This week in the Rivals Roundtable, national analysts Eric Bossi, Corey Evans and Dan McDonald have plenty to discuss. What’s up with the mess that is the Pac-12 race? Who should consider another year of school and who will emerge as a hot name for vacant coaching positions this spring?
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1. How do you see the wild Pac-12 race turning out?
Bossi: The top of the Pac-12 is a dizzying mess and I’ve been loving every second of it. The conference could be on the way to putting six or seven teams in the NCAA Tournament. I’m a night owl by heart and because of that, there have been many nights of Pac-12 After Dark madness for me this season highlighted on Thursday when UCLA’s Jaime Jacquez beat Arizona State with a last-second three and moved UCLA into a tie for first place with Oregon.
The Bruins have been on a pretty impressive run of late and Mick Cronin has emerged as the Coach of the Year in the Pac-12. I’m going to keep riding the hot team and say they find a way to close things out even though Oregon has an easier pair of games (Cal and Stanford, both at home) than UCLA, which has Arizona at home and USC on the road.
Evans: Let’s give the Pac-12 some love first. Last year, only three league members reached the NCAA Tournament with just one winning a game. Now, the conference might receive more bids than the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.
For the race itself, how about UCLA! Cronin has worked his magic once again and I hate to pat myself on the back here, but at the beginning of the season, I was the one singing Tyger Campbell’s praises and he has been the primary catalyst for the Bruins’ ascension.
In the end, give me Oregon. An all-league guard in Payton Pritchard, a bevy of rangy athletes and forwards, the coaching chops of Dana Altman. If a healthy N’Faly Dante can consistently leave an imprint, then the Ducks should reign supreme and make for another run in March.
McDonald: It’s a little crazy that the gap between a regular season title in the Pac-12 and not making the tournament is so small, but that’s where we are. It’s going to be crazy race over the next few games. I’m going to roll with Oregon to win the league as the Ducks have both games at home against two teams they should beat.
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2. Which player who seems ready to leave for the NBA should stay another season, and does his school have a replacement lined up?
Bossi: I know that most mock drafts currently have him in the NBA Draft Lottery range and that he’s almost assuredly coming out, but I’ve got some concerns about Arizona freshman Nico Mannion’s fit as an NBA player. Don’t get me wrong, most of the guys coming out aren’t “ready” and could use some seasoning, that’s the nature of the beast. With Mannion, though, I wonder if the NBA has him too high on their boards.
I love his skill, I love his fearless playmaking and he’s never backed down from a challenge. But, he’s struggling as he heads to the finish line. He’s only shooting 35.5% from the field (just 28.9% from three), has defensive struggles and his assist-to-turnover ratio (4.5:3.0) isn’t exactly ideal. If he can really get taken in the Lottery or top 20, then sure he needs to go, but entering the NBA Draft with an open mind wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Evans: I have been a fairly vocal advocate of Patrick Williams throughout his high school career and also picked Florida State to reach the Final Four in the fall when it was not ranked. Williams has come on strong of late and begun to intrigue NBA personnel. Another year of development and asserting himself as the alpha at FSU might work wonders for him in the long run.
Could you imagine Williams alongside Scottie Barnes? Let the nightmares ensue. The two would create arguably make for the best defensive frontline and versatile pairing in the game next year but chances are, it will be Barnes alone to fill the shoes of the likely first-round draft pick in June.
McDonald: I have a few guys in mind here, but I’m going with Devin Vassell at Florida State. I don’t know if it’s considered a lock that he leaves, but it seems like it might as well be with him being placed in the lottery on several mock drafts. He could really use one more year. If he does leave, the Seminoles will be just fine. JUCO wing Sardaar Calhoun is locked in to fill his spot and Barnes can add to the perimeter punch as well.
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3. What name will emerge for a high major coaching opening soon?
Bossi: Give me East Tennessee State’s Steve Forbes here. He’s been a big-time winner in the Southern Conference and may have a team that’s good enough to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament this season. The guy has done it every level he can. He was an outstanding recruiter and assistant at Tennessee and Wichita State, he ran a junior college power at Northwest Florida State and he’s extremely well liked within the business. Several programs flirted with hiring him in the spring of 2019 and this is the year I see him breaking through.
Evans: If I am running a coaching search or have to replace my sitting head coach, there is one place that I would want to be next week and that is Asheville, N.C., for the Southern Conference Tournament. The SoCon graduated Mike Young to the Virginia Tech vacancy last spring and there is no reason why Forbes, Bob Richey (Furman) and Wes Miller (UNC-Greensboro) shouldn’t see a similar fate this spring. Forbes has won 24 games or more in each season since taking over in Johnson City, Richey has not only maintained the culture that Niko Medved instilled but also added onto it, all while Miller is one of the top up-and-comers in the business that relates to his players, recruits under-the-radar talent and wins the X and O battles on the sideline. You can’t go wrong with any of the three.
McDonald: It’s crazy to me that Forbes hasn’t been given an opportunity to coach at the highest level yet. He’s absolutely crushed it at East Tennessee State for five years now. He’s won 125 games in that stretch and has ETSU in position to potentially get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if it doesn’t win the Southern Conference tournament. He’s proven he can coach and he recruited at a high level as an assistant to Bruce Pearl at Tennessee.
