Great WCC Review

Predicted Champion. Portland (NCAA Seed: #13). If the WCC Championship were housed in a room, the sign over it this year would read, “Vacancy – Come on in.” Suddenly, Gonzaga is not loaded with seasoned NBA prospects and Saint Mary’s doesn’t have a cadre of veteran defender-rebounders. Portland, on the other hand, has everyone back from the team that raised eyebrows throughout the league last year, plus the steady guidance of third-year coach Eric Reveno, the WCC Coach of the Year. Fate seems to be calling the Pilots to dislodge Gonzaga’s stranglehold on the league championship. Will they answer, or will they fade as they did down the stretch last year when they seemed to have an NCAA bid within their grasp but stumbled to a 3-4 record in their last seven league games, lost in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament and lost in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament? The overall numbers for 2008-09 were still pretty good, 19-13 and 9-5 in the WCC, but questions remain.

Will seniors T.J. Campbell, Nik Raivio, Robin Smeulders and Ethan Niedermeyer go out with a bang, or limp into the sunset with another opportunity squandered? Did Reveno rely too heavily on a pat hand by not bringing in any top-rated recruits? Can anybody beat Gonzaga?

Questions aside, the Pilots possess size, experience and outside shooting. In transfer guard T.J. Campbell, named to the WCC All-Conference team in his first year, they have an 11 ppg shooter who shot almost 50% overall from the field and a mind-blowing 53% from 3-pt range. Ready to come off the bench is another guard, Jared Stohl, whose numbers were only slightly less notable than Campbell’s: nearly 48% overall and 46% from 3-pt. range. That’s outside shooting, folks. Neither of those may be the Pilots’ best guard, however, because the 6′4 Raivio led all Portland scorers with a nearly 17 ppg average. Raivio is a pesky offensive threat who doesn’t seem to have a set position: he runs around the court taking potshots from just about anywhere.

The Pilots are big and strong in the front court, too. They rotate the 6′10 Smeulders, 6′9 junior Kramer Knutson, 6′8 junior Luke Sikma, son of the NBA’s Jack Sikma, and the 6′6 Niedermeyer in a versatile lineup. All four can score, defend and rebound.

Whether Reveno can push this veteran group to new heights and contend for a WCC championship and NCAA berth will be one of the intriguing questions of the 09-10 college basketball season. A lot of teams rise to the brink of national prominence only to falter at the end. It’s make or break time for the senior-dominated Pilots. Given Portland’s low profile on the national scene and lack of NCAA pedigree it is unlikely they would be given a high seed even if they did win a tournament berth outright or get an at-large invitation. They have only two potential break-out games on their OOC schedule – against Oregon at home on Nov. 21 and UCLA in Westwood on Nov. 26 – so would have to really shine to gain a 12 seed or higher come NCAA time.

Did Reveno rely too heavily on a pat hand by not bringing in any top-rated recruits?

They have only two potential break-out games on their OOC schedule – against Oregon at home on Nov. 21 and UCLA in Westwood on Nov. 26 – so would have to really shine to gain a 12 seed or higher come NCAA time.