UCLA still tops in Pac-10 men's basketball

LOS ANGELES — Before Arizona interim coach Russ Pennell answered reporter's questions Thursday at the Pac-10 men's basketball media day, he asked one of his own.

"Bet you didn't expect to see me here, did you?" Pennell asked.

"Me neither."

Pennell's sudden ascension to the head coaching job at Arizona — he was given the position on an interim basis for the rest of the season last Friday when Lute Olson was forced to retire for health reasons — is just the latest and most surprising of a number of changes in the conference since last spring.

Pennell is one of four new coaches, the greatest number of coaching changes since the league expanded to 10 teams in 1978. Other new coaches are Mike Montgomery at California, Craig Robinson at Oregon State and Johnny Dawkins at Stanford.

The loss of Olson, the winningest coach in Pac-10 history with a record of 327-101 in 24 seasons, figures to resonate longest. This was the first media day Olson had missed since coming to Arizona. He attended last year's session before announcing a leave of absence a few days later.

"He changed the place forever," said USC coach Tim Floyd, who suggested the conference name an award in Olson's honor.

Much star quality was lost on the court, as well, as the conference had a record 12 players taken in the NBA draft last spring, including another record of seven in the first round. O.J. Mayo of USC, Russell Westbrook of UCLA and Kevin Love of UCLA were among the top five picks.

"That was a very unique year last year with so many great players," said Oregon coach Ernie Kent, who saw two of his players taken in the second round.

The loss of all that talent, and the shake-up at Arizona, has many predicting a bit of a falloff for the Pac-10 this year.

After four teams finished last season ranked in the top 15 of the final USA Today/ESPN Top 25, only two were in the preseason poll announced Thursday (UCLA at No. 4 and ASU at No. 15), and only three overall (USC is 21st).

Washington State coach Tony Bennett, who has to rebuild a bit after losing three starters from last year's team, said with a smile that "I would hope it would drop a little bit."

But he isn't so sure. "It's a league that I think will be sneaky good," he said. "I think it will surprise some people."

What is no surprise is the team at the top: UCLA was almost a unanimous pick as the league favorite in the preseason media poll, released as part of the day's activities. The Bruins received 37 of 38 first-place votes. Arizona State, which was second in the poll, received the other first-place vote.

"I think it's quite obvious UCLA is going to be really good," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said of the Bruins, who return two starters from a team that has made three straight trips to the Final Four and also welcomes what some called the top recruiting class in the country.

ASU's placing was its highest since the media began voting in 1992, and a heady rise for a team that hasn't had a winning conference record since the 2002-03 season. But the Sun Devils return all five starters from last year's team, which finished 21-13 overall and 9-9 and tied for fifth in Pac-10 play, including a pair of potential first-round picks in senior forward Jeff Pendergraph and sophomore guard James Harden.

"I think it's a good thing that people expect us to do well," said third-year ASU coach Herb Sendek. "But it really is a quantum leap to go from where we finished to some of the preseason predictions for our team."

USC was third followed by Arizona (most votes were compiled before the news of Olson), Washington and Washington State.

Neither the Huskies nor the Cougars protested their selections, while hoping they can prove them wrong.

"Where we are at is fair," said UW forward Jon Brockman. "We didn't really do a whole lot last year [16-17 overall record]. But I think everyone on our team, every single player that is returning, improved a lot."

Said Bennett: "That [being picked sixth] doesn't surprise me. But it's too hard to predict this year. It's really balanced and there are a lot of unknowns, especially with us and a couple of others."

Even the bottom of the conference is intriguing. Oregon State received only two votes above the minimum but could soon have one of the higher-profile coaches in the country — Robinson is the brother-in-law of Barack Obama.

Robinson admitted the notoriety has already helped open some doors in recruiting, which could grow even wider depending on what happens Tuesday.

Robinson, however, said that he's just taking it one election at a time.

"Chances are I will be going to Chicago on Election Night," he said. "To the extent that any plans have been made any further would be putting the cart before the horse."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com.