged 11 pointsand is shooting 46 percent from the field.
The lone returning starter is none other than Mark “Mad Dog”Madsen. Madsen comes off a season in which he averaged 13 points andnine rebounds, hitting 60 percent of his shots from the floor.
However, the rest of the squad is an enigma, as many of the keyplayers fell victim to injuries last season. Jason Collins, who hasplayed just seven games in two years, will be expected to step in atcenter. Meanwhile his brother Jarron (13 ppg, 7 rpg) missed the finalthree games of the year and the NCAA tournament with an ankle sprain.
Ryan Mendez (38 ppg, 18 rpg in senior year of high school), playedonly five games last season while junior point guard MichaelMcDonald, taking over for Arthur Lee, missed 16 games.
No. 11 UCLA (3-0) must overcome the departure of Baron Davis inorder for a successful season. However head coach Steve Lavin returnsfive key sophomore players including four starters to this year’steam, and Earl Watson.
Watson will be counted on to run the floor for the Bruins (12 ppg,6.3 apg, thus far) this season, but he will have to cut down onturnovers as he made more than five a game nine times last year.
Jerome Moiso (16 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Dan Gadzuric will lead UCLA inthe low post this season, while JaRon Rush (11.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg lastseason) will also be heavily counted on.
Oregon (3-0) will be heavily counting upon the best backcourt inthe Pac-10, featuring seniors Alex Scales (16 ppg) and Darius Wright(16 ppg, 4 apg). Senior power forward A.D. Smith (15 ppg, 6.3 rpg)handles the post for the Ducks.
After losing five seniors, California (4-2) will be relyingheavily upon four freshman starters. 6-foot-10 center Nick VanderLaan (14.2 ppg, 6.8) will share the post duties with the Bears lonereturning starter, Sean Lampley. Lampley, averaged 15.6 points andnine rebounds in the team’s final nine games earning him the MVPaward for the NIT.
Behind the No. 13 recruiting class in the country, Arizona State(4-2) is hoping to return to .500 this year. Senior shooting guardEddie House (18.9 ppg in ’98-’99) will be counted upon to do a bulkof the scoring.
With all the teams gearing up for the beginning of conference playit looks as if it could be a banner year in the Pac-10. Arizona mayhave one of its best teams ever. If they remain healthy, Stanford canplay with the big boys as displayed by their early wins over Duke andAuburn. UCLA also looks to be a strong offensive team as they’veeclipsed the 100-point mark twice in three games.
So sit back and relax as the West Coast tries to reclaim itscollege basketball prowess of old.
