Huskies picked to finish 3rd in Pac-12 preseason media poll
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Washington was picked to finish third in the Pac-12 preseason men’s basketball media poll released on Tuesday. The Huskies received 273 points and six first-place votes.
Oregon, which received 291 points and nine first-place votes, was picked to win the conference. The Ducks narrowly edged Colorado, which received 288 points and nine first-place votes. Arizona was selected fourth and USC was picked fifth. Washington State received 47 points and was predicted to finish 11th.
The Huskies lost four starters and a key bench player from last year’s team that won the Pac-12 regular-season championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. While UW will be without 2019 Pac-12 Player of the Year Jaylen Nowell and Naismith and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Matisse Thybulle, the Huskies did reload with a top-10 recruiting class.
That class was led by a pair of five-star recruits in center Isaiah Stewart and forward Jaden McDaniels. Both were named to the preseason All-Pac-12 first team, which included 10 players. Junior guard Nahziah Carter and sophomore Quade Green, a former five-star point guard who transferred to UW from Kentucky, received honorable mention. UW’s four selections were a league-high.
Stewart, considered the No. 3 player in the country and the No. 1 center in his class by 247Sports, averaged 19.5 points and 11 rebounds during the Huskies’ foreign tour in Italy this summer.
McDaniels, who was ranked No. 9 in the country and considered the top power forward, didn’t travel with UW due to personal reasons.
Carter, who is the Huskies’ leading returning scorer, averaged 8.1 points and 2.4 rebounds last season. In his freshman season with Kentucky, Green averaged 9.3 points and 2.7 assists. He also shot 45.1 percent from the field in 34 games. He played eight games for the Wildcats last season, averaging 8.0 points and 2.3 assists before deciding to transfer.
Washington State’s CJ Elleby, who averaged 14.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game as a freshman last season, was named to the first team.
Pac-12 preseason poll, with first-place votes in parenthesis:
1. Oregon (9) 291 points
2. Colorado (9) 288
3. Washington (6) 27
4. Arizona (2) 263
5. USC (1) 198
6. Arizona State 187
7. Oregon State 161
8. UCLA 148
9. Utah 131
10. Stanford 84
11. Washington State 47
12. California 35
Preseason All-Pac-12 teams:
First team
Tyler Bey, Jr., G/F, Colorado
CJ Elleby, So., F, Washington State
Nico Mannion, Fr., G, Arizona
Remy Martin, Jr., G, Arizona State
Jaden McDaniels, Fr., F, Washington
Payton Pritchard, Sr., G, Oregon
Nick Rakocevic, Sr., F, USC
Isaiah Stewart, Fr., F, Washington
Tres Tinkle, Sr., F, Oregon State
McKinley Wright IV, Jr., G, Colorado
Second team
Timmy Allen, So., F, Utah
N’Faly Dante, Fr., C, Oregon
Daejon Davis, Jr., G, Stanford
Josh Green, Fr., G, Arizona
Ethan Thompson, Jr., G, Oregon State
Honorable mention
Nahziah Carter, Jr., F, Washington
Quade Green, So., G, Washington
Chase Jeter, Sr., C, Arizona
Kylor Kelley, Sr., C, Oregon State
Jonah Mathews, Sr., G, USC
Isaiah Mobley, Fr., F, USC
C.J. Walker, Fr., F, Oregon
