2009-2010 Washington State Predictions
2008-09 Record: (17-16, 8-10 Pac-10)
Coach: Ken Bone (1st year)
Assistants: Ben Johnson, Curtis Allen, Jeff Hironaka
Ret. Starters/Lost: 2/3

Need winning college basketball predictions each week? Visit ATS Consultants and sign-up for the free sports picks newsletter for college basketball betting information and free college basketball picks

Overview: The Cougars lose center Aron Baynes (12.7ppg, 7.5rpg) and point guard Taylor Rochestie (13.2ppg, 4.5apg) from an 8-10 team. The key will be the improvement of sophomore guard Klay Thompson (6-6, 187), who averaged 12.5ppg last year and 4.2rpg. Thompson is a future star and son of former NBA star Mychal Thompson. They do need to replace Rochestie and will have several options. The top one right now is Reggie Moore (6-1, 175), who is considered a combo guard who can play point or wing. Sophomore Marcus Capers (6-4, 172) is thin but lengthy and can also play either spot. At the wing, senior Nikola Koprivica (6-6, 216) has good size, but lacks great quickness since tearing his ACL (3.1ppg, 2.4rpg). Up front, sophomore DeAngelo Casto (6-8, 229) was an outstanding defender as a freshman. This year, he’ll improve his offense after averaging 4.4ppg and 4rpg last year. They lack depth after Casto as freshman Brock Motum (6-9, 215) out of Australia is raw and freshman James Watson (6-7, 210) is undersized.

Outlook: Thompson will be a star this year and Casto is solid, but the rest of the team is a huge question mark. They just don’t have enough to contend in the first season of new head coach Ken Bone.

This PAC 10 conference prediction is courtesy of the ATS Sports Blog. If you are looking for winning college basketball betting picks be sure to choose ATS Consultants this year, A featured sports handicapping service on Touthouse.com