Pac-10 Men | This year's frosh among best ever in conference

Let the debate begin on the best Pac-10 freshman class in history. The question is: Where to begin it?

The 2007-08 crop of freshmen in the Pac-10 is drawing raves, as well as a lot of defensive attention. Mostly, the bouquets are going out to Kevin Love, the UCLA center; and guards James Harden of Arizona State, Jerryd Bayless of Arizona and O.J. Mayo of USC.

"I think it's a deeper class than last year's," contends Tim Floyd, the USC coach.

That would be saying something. Last year's all-freshman team was Stanford's Brook Lopez; USC's Taj Gibson, Washington's Spencer Hawes, Cal's Ryan Anderson, Arizona's Chase Budinger and Oregon's Tajuan Porter.

That class provided the Nos. 5 (Anderson), 7 (Budinger), 10 (Hawes) and 11 (Porter) scorers in the league. For depth, as well as likely impact on the NBA, it's hard to beat.

But the latest group has thrust itself into the best-ever discussion in a big way, giving the league four of its top nine scorers. Mayo, Bayless and Harden are 2-3-4, but Love, at No. 9, may be the most accomplished and complete of the four.

"They're more hyped than the group before," says WSU coach Tony Bennett, referring to the current freshmen. "And perhaps a little more talented. They're definitely as good, I'll say that. Are they better? If they played a four-on-four, I might lean toward this group, but it'd be close."

Bennett now has an appreciation for Love, having seen him go for 27 points and 14 rebounds against a physical match in Aron Baynes.

"He gets really low," says Bennett, referring to Love. "Aron is more of an upright player. [Love] does a great job carving out space before he catches the ball, and blocking out. I haven't seen too many guys be able to displace Aron. I'm not saying he's stronger, but he gets low."

Other freshmen are contributing heavily — Oregon's Kamyron Brown, ASU's Ty Abbott, Oregon State's Omari Johnson — but the six-deep excellence of last year's freshmen looks superior.

Both classes seem better than anything the league has seen in the 24 seasons it has named an all-freshman team That would include the 2000 class of Gilbert Arenas, Jason Gardner, Casey Jacobsen, Jason Kapono and Brian Jackson, and that of 1986, with Sean Elliott, Todd Lichti, Pooh Richardson, Bo Kimble and Tommy Lewis.

But if you want to stretch the argument, go back to 1965-66 and Lew Alcindor's freshman class at UCLA, kept on the sideline by the eligibility rules of the NCAA then. Besides the NBA's all-time scorer (and a 20-year pro), it included guard Lucious Allen, a 10-year pro, and sharpshooter and one-year ABA player Lynn Shackelford.

Then there was Bill Walton's 1970-71 Bruins, just before the NCAA opened up eligibility to freshmen. Walton, a Hall of Famer, came in with 12-year pro Keith (later Jamaal) Wilkes and short-term pro Greg Lee.

In fact, in a family argument with his dad Stan, Kevin Love might have to come well-armed. In 1967-68, the freshmen in the league — ineligible, remember — included future longtime pros Curtis Rowe and Sidney Wicks of UCLA and Stan Love of Oregon, the No. 9 pick in the '71 NBA draft.

Bayless-less No More

The importance of Bayless to Arizona's lineup was underscored in red Saturday when the 6-2 Phoenix product came back from a sprained knee to score 33 points in a victory at Houston, with a school-record 18 free throws.

"He gives us toughness," Arizona coach Kevin O'Neill told the Arizona Daily Star. "There was a moxie and a swagger we don't have when he's not in there."

Houston senior Robert McKiver jawed at Bayless early, but Bayless ignored the intrusion, saying, "I don't think he knew who he was talking to."

Rim Shots

• For its game against Stanford, Oregon State drew 4,017, smallest crowd at Gill Coliseum for a current member of the league since 1961. Just to prove it wasn't a fluke, OSU then did 4,118 — on a 2-for-1 promotion — for California.

• Cal's Ryan Anderson, on playing before the fans at Eugene's McArthur Court: "They do their research. They know stuff about your mama."

• WSU's Bennett, who used to work out occasionally in the Packers' weightroom, says he knows what's going on in Green Bay as it prepares for the NFC Championship Game: "It's going nuts right now." Bennett played at Wisconsin-Green Bay when his father Dick coached there, saying of Seahawks and ex-Packers coach Mike Holmgren, "I played golf a couple of times with coach Holmgren, so that's my claim to fame."

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com