WCC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2019-20 season
By Andy Patton
No. 4 – Pepperdine Waves
The Waves of Pepperdine finished eighth in the conference last year, going 6-10, but they are garnering a ton of preseason hype – mostly because they are returning star guard Colbey Ross, who averaged 19.4 points and 7.0 assists last year.
They should also get a healthy season from Kameron Edwards, who only played in 18 games last year but recorded 14.7 points and 6.2 rebounds.
Factor in the return of Kessler Edwards – Kameron’s brother – as well as guard Jade’ Smith and you can see why this team has some helium heading into 2019-20.
They also did an excellent job of challenging themselves in the non-conference schedule, with games against three PAC-12 schools: Cal, USC and Arizona.
Those games should prepare this team to run through the conference slate, and they have a great chance of challenging for a top-three spot and potentially a date with Gonzaga in the WCC championship.
No. 3 – BYU Cougars
If Yoeli Childs wasn’t facing a nine-game suspension for paperwork issues, the Cougars of BYU might be in the No. 2 spot.
Including Childs, the Cougars are retaining roughly 80% of their scoring, 76% of their rebounds and 78% of their assists from last season.
As if that wasn’t enough, they are also adding multiple solid transfers – including All-American Honorable Mention Jake Toolson, Richard Harward and Wyatt Powell from Utah Valley University, and guard Jesse Wade from Gonzaga, who sat out last year per NCAA rules.
That makes them a formidable foe for the top dogs in the WCC and could make them an NCAA tournament contender – either as an at-large bid or a tournament winner if they can sneak by St. Mary’s and Gonzaga.
The loss of Childs will hurt them in the non-conference slate – he will miss games against Utah, UNLV and San Diego State – but they should still contend for a top-two spot in the conference.