Cougs picked to finish eighth in Pac-10 hoops

A NEW COACH, new starters, a new offense -- a new everything just about for Washington State this year in hoops. The media who cover the Pac-10 think the young Cougs will struggle this season, slotting them today to finish eighth in the preseason poll.

And the Cougs are young -- very young -- with no juniors and only one senior on the roster in Nikola Koprivica.

As reported by CF.C yesterday, three starting positions are likely set with sophomores DeAngelo Casto and Klay Thompson and freshman Reggie Moore. The other two spots are, said Bone, wide open.

On the perimeter Klay Thompson will get a lot of scoring looks this year, said Bone, and Moore can also fill up the hoop .

"Reggie Moore is a pretty creative scorer," said Bone.

The Pac-10 media poll, with first place votes in parentheses followed by total points:

1. California (25) 350
2. Washington (7) 330
3. UCLA (5) 302
4. Arizona 221
5. Oregon State 218
6. Oregon 175
7. Arizona State 144
8. Washington State 123
9. USC 109
10. Stanford 63