Lefty

Looking at the Pac-12 next year, the top four teams in no particular order are:
UofA
UCLA
Stanford
Colorado

All four schools should make the NCAA tournament barring any injuries.

Renz

This is gonna be a sick lineup for the Cats next season:

TJ McConnell
Mark Lyons
Jordin Mayes
Nick Johnson
Gabe York
Kevin Parrom
Solomon Hill
Brandon Ashley
Angelo Chol
Grant Jerrett
Kaleb Tarczewski
Matt Korcheck

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TJ

McConnell has to sit out a year because he transferred from Duquense

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MaoTosiFanClub

Korcheck is redshirting as well.

Still a deep team, depth chart will look something like this assuming Mayes doesn't transfer...

PG - Lyons/Mayes
SG - Johnson/Parrom/York
SF - Hill/Parrom
PF - Chol/Ashley
C - Zeus/Jarrett

Venry interchangeable with Solo able to move up to the four if Miller wnats to go small at certain points. Team should be easy top 15 next year. UCLA and Arizona are officially back.

Russ Smith

Mayes is interesting there are apparent relatives of his who have been VERY vocal on UA sites about being unhappy how he's been used. If they're really correct, it would almost be expected that Mayes will now transfer but I guess we'll see.

With Bennett dropping UK there's a real chance he picks Oregon and if he qualifies they could be pretty good again next year too.

Definitely seems to be an upswing in the Pac 12 although i'm still quite nervous the UCLA uptick could be a one year thing.

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“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

gmabel830

Bennett picked UNLV over Oregon today.

Arizona's Finest

Mark Lyons = Russell Wilson

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Lefty

Mark Lyons = a better chance at competing for a Pac-12 title and getting to the Sweet 16 and more.

Arizona's Finest

Uh huh. Just like Wilson transferred cross country to Wisky as a graduate student and took them to Rose Bowl (basketball equivalent of Elite 8 or Final 4) as their "QB" (PG) I'm not sure I understand. Were you trying to say the analogy was off? Or furthering my point?

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Lefty

Furthering your point. There are fans of other schools who think Lyons will not help the Cats as much as UofA fans believe.

Russ Smith

I think it's too early to say. It's a risk, Lyons was outright asked to leave by a coach who'd been around him for 4 years(including his RS year) because the kid told him he didn't think the goals Cronin laid down for his senior year were "important". Miller knows the kid too obviously but there's a risk, everyone remembers the fight with Cincy but he was also disciplined last year for hitting a St. Bonaventure player with an elbow that apparently wasn't caught on tv tapes but was caught on the Xavier game tapes. It happened after the Cincy incident.

And he's never played PG in college. He's obviously talented but he's a volume shooter with a fairly pedestrian A/To ratio so while he has the physical tools and is a very tough kid, there's no guarantee he'll actually be a good PG.

I get why Miller took the gamble, he had no PG on the roster and Lyons is a much better ball handler than any of Mayes, Johnson or York, but there is a risk. He's a guy who at Xavier took a lot of shots, that might not sit well with a whole new team if he does that at Arizona.

It's a calculated risk, but I get why Miller took it, a little surprised given how Turner panned out but they needed a PG. They're pretty set up after that with McConnell and then possibly PJC or another one(I'm actually starting to think Jordan McLaughlin will be a better college player than PJC I just love that kid).
This is a one year gamble with Lyons.

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“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

ozzfloyd

He was being coached by the Cinci coach while at Xavier? No wonder they wanted him out.

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"Do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us 'Revenge is a dish that is best served cold'"?

-Khan Noonian Singh

Russ Smith

Whoops, Mack.

I actually had the same concerns with UCLA taking Larry Drew but that was slightly different, he had to sit out a year so he's not as new to the team, the returning players all know him. Plus, Drew is NOT a guy who takes that many shots, he has clear weaknesses(can't shoot) and I hate the way he left UNC(didn't want him) but he's not a selfish player. Lyons was at times selfish.

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“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

Mr. Boldin

Lyons went to Xavier to play for Miller, not Mack. Thats a huge difference right there.

Russ Smith

Yep huge, he played 0 seasons for Miller and 3 for Mack. Miller did coach him his RS(academics) year.

He told Mack he wanted to play PG, that's why he left, he said it clear as day it was a business decision. Mack apparently thinks his backup PG and incoming freshman are going to be the 1's and wanted lyons to play 2 again, he wasn't having it, so they parted ways.

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“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo