Mountain West Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 16: The Mountain West Conference logo is seen before the championship game of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament between the Utah State Aggies and the San Diego State Aztecs at the Thomas & Mack Center on March 16, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 22: Head coach T.J. Otzelberger of the UNLV Runnin Rebels (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images) /

Projected Starters:

Guards – David Jenkins-JR* Bryce Hamilton-JR, Marvin Coleman-JR

Forwards – Moses Wood-SO* and Cheikh Mbacke Diong-SR

Bench – Nick Blake-FR, Caleb Grill-SO*, Jhaylon Martinez-FR, Isaac Lindsey-FR, Donovan Yap-FR

There was a bit of an exodus after T.J. Otzelberger’s first season in Vegas as two seniors who each started at least 10 games graduated and two of his top scorers, Amauri Hardy (14.5 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 3.3 Ast) and Donnie Tillman transferred out of the program (role player Jonah Antonio also transferred). The good news is that Hardy’s replacement at the point guard was already waiting in the wings as was Tillman’s, in two transfers that will be eligible to start the 2020-21 season.

David Jenkins Jr (19.7 pts, 3.4 reb), followed Otzelberger from South Dakota State and he brings with him one of the sweetest 3-point shooting strokes in the country, making 112 3-pointers at a 45% clip, ninth in Division I. Backing up Jenkins at the point will probably be another exciting transfer addition in Caleb Grill. The Iowa State transfer who started a couple of games for the Cyclones as a freshman was recently granted a waiver for immediate eligibility.

Tillman will be replaced by a couple of guys in the post, but it should start with another sit-out transfer from 19-20, Moses Wood. Wood scored 4.5 points per game in just under 20 minutes as a freshman at Tulane, then bolted for his home state of Nevada after Mike Dunleavy was axed.

Cheikh Mbacke Diong (7.7 Pts, 7.9 Reb, 0.5 Ast) also returns as the starting center for the Rebels and will be asked to play a bigger offensive role after finishing third in the MWC in blocked shots two consecutive seasons.

Otzelberger has done a fantastic job pivoting through attrition and putting together a solid roster, but we haven’t gotten to the part that actually makes UNLV a contender in the Mountain West, the return of leading scorer and 19-20 first team all-MWC guard Bryce Hamilton (16.0 Pts, 5.5 Reb, 1.4 Ast).

At 6’4 Hamilton ranks in the top 15 in the league in both points and rebounds and is also top 10 in the league in offensive win share, so when on the floor he takes this team a long way. He and Jenkins will be the top-scoring guard duo in the MWC in 2020-21.

I might be higher on UNLV than others, but there is no question that Otzelberger has this storied program that hasn’t tasted the NCAA Tournament since 2013 going in the right direction. The recruitment of the top freshman class in the conference should be of serious help too. Nick Blake, a top 150 recruit out of IMG Academy in Bradenton has a chance to be the MWC Freshman of the Year.

Otzelberger has the pieces in place for a March Madness run in year two in Vegas.