Mountain West Basketball: Top 10 impact incoming freshman for 2019-20
By TJ Miller
A talented 2019 freshman class will grace Mountain West Basketball in 2019-20. Which newcomers will have the most impact on their respective teams?
With the likes of Nevada and UNLV making coaching changes, Mountain West Basketball is maintaining its tendency in recent years to cycle through head coaches. In fact, seven of ten current Mountain West head coaches enter 2019-20 with three or fewer years at their current school. A natural question resulting from these changes is what’s the effect on recruiting?
One result is an increased reliance on transfers, which we are seeing not just in the Mountain West but all over the nation. A revolving door at the head coach position in the MW can also mean coaches need to find talented recruits who aren’t a sure bet to attend a powerhouse school in say, the ACC or SEC. Last season newly appointed Utah State coach Craig Smith found a diamond in the rough in Mountain West Freshman of the Year Neemias Queta. The big fella from Portugal is a great example of extracting value from recruits who may fall outside top hundred lists or hail from outside the United States.
Though it’s unlikely any freshman matches Queta’s crazy impressive debut, but there are several incoming freshmen that can make immediate impacts. There really isn’t one recruit in this conference that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Therefore, these grouping of ten players are tough to forecast in 2019-20 but each is capable of earning meaningful minutes if they show up ready to prove themselves. With that said, here’s 10 impact players for the 2019 Mountain West freshman class.