WCC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season

9. Pepperdine Waves

Lorenzo Romar deserves a bit of credit for the work he has done in Malibu. The Waves won the CBI last year and improved their position in the standings each of Romar’s three seasons as head coach. Last year’s team was led by point guard Colby Ross and forward Kessler Edwards who are now both pros and their combined 34.7 points per game was 45% of the team’s scoring.

Replacing those two won’t be easy and Romar will likely tinker and go with a platoon approach to make up for Ross’s offense initiation. Senior Darryl Polk Jr. will be given the majority of ball-handling opportunities, considering he was the backup to Ross last year and is the ideal speedster for Romar’s transition incentivized system. Polk is an undersized guard at 5-foot-9 but is a plus defender and can create his own shot.

The wing position will be asked to take on a lot of the scoring, with the highest returning scorer Jade’ Smith and San Diego transfer Braun Hartfield both capable offensive weapons. Hartfield is coming off of a year sitting out and will look to return to the offensive threat status that earned him an honorable mention for the conference team in 2019-2020.

The interior play will need to step it up for Pepperdine to stave off regression this season, as neither Jan Zidek and Victor Ohia Obioha inspire great fear for opposing bigs. Ultimately, while the Waves look capable enough to still play within Romar’s fast-paced style, the additions simply don’t make up for the massive losses.