Ranking WCC players by position

Every so often a program lands a player who is not only a difference-maker but also a program-changer. Loyola Marymount may have the latter in 6-foot-10 Zambia-native Patson Siame.

Although Loyola Marymount had an outstanding season under the guidance of head coach Max Good, Siame's commitment to Lions could be the beginning of a special run for Loyola.

Siame, who has been named to the World Roster for the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit, has the potential to be the biggest impact for the Loyola Marymount basketball program since Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble. He arrived in the United States in January and has been attending school at Trinity International, while working out at the Impact Basketball Academy in Las Vegas.

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There is a unique window on the recruiting trail for the BYU Cougars. Can Coach Dave Rose and his staff capitalize on the national level talent that exists in the Mormon community over the next two classes?

Five very good players from two classes – 2013 and 2014 – could conceivably comprise a starting five that would be a load to deal with, no matter what conference the Cougars align themselves with.

So far, Rose has three of the five committed but the final two will prove to be the most difficult. Already committed is ESPN 100 PG Nick Emery (Lone Peak, Utah/Lone Peak), junior SG T.J. Haws (Lone Peak, Utah) and senior center Eric Mika (Lone Peak, Utah). The trio plays at the same high school and Haws and Emery watched their brothers play for the Cougars. They were legacy recruits so Rose knew he could lock them up, or at least felt good about his chances.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

Every so often a program lands a player who is not only a difference-maker but also a program-changer. Loyola Marymout may have the latter in 6-foot-10 Zambia-native Patson Siame.

Although Loyola Marymount had an outstanding season under the guidance of head coach Max Good, Siame's commitment to Lions could be the beginning of a special run for Loyola.

Siame, who has been named to the World Roster for the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit, has the potential to be the biggest impact for the Loyola Marymount basketball program since Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble. He arrived in the United States in January and has been attending school at Trinity International, while working out at the Impact Basketball Academy in Las Vegas.

Getting a player with Siame’s potential is every coach's focus at the high-major level, but to get a big man with NBA potential in the WCC is how a program like Loyola Marymount goes from competing within the conference to making a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

It may seem odd that a kid from Zambia finds his way to a school at Loyola Marymount’s level, when teams from the power conferences would covet his services, until you dig a little deeper.

Associate head coach Myke Scholl, a former NBA scout with the Detroit Pistons, has been an integral part of the development of basketball in Africa and has strong relationships with a direct pipeline to recruiting African players. He understands the dreams that these young men have and the dire situations that many of them come from. Although he has only brought four African players to LMU's campus during his four years on staff, he has helped place countless others at other schools around the country.

It will be fun to follow Siame’s development and impact at Loyola Marymount. If he continues to progress at his current rate, his time at the college level may be a short one- or two-year stint. A college strength and conditioning program will do him wonders, while he learns to adjust to the speed and aggressiveness of the American game. Also, the opportunity to be coached by Good will help prepare Siame to handle any situation.

Loyola Marymount captured the attention of the nation and experienced a special time with Gathers and Kimble playing in their high-octane offense, but were not able to sustain the program at the elite level within the conference. If the program experiences a similar run to national prominence during the Max Good era, Siame’s impact will probably be remembered as the turning point.

There is a unique window on the recruiting trail for the BYU Cougars. Can coach Dave Rose and his staff capitalize on the national level talent that the exists in the Mormon community over the next two classes?

Five very good players from two classes – 2013 and 2014 – could conceivably comprise a starting five that would be a load to deal with, no matter what conference the Cougars align themselves with.

So far, Rose has three of the five committed but the final two will prove to be the most difficult. Already commitmented is ESPN 100 PG Nick Emery (Lone Peak, Utah/Lone Peak), junior SG T.J. Haws (Lone Peak, Utah) and senior center Eric Mika (Lone Peak, Utah). The trio plays at the same high school and Haws and Emery watched their brothers play for the Cougars. They were legacy recruits so Rose knew he could lock them up, or at least felt good about his chances.

To complete the dream class -- including ESPN 100 SF Jabari Parker (Chicago/Simeon) and ESPN 60 PF Payton Dastrup (Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View) -- Rose will need more than family ties.

Parker is the best up-and-coming senior, while Dastrup is the second-best recruit out west in the 2014 class. The traffic for Parker reads Duke, Kentucky, Illinois, DePaul, Kansas, North Carolina … you get the picture. For BYU to land him, it would mean Parker put his faith way out in front of his basketball future. It’s conceivable he could be a one-and-done not one, Mormon mission, and return to Salt Lake.

