Pac-12 Basketball 2011-12: The Best Player on Each Team in the Conference

The biggest storyline in the Pac-12 this offseason has been, of course, that there is a Pac-12. Still, the beginning of what may turn out to be the biggest wave of conference realignment in history doesn’t change the fact that the games will still be decided by the players on the floor.

The departures of most of the conference’s biggest stars (including NBA lottery picks Derrick Williams and Klay Thompson) will open the door for a new group of players to make their marks on the college landscape.

Whether they’re heralded freshman, like Arizona’s Josiah Turner, or seniors—like Cal’s Jorge Gutierrez—hoping to finish on a high note, the new-look conference will have plenty of new names to watch in 2011-12.

Read on for a look at Turner, Gutierrez, and the rest of the Pac-12’s best heading into this season.

Arizona: Josiah Turner

When Derrick Williams jumped to the NBA, he dealt a serious blow to the conference title hopes of resurgent Arizona. If the Wildcats are going to be contenders again this year, they’ll need a big season from stud recruit Josiah Turner.

The 6’3” Turner is one of the country’s top freshmen at the PG spot. With an experienced team around him—not to mention another freshman gem in SG Nick Johnson—he has serious potential to become an instant star in the Pac-12.

Arizona State: Trent Lockett

That 6’4” Trent Lockett led the Sun Devils in scoring from his SG spot—13.4 points a game—is no great surprise.

That he nearly led them in rebounding with 5.3 boards a night is, though it says nearly as much about ASU’s subpar frontcourt as it does about Lockett’s own glass-cleaning talents.

Considering that the team's next three leading scorers after Lockett have graduated, the junior guard will face even more pressure this season. He’ll be doing well if he can score enough for the Sun Devils even to reach .500 in conference play.

California: Jorge Gutierrez

In a league likely to be stacked with talented freshman guards, few returning backcourt players can match the talent of Jorge Gutierrez.

As a junior in 2010-11, Gutierrez was second on the Golden Bears in scoring (14.2 points a game) and first in assists (4.5 a night) while winning Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year honors.

With Minnesota transfer Justin Cobbs expected to take over the point guard role, Gutierrez can focus on scoring this season. Considering that the other four starters from last year's team are also back, Gutierrez should be able lead Cal in a serious run at the inaugural Pac-12 title.

Colorado: Andre Roberson

Losing all three guards from a three-guard lineup isn’t exactly an auspicious note on which to join a new conference. Colorado’s transition to the Pac-12 will be made a little easier, however, by the ascension of super-sub Andre Roberson.

The 6’7” swingman led the Buffaloes with 7.8 rebounds a game last season—despite coming off the bench—and his 6.7 points a night were the highest average among returning players. Expect Roberson’s scoring totals to go way up now that he’s the main man in Colorado’s attack.

Oregon: E.J. Singler

The early frontrunner for this year’s Ben Hansbrough Stepping-Out-Of-His-Brother’s-Shadow Award is Oregon forward E.J. Singler.

With big brother Kyle heading to the pros after four brilliant years at Duke, E.J. (now a junior) will have a chance to make a name for himself on an Oregon team that needs every talented player it can get.

The younger Singler led all returning Ducks with 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds a game last season. With the graduation of Joevan Catron and the transfer of point guard Malcolm Armstead, Oregon will need an even bigger showing from Singler this year.

*The original version of this article listed Malcolm Armstead in this spot. Thanks to Jeff and Marty in the comments for pointing out that he’s no longer with Oregon. The author regrets the error.

Oregon State: Jared Cunningham

Coming off a 5-13 season in the Pac-10, there isn’t a whole lot of good news for the Oregon State Beavers. One bright spot, though, will be junior SG Jared Cunningham.

The 6’4” Cunningham not only led the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game, but he recorded 2.8 steals a night—the fifth-highest total in the country.

He may not be able to make a winning team out of Oregon State, but Cunningham will provide his share of highlights in 2011-12.

Stanford: Chasson Randle

This pick is a virtual toss-up with rebounding specialist Josh Owens, but Chasson Randle has the potential to give the Cardinal what it needs most: scoring. The freshman PG has been among the team’s top point producers on this summer’s European tour.

With leading scorer Jeremy Green gone from one of the worst offenses in last year’s Pac-10, Stanford desperately needs Randle to be an effective shooter in addition to his passing duties.

He faces the toughest challenge of the conference’s impressive crop of freshman guards, but a big year for Randle could help right the ship in Palo Alto.

Image from illinoisloyalty.com

UCLA: Reeves Nelson

UCLA will have one of the biggest frontcourts in the nation in 2011-12, and no one will face bigger expectations than Reeves Nelson.

The 6’8” junior comes off an impressive season, having led the team in scoring (13.9 points per game) and rebounding (9.0 boards a night) last year.

With perimeter stars Tyler Honeycutt and Malcolm Lee gone to the NBA, Nelson will need to provide even more scoring this season. With Tar Heel transfers Travis and David Wear to keep defenses from zeroing in on him, he should be more than up to that challenge.

USC: Maurice Jones

The 2010-11 edition of USC featured the odd combination of one of the country’s best big men (Nikola Vucevic) and one of its smallest backcourts (four guards 6’0” or under).

With Vucevic gone, the guards will need to carry the load, and none will bring more to the table than Maurice Jones.

The smallest Trojan at 5’7”, Jones averaged 9.9 points, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals a game as a freshman last season. With Jio Fontan lost for the year with a knee injury, Jones will face even greater pressure to carry USC in 2011-12.

Utah: Josh Watkins

One of a pair of juco transfers who carried the Utes last season, Josh Watkins will be on his own in 2011-12. Will Clyburn, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder from last season, has transferred to Iowa State.

Watkins is no slouch as a scorer himself, having finished second to Clyburn with 14.5 points a game while leading the team with 3.5 assists a night (more than double the next-highest average).

If he can get some inside help from 7’0” junior Jason Washburn, Watkins could set Utah up to make some noise in its Pac-12 debut.

Washington: Terrence Ross

Considering the players who left Washington’s roster this offseason—Isaiah Thomas, Matthew Bryan-Amaning—the Huskies have a surprising amount of talent returning. The best of the bunch is uber-athletic shooting guard Terrence Ross.

The 6’6” Ross averaged 7.9 points and 2.8 boards a game last season in just 17.4 minutes a night.

As the team’s top shooting guard option this season, he’ll have the playing time to make those numbers skyrocket (especially with playmaking help from a healthy Abdul Gaddy and freshman Tony Wroten Jr.)

Washington State: Faisal Aden

The NBA draft was not kind to the Cougars, who lost their two best players—Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto—to early entry. Luckily for fans in Pullman, they will get one more season out of senior guard Faisal Aden.

The juco transfer had a quietly solid year for WSU, averaging 12.7 points (tops among returning Cougars) and 3.2 rebounds a game.

If his team is going to repeat (or improve on) its NIT appearance, Aden will need to pick up much of the scoring slack left by the departures of Thompson and Casto.