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NCAA Basketball: Ranking teams in 2019 Wooden Legacy Tournament

By Joey Loose

TUCSON, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 07: Head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats talks with Ira Lee #11, Brandon Randolph #5 and Dylan Smith #3 during the second half of the NCAAB game against the Washington Huskies at McKale Center on February 07, 2019 in Tucson, Arizona. The Huskies defeated the Wildcats 67-60. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TUCSON, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 07: Head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats talks with Ira Lee #11, Brandon Randolph #5 and Dylan Smith #3 during the second half of the NCAAB game against the Washington Huskies at McKale Center on February 07, 2019 in Tucson, Arizona. The Huskies defeated the Wildcats 67-60. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 11: Eric Cooper Jr. #21 and Colbey Ross #4 of the Pepperdine Waves guard Zach Norvell Jr. #23 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 11, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bulldogs defeated the Waves 100-74. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 11: Eric Cooper Jr. #21 and Colbey Ross #4 of the Pepperdine Waves guard Zach Norvell Jr. #23 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 11, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bulldogs defeated the Waves 100-74. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

4. Pepperdine

Longtime Washington coach Lorenzo Romar is in his second year back at Pepperdine and he’s already done a solid job of rebuilding this WCC program. While his time with the Huskies fizzled to an end, he led the Waves to a 10-win improvement in his first year back in Malibu and this coming season should bring even more development.

Eric Cooper is gone, but star guard Colbey Ross (19.4 ppg, 7.0 apg) will be back for his junior season and should continue to shine. The Waves also lost forward Darrell Dunn but bring in an intriguing recruiting class, highlighted by junior college standout guard Skylar Chavez. They also bring in a pair of Oregon transfers MJ Cage and Keith Smith after sitting out a year. This Waves teams should have the shooters to compete all season long and have a formidable duo in Kameron and Kessler Edwards at the forward spots. They aren’t going to upend Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s, but have certainly worked their way up the WCC food chain in these last two years.

This will be Pepperdine’s first Wooden Legacy, though Romar’s Huskies won this event back in 2014. The tournament is in their backyard and this team could be a sleeper to pull off some solid wins. They’ll match up with Arizona to start things off, matching Romar against former Pac-12 foe (and briefly boss) Sean Miller’s rebuilt Wildcats. If Pepperdine were to pull the upset, it wouldn’t be shocking, though any good performance in this tournament will be a great start for the Waves going forward.

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