Pac-12 Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2020-21 season

By Brian Rauf | May 16, 2020

EUGENE, OREGON - JANUARY 11: Payton Pritchard #3 of the Oregon Ducks pokes the ball away from Alonzo Verge Jr. #11 of the Arizona State Sun Devils as Will Richardson #0 defends during the second half at Matthew Knight Arena on January 11, 2020 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 11: CJ Elleby #2 of the Washington State Cougars (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images) /

522. . Last Year: 16-16 (6-12). . Cougars . 9. team

Washington State took a nice step forward in their first season under head coach Kyle Smith. Their 16 wins were their most in a single season since 2011-12 thanks to a solid improvement in their defense.

And, with the core the Cougars are expected to return to Pullman, Wazzu is set up to make some noise.

CJ Elleby, who led Washington State in virtually every statistical category and was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection, is projected to be back after putting his name in the NBA Draft pool. His return would give the Cougars one of the very best players in the conference and he would be an early favorite for Pac-12 Player of the Year. This program hasn’t had a player like that since Klay Thompson, which also happened to be the last time they made the NCAA Tournament.

While Elleby’s return is key, so too is that of guards Isaac Bonton and Noah Williams. Bonton is an excellent facilitator and can provide some scoring of his own, while Williams showed flashes of being a quality defender during his freshman campaign.

If Bonton and Elleby can carry the offense, along with continued strong defensive play under Smith’s leadership, Washington State will be one of the conference’s more intriguing teams. Finding reliable interior play and rebounding will be their biggest question marks, but Washington State – finally – has some positive momentum.

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