The Decline Of Pac-12 Basketball

It was not that long ago that the premier stars of the NCAA played in the Pac-12.  In the 2007-2008 season, future 1^st-round picks played in nearly every arena on the Pacific coast.  People could talk about our league the same way they talked about the traditional basketball power house conferences: the ACC, the Big 12, the Big East.  Player for player, our conference could match any in the nation.

That was just four years ago.  Players like O.J. Mayo, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Love are making NBA paychecks.  Jon Brockman and Klay Thompson have left the Apple State for greener pastures.  Malik Hairston and Maarty Luenen have left the green and gold of Eugene behind.  They left a void, not unlike the ones in the other conferences.  New players came to step in and take their place.  That is how it has always worked.  It worked like that for the ACC and the Big 12.  It never happened here.

The Pac-12 is currently ranked ninth in conference strength, the lowest of the “major” conferences.  For the last month, no team in the Pac-12 has been in the Top 25 in the nation.  No team in the conference has even received a single vote.  California leads the conference at 17-5 (7-2 in conference), but they have lost both games against Top 25 teams.  Washington is second at 14-7 (7-2), but they have not fared any better against top competition.  Combined, the entire conference is 0-12 against Top 25 teams.  There is a distinct possibly that the Pac-12 will only send one or two teams to the NCAA Tournament, which is nothing short of a colossal failure for a “major” conference.

What happened?

Is it the lack of incoming talent?  Jared Cunningham of the Oregon State Beavers is the only Pac-12 player in the Top 40 in scoring.  Andre Roberson of the Colorado Buffaloes is the only one in the Top 40 in rebounding.  There are no DeMar DeRozans.  No Derrick Williams.  No Tyler Honeycutts.  Fans would settle for an Isaiah Thomas Jr.  Even that isn’t there.  The Pac-12 has almost no marketable stars.  The NBA took the best early, and the new blood never arrived.

Is the coaching carousel to blame?  Lute Olson is gone from Arizona.  Mike Montgomery is out of Palo Alto.  Tim Floyd and his remarkable “record” are gone from USC, though the sanctions remain.  No player wants to commit to a team whose coach might not be there when they leave the school.  Nine of the twelve teams have had their current coach for four years or less.  Even when the coach’s job is stable, players seem to leave.  Ben Howland at UCLA seems to be a human sieve, with star after star taking a second-round trip to the NBA, while high level talent returns to school at Duke and North Carolina.

The incoming class of 2012-2013 is projected to be one of the best in nation, but is that too little for the fans, who see failure on the court at the best of times, and downright apathy at the worst?  Football did not always reign supreme in the area west of the Rocky Mountains.  People remember the respect that John Wooden brought to the conference.  Would the Coach be happy seeing the conference as it stands today, were he still alive?  Would the Coach that prided himself on building character and giving an education be happy seeing the characters that leave before getting one?

The fans of the Pac-12 deserve better than this.  Only time will tell if they will.