WCC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season
By Tuck Clarry
8. San Diego Toreros
If no publicity is bad publicity a fact at this point in American life, the Toreros certainly won the conference’s offseason. The splashy hire of former UCLA and St. John’s coach Steve Lavin certainly earned eyes on the program and some noticeable transfers in Eric Williams (Oregon), Jaiden Delaire (Stanford), and Seikou Sisoho Jawara (Weber State). But the attention soured when Lavin decided to dismiss the leftover staff including assistant coach Martin Bahar and grad assistant Jose Martinez well into the summer.
The move struck ire with many and is a clear sign that something is off in San Diego. To wait that long to make the decision to move on hurts not only the staffers looking for a job for the upcoming season but shows a complete irreverence to maintaining and instilling faith within the program. This is after the staff convinced pieces Marcellus Earlington and Wayne McKinney III to stick around as the program retooled.
Outside of Earlington and McKinney and senior guard Jase Townsend, the Toreros will likely play four transfers considerable roster minutes. Williams and Delaire are two venerated transfers from the Pac-12, so it’s hard to see their skillsets not translate in the WCC. If Lavin finds a balance between the assets he retained and the high major players he swooned in the portal, San Diego can finish well above this ranking, flirting with the third spot.