Five-minute season preview: The Mountain West
Yahoo Sports will break down the top 10 leagues for the upcoming college basketball season working backward from No. 10 to No. 1. Here’s a look at our No. 9 league, the Mountain West.
The battle for the Mountain West title could have a familiar feel to it.
San Diego State and Boise State once again could spend the winter dueling one-another for first place after finishing in a tie atop the standings a year ago.
What will determine how good the Aztecs are this season is if some scoring threats emerge to complement a defense that again should be among the nation’s most stifling. Last year’s San Diego State team won 27 games and reached the Sweet 16 thanks to a defense that surrendered the fourth fewest points per possession nationally, but the Aztecs were poor offensively because they lacked a point guard who could create off the dribble, outside shooters who could stretch a defense or a go-to threat to turn to late in the shot clock.
The missing piece for San Diego State at point guard could be true freshman Jeremy Hemsley, a consensus top 75 recruit whom the Aztecs are hoping can make a smooth transition to the starting role right away. Outside shooting help may not arrive until next season when Indiana transfer Max Hoetzel gets eligible and forward Matt Shrigley returns from injury, however, the Aztecs can still take a step forward offensively if Hemsley solidifies the point guard position, Winston Shepard performs with more consistency as a senior and Malik Pope further taps into the scoring ability that makes him an NBA prospect.
Boise State swept a pair of games from San Diego State last year behind the brilliance of Derrick Marks and consistently strong play from his supporting cast. Marks has since graduated, but Boise State has enough returning talent to make up for the loss of his 19.4 points per game.
One huge reason for that is the return of Anthony Drmic, a 6-foot-6 senior from Australia who was averaging 15.0 points per game last year when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in December. The one-two punch of Drmic and forward James Webb will be the Mountain West’s most potent scoring duo, while senior point guard Mikey Thompson, junior forward Nick Duncan and sweet-shooting Boston College transfer Lonnie Jackson also should emerge as key contributors.
Other contenders could emerge besides the Aztecs and Broncos, however, they all have more questions entering the season.
Utah State returns the core of an 18-win team, but can new coach Tim Duryea get an undersized frontcourt to rebound and defend the rim well enough to make a jump in the standings? UNLV has reloaded behind three coveted transfers and three top 100 incoming freshmen, but will embattled head coach Dave Rice be able to get that talent to mesh the way the Rebels so often don’t?
Can New Mexico prove last year’s struggles were a one-year blip and leap back into contention behind now-healthy Cullen Neal and standout transfers Tim Williams and Elijah Brown? Is Fresno State this year’s Boise State, the undervalued team in the preseason that gets dragged to the top of the standings by the conference’s best guard?
One thing that’s clear is that the conference champion will probably come from that pool of six teams. Colorado State and Wyoming simply lost too much from last season to contend for the league title, Nevada and Air Force seem to be a year away from making a big jump and things look as hopeless as ever for San Jose State, which went 2-28 last season and saw its top player transfer to Miami.
MAKING A LIST:
Best shooter: Chris Smith, Utah State. An elite shooter both in high school and at Yuba Junior College, Smith furthered his reputation in his debut season at Utah State last year. The 6-foot-4 wing sank the fourth most 3-pointers of any Mountain West player and hit them at a 47.5 percent clip, making him one of the league’s most feared perimeter threats entering this season. 
Best playmaker: Marvelle Harris, Fresno State. The Mountain West’s most underrated player because he stars for a program totally off the national radar, Harris is hard to guard when he has the ball in his hands. He averaged 16.4 points per game last season but also created for his teammates as well, registering 3.8 assists per game.
Best defender: Skylar Spencer, San Diego State. Harris, James Webb and Goodluck Okonoboh are also back from last year’s Mountain West all-defense team, but the reigning co-defensive player of the year is the choice here. Spencer is one of the key cogs in a stifling San Diego State defense thanks to the 6-foot-10 big man’s strength, mobility and ability to alter shots at the rim.
Top NBA prospect: Stephen Zimmerman, UNLV. A McDonald’s All-American who chose the hometown Rebels over the likes of Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA, Zimmerman projects as an immediate starter and impact player this season. The skilled 7 footer has a chance to be a first-round pick as soon as next June because of his soft touch and deft passing in the low and high post.
Best backcourt: Fresno State.Everything starts with Harris, the do-it-all 6-foot-4 senior who can score, create for others and defend at an all-league level. Former Texas transfer Julien Lewis and small forward Paul Watson are both back too. The wildcard is starting point guard Cezar Guerrero, a double-digit scorer whose consistency and decision making are both issues. If he makes strides in those areas, this is a very good group.
Best frontcourt: San Diego State. This choice is somewhat dependent on the development of 6-foot-10 Malik Pope, a potential first-round pick who showed flashes of immense scoring potential in limited minutes as a freshman after returning from a devastating leg injury. He’ll be joined by the defensive-minded Spencer and by former Arizona transfer Angelo Chol, a capable interior scorer and defender.
Best recruiting class: UNLV. The Rebels weathered the loss of Rashad Vaughn and Christian Wood by reloading with three more Rivals 150 prospects. Zimmerman is the centerpiece of the class and the likely instant-impact addition, but 6-foot-6 wing Derrick Jones is an explosive athlete with a great first step to the rim and 6-foot-4 combo guard Jalen Poyser can stretch a defense with his shooting.
Coach on the rise: Eric Musselman, Nevada. Between the recruiting victories Musselman has already attained the past few months and his reputation for player development, it probably won’t be more than a year or two before the Wolf Pack are contending in the Mountain West. Musselman has already nabbed two promising transfers and two four-star high school prospects and he is battling Indiana to land shooting guard Eron Gordon, the younger brother of wing Eric Gordon of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Coach on the hot seat: Dave Rice, UNLV. What Rice and his staff have accomplished on the recruiting trail has been remarkable. The problem is that all the four- and five-star prospects and coveted transfers haven’t translated into victories. The Rebels haven’t won an NCAA tournament game in Rice’s first four years and they haven’t come close to making the field of 68 either of the past two seasons. That will probably have to change this year for Rice to be around for the 2016-17 season.
FACTS AND FIGURES
New coaches: Eric Musselman, Nevada; Tim Duryea, Utah State
Regular-season winner last season: San Diego State and Boise State
Tourney winner last season: Wyoming
League RPI rank in each of past 3 seasons: 2014-15: 11th, 2013-14: 10th, 2012-13: 1st
NCAA bids the past three seasons: 10 (San Diego State 3, New Mexico 2, Boise State 2, Wyoming, UNLV, Colorado State)
