Jerome Randle of preseason favorite Cal/Daily Cal photo Nick Fradkin
To no one's surprise, Stanford's men's basketball team was picked to finish last in the Pac-10 by a vote of 37 media members who cover Pac-10 basketball.
The Cardinal finished well behind USC, which finished ninth in the voting, which was released Thursday.
Cal was picked to win the Pac-10 title, followed by defending champion Washington second and UCLA third.
(See the media's preseason poll here.)
The vote was taken before Wednesday's announcement that the Cardinal's starting shooting guard, Jeremy Green, has been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. Unsubstantiated reports suggest the violation may be serious and the suspension a prolonged one.
Stanford returns just two starters from last season's team, which finished ninth: Josh Owens and Landry Fields. Owens sat out the Tuesday scrimmage and his status is uncertain.
Cal returns four starters from last season, including a standout backcourt of Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher, plus wing Theo Robertson and power forward Jamal Boykin. The Bears' only concern in their starting lineup is their center, a spot likely to be shared by Harper Kamp, junior-college transfer Markhuri Sanders-Frison and 7-foot-3 Max Zhang. That may not be a significant shortcoming, though, because there are no top-flight big men in the conference this year following the departure of USC's Taj Gibson, Arizona's Jordan Hill, Arizona State's Jeff Pendergraph, Washington State's Aron Baynes and Washington's Jon Brockman.
For more Bay Area college sports, see jakestakeonsports.com.
See also:
STANFORD'S GREEN SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY
FIELDS DOMINATES MEN'S SCRIMMAGE
STANFORD WOMEN UNANIMOUS PICK TO WIN PAC-10
NO. 1 PROSPECT OGWUMIKE TO VISIT NOTRE DAME
TWIN FROM STANFORD REPLACES TWIN FROM STANFORD
STANFORD WOMEN ATTEND POINT-GUARD COLLEGE
PAC-10 PRESEASON PROGRESS REPORT, PART I
PAC-10 MEN'S, WOMEN'S RECRUITING UPDATE
MARK MADSEN TO COACH IN NBA'S DEVELOPMENTAL LEAGUE
NEW COMPETITION FOR STANFORD FOR RECRUIT
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