Busting Brackets
Fansided

Mountain West Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2022-23 season

By Joey Loose

Feb 28, 2022; Laramie, Wyoming, USA; San Diego State Aztecs forward Chad Baker-Mazara (20) celebrates a win against the Wyoming Cowboys at Arena-Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2022; Laramie, Wyoming, USA; San Diego State Aztecs forward Chad Baker-Mazara (20) celebrates a win against the Wyoming Cowboys at Arena-Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 11
Next
Nevada’s Will Baker Ren Unr Boise 2022 03
Nevada’s Will Baker Ren Unr Boise 2022 03 /

9. Nevada

Nevada was really thriving a few years ago before Eric Musselman departed for Arkansas, but things haven’t completely fallen apart since his departure. Former UCLA coach Steve Alford has kept the Wolf Pack in solid shape, but this program is trending in an unfortunate direction. There’s still a chance things can turn around this upcoming season, but this offseason was rough for Nevada.

The Wolf Pack watched star Grant Sherfield (19.1 ppg, 6.4 apg last year) transfer to Oklahoma, while studs Desmond Cambridge and Warren Washington both headed to Arizona State. Center Will Baker (11.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg) returns and will be more important on both sides of the ball, as will that of guard Kenan Blackshear. Nevada did land former Oregon State guard Jarod Lucas and will hope he can slide into Sherfield’s role in this offense, while also adding former Elon guard Hunter McIntosh into the mix.

Last year, the Wolf Pack finished just 13-18, significantly failing to live up to expectations. This season, there is less talent on this team, especially with those three players off to bigger schools. Still, the Wolf Pack landed a couple of talented shooters to help offset those departures, with the hope that the chemistry on this team is much better this season. Projecting them this low might be harsh, but we’ll have to see if things can actually come together this season.