While looking forward to the 2012-13 college basketball season, a collection of writers here at Rant Sports will be compiling a variety of pieces previewing the upcoming year.
Let’s take a look at the Top 5 Senior Leaders-Pac 12 for the upcoming season:
5. Reggie Moore- Washington State Cougars- Moore, a senior guard, is coming off a decent season in which he averaged 10.2 points, and 2.7 rebounds per game. The Cougars were not good last year, but what makes Moore so important to this team is the fact that the Cougars’ weapons, if utilized correctly, could propel them to a pretty good season. Moore averaged 5.2 assists per game last season, and is a very skilled passer, if he can avoid turnovers, run the offense correctly, and feed teammate Brock Motum, the Cougars may be able to steal a few games, and possibly surprise a lot of people.
4. Brock Motum- Washington State Cougars- Speaking of Motum the 6-foot-10 senior forward will have little help this season in trying to propel the Cougars to a possible Pac-12 conference championship and NCAA tournament bid. This makes Motum so important to the Cougars. Motum is a very skilled big-man, with hopes of one day entering the NBA. Motum must set an example for the rest of his teammates that he will not put up with mediocrity this year. The only way for Motum to get his teammates to up their level of play is for he himself to come out each and every day and show that he is giving 110%. If seeing Motum, a talented senior in his last year of eligibility, giving it his all does not propel his teammates to try harder, then nothing will.
3. Scott Suggs- Washington Huskies- Suggs is coming off of a rough year. Last year, during the preseason, Suggs suffered a broken foot and decided on Dec. 9th that he would red shirt, thus allowing him an extra year of eligibility. Two years ago, Suggs averaged 7.4 points and shot 45% from three-point range, numbers that he could definitely improve upon this year. While Suggs is not the most recognizable player on his team, C.J Wilcox and Abdul Gaddy take that prize, he can certainly step into a leadership role this year for the Huskies.
2. David Foster- Utah Utes- Foster, who also suffered a season-ending broken foot injury last season, is returning for his senior season and is ready to go. Foster was the 2009-10 Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year and there is no reason why he cannot do the same in the Pac-12. Albeit the Mountain West is not the Pac-12, but outside of UCLA and Arizona, there are really no superbly talented teams in the conference. Foster, an absolute behemoth at 7-foot-3, 245, is No.2 on this list due largely in part to the fact that he will be the key cog for a Utah team that is trying to rebound from its worst season in school history. That is a lot of pressure on a 23-year old young man, but then again fans don’t care what kind of pressure they’re putting on the players, as long as they can produce. If Foster stays healthy, and assumes a leadership role allowing him to take control of this team, Utah should be able to seem vast improvements.
1. Larry Drew II- UCLA Bruins- Having Drew at No.1 may seem a little dumb, but hear me out. First off UCLA has a very good team this year, a top-three recruiting class, expectations of a Pac-12 title, and a deep NCAA Tournament run. This sort of pressure is not always easy for freshman to handle, actually it’s not easy for anyone to handle. However, being a senior, you are expected to have matured, and most players do say that the nervousness has diminished by that time. Drew will be the only senior on a UCLA team that is expected to do very big things. Additionally, Drew is playing a position that has hurt UCLA in recent years, point guard. The play of UCLA’s guards over the course of the past few years has been a mix of good and bad, this is where Drew comes in. A transfer from North Carolina, Drew will most likely get the opportunity to run this team. He has had questions raised about his maturity in the past, as it was one of the reasons he transferred from North Carolina to UCLA, and if he is to be trusted as the leader of this team then he will need to step up as a leader. Drew is in a put up or shut up situation, either he shows that he has matured, and is ready to step up, or he will be benched and will have lost his opportunity to play collegiate basketball forever.
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