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Pac-12 Basketball: 12 bold predictions for the 2018-19 season

By David Rosenthal

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 08: A Pac-12 basketball logo is displayed on the court after a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament between the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins at T-Mobile Arena on March 8, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bruins won 88-77. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 08: A Pac-12 basketball logo is displayed on the court after a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament between the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins at T-Mobile Arena on March 8, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bruins won 88-77. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 07: Robert Franks #3 of the Washington State Cougars passes against the Oregon Ducks during a first-round game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ducks won 64-62 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 07: Robert Franks #3 of the Washington State Cougars passes against the Oregon Ducks during a first-round game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ducks won 64-62 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

3. More than two players will average 20.0 ppg or more this year.

Last year UCLA’s Aaron Holiday (20.3 ppg) and Deandre Ayton (20.1 ppg) of Arizona led the Pac-12 in scoring. Both have moved on to their professional careers, along with Tra Holder (18.2 ppg) and Allonzo Trier (18.1 ppg). Stanford’s Reid Travis (19.5 ppg) is also gone from the Pac-12 after deciding to transfer to Kentucky.

Looking ahead, here are a handful of players in the conference with a legitimate shot at averaging 20 points or more this season:

Tres Tinkle of Oregon State is the leading returning scorer in the Pac-12. Last year at 17.6 points a game, Tinkle led a young Beaver squad that finished with seven conference victories. With the loss of Drew Eubanks (13.2 ppg) ,Tinkle should be the Beav’s go-to guy for scoring.

Washington State hasn’t had too much to be happy about in recent years. Their last winning season was in 2011-12 when the Cougars clawed their way to a 19-18 record. Good thing this year they scheduled two Big Sky Conference opponents to go with one team from the SWAC! But Coach Ernie Kent may have caught a break when the 6’7” Robert Franks decided to return for his senior year. During his three years in Pullman, Franks has dramatically improved his numbers each season. Last year with Franks’ playing time more than doubling from the year before, the PAC-12 Most Improved Player of the Year Winner put up 17.4 points a game. With the loss of Malachi Flynn (transferred to San Diego State), Franks will be the main guy on the Cougars’ squad. And if he can continue to improve his numbers, Franks will not only be a 20-point per game scorer but in the discussion for PAC-12 Player of the Year.

Last year a late season three-game losing streak (and losing twice to Oregon State) kept a 21-win Washington team out of the NCAA Tournament. This year the Huskies return their top seven scorers including Jaylen Nowell. In his freshman year, Nowell averaged 16 points per game on 45.1% shooting. With 92.6% of Washington’s scoring returning, the Huskies should improve on their 74.6 points per game and leading that improvement will Jaylen Nowell. A more confident Nowell may improve on his already incredible shooting percentage and bump is scoring average towards 20 points a game.