by Aargh » August 31st, 2010, 11:11 pm
I believe WSU will win the league by enough of a margin that POY will come from WSU.
Who from WSU is the big question.
Murry is a likely pick, but he needs to have a breakout year. A down So year is not uncommon. The question is whether he had a So jinx year or whether he developed early and was as good as he will ever be when he was a Fr.
I'm going to throw out an unlikely candidate - Garrett Stutz.
The difference in Stutz game between his Fr and So years was significant. Stutz finished last year looking pretty solid. Stutz put on 15 pounds between his Fr and So years and that made a huge difference in his court presence. He's likely to repeat that weight gain - and it won't be fat.
With Stutz at 260 pounds, he's not going to get pushed around much.
Look at the difference in Egelseder's game between his Jr and Sr years. Look at the difference in Paul Miller's game between his Jr and Sr years. Stutz has shown signs that he may be a year ahead of those guys in his development.
If Durley figures out how to play D and can keep his offensive game progressing, he could be in the picture. Another surprise could be Hatch. Hatch has had a couple of pretty steady years. He can hit 3s and he's Mr. Hustle. Sometimes guys like that get some votes based on their performance over several years.
It's the pre-season and fans are expected to be overly optimistic about their teams. I'm certain I'm no exception.