Should the Cougars not score Parker, they could hit it big with Dastrup, a hybrid 4-man. Dastrup doesn’t have the national name – yet – but there’s little doubt he’s an elite player at his position. Even though Dastrup has been to camp at BYU, the Cougars haven’t, in his mind, made him a priority. They should and we’re guessing they will. Dastrup will play a year and then take his mission.

At last weekend's Pangos Camp, Dastrup rippled the national waters. A competitor at heart, Dastrup has the tools that make him a dual-threat big man. Not only does he have excellent touch, he's a good athlete for his size. This weekend was a sampling of his talent and it played well on a big stage.

When’s the last time this much talent came from the Mormon community AND each player filled a different position? Emery the point, Haws the shooting guard, Parker the 3-man, Dastrup the 4 and Mika the 5; that’d be nice. Then again, the trick would be not only signing them but getting Parker back a second year to play with Dastrup while managing the mission goals of each player. It’s not likely to happen and wouldn’t be an easy sell, but if they pull it off ...

25. Gary Bell, Gonzaga (68)
He rightly lost the "Gonzaga stud freshman" ink to Kevin Pangos, but Bell was an excellent rookie guard in his own right. The fifth option for a highly efficient Bulldog offense, Bell made 48 percent of his 107 three-point attempts and 51 percent of his shots when he ventured inside the arc. The Gonzaga backcourt is in good shape.

oldtimer wrote:Per the links at the top of this thread the same guy is now doing top 25 players in the WCC. I believe one of the men was listed.

No. 25 – Guy Landry Edi, G, Gonzaga
As was mentioned in the Top 5 Guard/Forwards, Edi brings a number of skills to the table, which is what makes him very valuable to a team.
He can score, rebounds, distribute, and play tenacious defense.
Edi is the everyman that every team needs.
But this is not to say that he has shown he can do it over prolonged periods of time. His consistency is still lacking but he showed vast improvement as the season wore on.

No. 24 – Thomas van der Mars, C, Portland
Van der Mars is another player that showed a great deal of promise last year but consistency lacked.
But that could be expected from a freshman.
He needs to improve on the offensive end and show that he can consistently get his shot and not the one he settles for.
Teams will be more prepared for him and van der Mars has to be ready for that.
It will be interesting to see is if van der Mars can improve upon a successful freshman season so will he fall into the dreaded sophomore slump.

No. 23 – Niyi Harrison, F, Santa Clara
Harrison anchored a light Santa Clara frontcourt and will benefit greatly with the return of Marc Trasolini.
Harrison showed his explosiveness in spurts but his head got in the way at times. But that was true of the Santa Clara team on more than one occasion.
If he can keep his head in the game and not let bad moments snowball into terrible finishes, he could be a very good power forward.

No. 22 – Dominique O’Connor, G, San Francisco
If O’Connor had not gotten hurt last season, USF may have figured themselves out sooner than it did.
That said, O’Connor is one of the better players in transition in the conference.
He attacks the basket in transition much like former Saint Mary’s guard Patty Mills: with unrelenting speed.
This will be a dynamic the Dons will need this year especially with a slew of freshmen coming to The Hilltop.

No. 21 – Dennis Kramer, F, San Diego
Kramer improved leaps and bounds from his freshman season and is a rare power forward that is a threat from inside and outside.
Mostly outside.
Players with range like Kramer change how defenses play San Diego and make opposing power forwards guard him on the perimeter. The only other power forward in the WCC that has that ability is Elias Harris (Oh, yeah, he's on the list).
His versatility makes him a difficult matchup and another season under his belt will only give him more confidence

No. 20 - Godwin Okonji, F/C, Loyola Marymount
While the stats may not back up Okonji being this high, hear me out on this one.
Drew Viney is gone. Ashley Hamilton and Anthony Ireland can only do so much offensively. This is why Okonji's defense is so important.
His presence has brought a toughness to the LMU frontcourt and it is that attitude that will have Okonji as one of the better defenders in the conference.

No. 19 - Evan Roquemore, G, Santa Clara
I'll be the first to admit I jumped the gun on Roquemore last season.
I called him, along with Kevin Foster, part of the most explosive backcourt in the WCC. That prediction was looking really good after the 76 Classic but crashed and burned for a number of reasons.
That said, Roquemore can't possibly have a repeat of his 34 percent shooting, can he? The chances are that will go up significantly with the return of both Foster and Marc Trasolini.
Pressure's off and Roquemore should flourish.

