Mountain West Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season
Projected Starters:
Guards – Grant Sherfield-SO*, Desmond Cambridge- JR *, Kane Milling-So
Forwards – Robby Robinson-JR and Zane Meeks-SO
Bench – KJ Hymes-SO, Tre Coleman-FR, Warren Washington-SO*, Alem Huseinovic-SO, De’andre Henry- FR
Losing your four top scorers isn’t typically the recipe you are looking for when you are trying to take that next step as a program, but Steve Alford has Nevada at a point where they reload instead of rebuild.
Heading into 2020-21 Alford adds a strong six-man freshman class and two impact transfers in Desmond Cambridge (Brown) and Grant Sherfield (Wichita State) to a squad that returns it’s three best big men, Zane Meeks (6.4 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 0.7 Ast), KJ Hymes (4.1 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 0.5 Ast) and Robby Robinson- one of the best rebounders in the conference.
People will sleep on the Wolfpack, but that would totally underestimate Cambridge, who will step in and immediately be one of the best 3-point shooters (144 3-point makes in two seasons) and most dynamic offensive players in the MWC. He also had the third-highest defensive rating in the Ivy League in 2018-19, an area that Alford’s team needs major improvement after giving up 72.4 points per game a season ago (263rd in the country).
The transfer market has worked wonders for Nevada basketball in the past and should continue to do so in 2020-21 with Alford at the helm. However, the transition from freshman to sophomore for Zane Meeks may ultimately decide how high Nevada’s ceiling is. The 6’10 big man out of Brewster Academy was extremely efficient in the paint as a freshman shooting 54% from inside.
The only problem with that was he only took two 2-point shots per game and did most of his damage from 3-point land, an area where he shoots a formidable 36% for a forward. His effective field goal percentage (an advanced statistic that considers a 3 pt FG to be worth more than 2 pt FG) was still at 55% and best on the team of returners, so if he can find a way to blend his two 2-pointers and four 3-pointers a game a little bit this guy could be a force in the Mountain West.
There are some unknowns as to how the rotation will come together, but there is no question that there is a lot of talent in Reno. Tre Coleman is the kind of freshman that could step in and start immediately next to Cambridge and Sherfield in the backcourt.
The Jeffersonville, Indiana native is an electric scorer but also stands to make an impact on the defensive end as he averaged 2.4 steals and 2.1 blocks per game as a high school senior. If this team can have a better commitment to defense than it has in Alford’s first two seasons they might actually be better than they were last season when they Jalen Harris, Jazz Johnson, and Lindsey Drew.
The Wolfpack won’t be really good early in the season. There will be growing pains. But this is an NIT team at worst and don’t be surprised if they flirt with the bubble.