Big West Basketball: Top 5 rising juniors for 2018-19

LAS VEGAS, NV - NOVEMBER 24: Tommy Rutherford #42 of the UC Irvine Anteaters looks to pass against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks during the 2017 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 24, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. UC Irvine won 77-71. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

1 of 6

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images /

Big West Basketball will have a strong junior class in 2018-19. Here’s a look at the top players to watch as a new season approaches.

The Big West Conference has quite the crop of upperclassmen coming up in 2018-19. There will be some new faces on the sidelines with head coaching positions filled at Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside. One new face will be head coach Mark Gottfried who takes over at Cal State Northridge. He’ll be acclimated quickly to the level of talent they’ve got to deal with in the Big West in no time.

After a run to the NCAA Tournament, the Cal State Fullerton Titans shouldn’t be a surprise team, in the end, this time around. The UC Davis Aggies and UC Santa Barbara Gauchos will have their hands full once again when the regular season schedule kicks off. Both teams finished first and second in the standings respectively before falling in last year’s conference tournament.

Four teams won at least 10 games in conference play last season. That could be a reoccurring theme with a lot of rising juniors ready to grow with their roles. The Big West Conference saw its first player take both the Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year award last season, one player has a chance to pull it off again. Here’s a look at the Top 5 rising juniors in the Big West for 2018-19.