No. 18 - Ashley Hamilton, F, Loyola Marymount
That departure of Viney mentioned earlier will only benefit Hamilton.
He has shown that he can be one of the better scorers in the league but it is a matter of consistency. Hamilton improved on that as the season wore on, scoring better than his season average in five of the last seven games.
He has also been hampered with injuries.
With, hopefully, a clean bill of health and more responsibility, Hamilton should be one of the better players in the conference.

No. 17 - Brad Waldow, C, Saint Mary's
No young big man was as impressive as Waldow last season.
With offensive skills that could remind one of a young Omar Samhan, he gave Saint Mary's the wrinkle its offense had been missing. If you want proof, ask Gonzaga who surrendered 17 points and 10 rebounds to the redshirt freshman in their first meeting of the season.
Waldow also battled injuries last season and it hurt his performance on the court.
His health will be critical as he will be asked to pick up some of the responsibility of Rob Jones. If he can step up to the challenge, by season's end Waldow could find himself near, if not in, the Top 10 (here, not the NBA Draft).

No. 16 - Ryan Nicholas, F, Portland
Underrated!
He is not the flashiest or the tallest or the strongest but all Ryan Nicholas is get the job done.
The rising junior did not play much his freshman season but stepped in for Luke Sikma and gave Portland exactly what it needed: a hard-nosed player underneath the basket that will grab rebounds and put points on the board.
Unfortunately, he was a bit of a one-man show.
Nicholas is a threat to spread the floor, even though that is not a big part of his game, and is exacly the type of player Portland always seems to have.

15. Chris Anderson, G, San Diego
Size isn’t everything and Anderson is proof of that.

The diminutive guard came on strong as the season wore on and was able to fill the stat sheet without having to score.

While teams were focused on slowing down the Toreros’ leading scorer Johnny Dee, Anderson was able to use his speed to wreak havoc on opposing defenses.

He was one of the league leaders in assists (5.0) and led the WCC in steals per game (2.0).

14. Johnny Dee, G, San Diego
Did I mention Johnny Dee? Well, the freshman guard came in and gave San Diego exactly what it needed: scoring.

Two seasons ago, the Toreros struggled to score 60 points in a game. That all changed when Dee walked onto campus.

He immediately became one of the better three-point shooters in the league but had some midseason struggles.

As Dee got into league play, teams began to adjust to him, forcing the ball out of his hands.

But he was a quick learn and lit up the WCC Tournament, making the All-Tournament team.

13. Gary Bell, Jr., G, Gonzaga
Almost all of the attention in Spokane has gone to the other half of Gonzaga backcourt but Gary Bell has quietly been a stabilizing force for the Zags.

Bell was the best (yes, even better than Kevin Pangos) three-point shooter in the league at 47 percent and was also one of the better defenders for Gonzaga.

He also saved his best for last as he scored 18 points, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists against Ohio State in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

12. Cole Dickerson, F, San Francisco
Versatile is the best word to describe Cole Dickerson.

He can score inside and outside. He can rebound. He plays good defense.

Dickerson can do it all and now we’ll get to see if he can do it with more pressure and a full season of starts.

The rising junior only made one start during his sophomore season and made the most of the opportunity.

He scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Dons’ one and only postseason game against Washington State.

That game could be a sign of things to come.

11. Matt Carlino, G, BYU
Matt Carlino is one of the more exciting players in the WCC but he is also one of the more inconsistent.

He burst onto the scene in December, scored 18 points and nearly helped BYU pull the upset of then-No. 7 Baylor.

He scored 30 points on 13-for-19 shooting on another night.

But then there were nights of 3-for-11, 3-for-10, and 3-for-15. There even was a 7-for-23.

Much of that came from poor shot selection but these sorts of nights do happen though when you talk about a freshman.

Even though he had quite a few bad nights, he will only get more consistent and will be an absolute nightmare for WCC defenses.

oldtimer wrote:Whos Michael??

I would argue that those two rankings could easily be flip flopped but then again its June and I am bored with not much better to do.

10. Cody Doolin, G, San Francisco
Doolin’s stats do not him justice.

He has been the stabilizing force for USF over the last two seasons and has also been one of the more clutch players in the conference.

It was two seasons ago when he hit a game-winning shot to beat Gonzaga at USF. It was only this past March that he scored 26 points against Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament semifinals.

Doolin shows a ton of poise and his composure in pressure situations cannot be overlooked.

