The Pac-12 ended 2018 with another nosedive Monday, when the coach at one of its marquee programs was fired and no teams appeared in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in seven years.
While UCLA fired Steve Alford after the Bruins’ losing streak extended to four games against Liberty on Saturday, ASU suffered a homecourt loss to Princeton on the same day that wound up pushing the Sun Devils out of the AP Top 25.
That left the Pac-12 without a single representative in the AP Top 25 since the fourth week of the 2011-12 season, when Arizona dropped out after two weeks and Cal dropped from the poll a week later. UCLA appeared in the 2011-12 preseason poll but not afterward.
The 2011-12 season ended with only Pac-12 Tournament champion Colorado making the NCAA Tournament field, while regular-season champ Washington went to the NIT. Arizona also went to the NIT and lost to Bucknell in the first round.
The conference’s long streak in the AP Top 25 poll was in large part due to the Wildcats, who were ranked every week for five straight seasons, from 2012-13 through 2016-17. The Wildcats were also ranked for all but two weeks last season, in the early season after they went 0-for-3 in the Battle 4 Atlantis event, but ASU jumped in the poll during those weeks.
Arizona has not been ranked this season, but UCLA was ranked through Nov. 19, while Oregon was ranked through Nov. 26. Then, just as Oregon dropped out on Dec. 3, ASU jumped in at 20 and remained ranked until Monday.
The conference’s power ratings are also reflective of the league’s struggles so far. In the NCAA’s latest NET ratings, ASU is the best-ranked at No. 46, followed by Washington (55) and Arizona (62).
Kenpom has no Pac-12 teams higher than Oregon at 39, while ASU is 49, Washington is 52 and Arizona is 54.
In the Sagarin ratings, Arizona is tops in the league at 38, while Oregon is 42, ASU is 49 and Washington is 56.
Alford impacted UA’s recruiting
While the Wildcats were 6-3 on the court against UCLA under Alford, last beating the Bruins 86-75 in overtime during the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament last March, Alford had more success against the Wildcats in recruiting.
The Bruins managed to land onetime UA commits T.J. Leaf and Shareef O’Neal, while Alford also signed UA targets such Jaylen Hands, David Singleton and Jonah Bolden.
However, the Wildcats landed three 2019 players who had at least some interest in UCLA at one point: five-star guards Nico Mannion and Josh Green, plus four-star forward Zeke Nnaji.
Overall for 2019, Alford had just one four-star player and two three-star players lined up, the 27th ranked class overall according to 247.
“He had a lot of wins in recruiting, even if that has been pretty typical at UCLA historically,” said Josh Gershon, a California-based recruiting analyst for 247 Sports. “He wasn’t able to translate that talent into greater conference and postseason success, which made the firing feel inevitable after a slow start to this season.
“The 2020 class will be a good time for a fresh start since there’s a lot of high-end junior talent in the region.”
Coincidentally, one of the potential replacements for Alford is Earl Watson, the former UCLA player and Phoenix Suns coach. Watson used to sponsor the West Coast Elite travel ball program that Mannion and Green played for and still has a relationship with the club.
Mannion excels
Mannion dropped 45 points on Mater Dei High School in the final of the Rancho Mirage Holiday Invitational on Saturday, although his Pinnacle High School team lost 88-78 to the perennial Southern California powerhouse.
After the game, longtime Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight told the Palm Springs Desert Sun that Mannion is better than Jason Kidd was at the same age. Mannion was facing Mater Dei standout Devin Askew, a five-star guard from the class of 2021.
Pinnacle coach Charles Wilde told the Arizona Daily Star that his team played well overall against tough competition, while Mannion put up scoring totals of 33, 34, 32 and 45 over four games while also averaging six assists in the event.
“Team played really hard and competed with somebody different stepping up each game,” Wilde said in an email. “Obviously, Nico was the consistent piece. We were happy with how he played. We just missed shots in the beginning of the fourth quarter and Mater Dei’s height caused us problems.”
Among other UA signees, center Christian Koloko had one point and five rebounds while playing a key defensive role around the basket during Sierra Canyon’s championship win over Florida’s University School in the Les Schwab Invitational at Portland, while wing Terry Armstrong helped Bella Vista win a tournament in South Carolina.
Last week, Green finished with 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting to lead IMG to a 93-63 win over Olive Branch (Miss.) in the fifth-place game of the City of Palms Classic at Fort Myers, Fla.
Sharma wins Pac-12 honor
Stanford center Josh Sharma was named the Pac-12’s Player of the Week on Monday after collecting 23 points and 18 rebounds while coming off the bench in the Cardinal’s 93-86 win over Long Beach State on Saturday.
Only two other players were nominated: Oregon’s Ehab Amin, who had 23 points, six rebounds and three steals in the Ducks’ 62-50 win at Boise State, and OSU’s Tres Tinkle, who had 20 points, eight rebounds, and three assists in the Beavers’ 80-59 homecourt win over Central Connecticut State.