9. Marc Trasolini, F, Santa Clara
How many games did Trasolini play in last year? None.

How many conference games did Santa Clara win last year? None.

This is no coincidence. Without Trasolini, the Broncos struggled to rebound and lacked the mental toughness to fight through adversity.

With Trasolini returning following his ACL tear, the center who would have been the only senior last season will give them added depth and free up room on the perimeter for Evan Roquemore and Kevin Foster.

8. Stephen Holt, G, Saint Mary’s
Holt can fill a stat sheet.

Points, rebounds, steals, assists, blocks. You name it, he can do it.

But much of what Holt brings to the table does not even show up in the box score.

He is the best on-ball defender in the WCC and, in my opinion, should have been the WCC Defensive Player of the Year last season despite missing the final four conference games.

His defensive prowess and the graduation of Robert Sacre should have Holt as next year’s favorite for the WCC DPOY.

7. Sam Dower, C, Gonzaga
When many people think of centers, the last thing they think of is them shooting threes well.

This is where Dower differs from most.

Dower shot 40 percent from three last season, which makes him a unique cover for any center. He can effectively score inside and outside and can finally show what he can do without Robert Sacre in the picture.

Dower’s offensive game will cause numerous matchup problems and make Gonzaga that much more dynamic.

6. Kevin Foster, G, Santa Clara
A year ago at this time, many believed Foster could win the WCC Player of the Year award. That included me.

But that was before he was withheld from competition following his DUI arrest in January.

As he heads into his senior season he remains incredibly dangerous, especially from the three-point line.

Foster had 61 percent of his shots from three and made a career-best 38 percent from distance last season.

Expect his final season at Santa Clara to be a good one.

5. Anthony Ireland, G, Loyola Marymount
To ask a freshman point guard to be the leader of a team is a tall order. That was the task bestowed upon Ireland two seasons ago.
Amidst injuries to Ashley Hamilton, Drew Viney, and Jarred DuBois, Ireland shined in his first two seasons with the Lions and should be even better in 2012-13.
The All-WCC First Teamer will be looked upon more heavily on the offensive end in his junior season following the transfer of DuBois and the graduation of Viney but history shows Ireland should be ready for the task.

4. Kevin Pangos, G, Gonzaga
Speaking of stellar freshmen, Pangos was the unquestioned choice for WCC Newcomer of the Year this past season and has quickly become one of the more feared shooters in the WCC.
In his first nationally televised performance, he hit nine three-pointers. Nine.
What freshman does that? It was in that moment many realized how special Pangos was going to be.
And his season didn't taper after that point, either. A 27-point game against Saint Mary's and a 30-point game against BYU late in the season proved he would continue to be a forced to be reckoned with.

3. Brandon Davies, F, BYU
There is no more complete post player in the WCC than Davies.
He was a preseason candidate for WCC Player of the Year. He went toe-to-toe with Elias Harris and Rob Jones in his meetings with Saint Mary's and Gonzaga, putting up numbers that would have anyone paying attention.
Davies performance carried into the NCAA Tournament where he helped BYU escape the first round of the tournament in a 25-point comeback against Iona, the largest in tournament history.
With no Noah Hartsock and Charles Abouo around to help carry the load, the bulk of the low-post burden will be placed on Davies. A task he is more than able to fulfill.

2. Elias Harris, F, Gonzaga
The final two were tough but Harris comes in at No. 2.
He is the most talented player in the league. He is the most NBA ready even if he may not have a defined position for the next level. Harris had a comeback season after a lackluster 2010-11 campaign.
But he is reliant on the guards to be successful. Those guards that get him the ball.
This is where Mathew Dellavedova and Harris differ.
Harris had monster numbers at the end of last season and racked up double-double after double-double. He will more than likely be on the preseason Wooden list and is a contender for next year's WCC POY.
The only guy that may have something to say about that is the reigning holder of that title.

1. Matthew Dellavedova, G, Saint Mary's
Hard to not have the reigning best player as the best player, isn't it?
The Aussie rising senior is on the Australian National Team heading to the London Olympics next month and is the last junior to win the WCC Player of the Year award since a guy Gonzaga and Saint Mary's fans alike are familiar with (Adam Morrison).
Dellavedova is already the school's all-time leader in assists and has seen his shooting percentages go up each year with Saint Mary's.
He, too, will likely be on the preseason Wooden list and keep Saint Mary's relevant as they search for their second straight NCAA Tournament bid.