The career of the player who arguably the greatest individual basketball talent in the Pac-12 Conference is over without seeing him play a single league game.
Last week, Oregon freshman Bol Bol announced what likely will be his lone season at Oregon already his done due to a left foot injury that required surgery. Bol, the son of former NBA player Manute Bol, had not played since a Dec. 12 home win against San Diego.
“It changes a little bit defensively, what we’ll have to do offensively it’s a big change,” Oregon coach Dana Altman told 247Sports before the Ducks’ home loss to Oregon State on Saturday. “Taking Bol out of the lineup, we were running a lot of things through him. It’s a blow. But hey, it’s college basketball. You have to adjust. Other guys are going to have to step up.”
The 7-foor-2 Bol is expected to enter the NBA draft and be a lottery pick, despite the injury. In nine games with the Ducks, Bol shot .520 from the field, including 13-for-25 from 3-point range. He averaged 21.0 points and 9.6 rebounds in his brief career at Oregon.
Bol’s absence means the top two recruits of the Ducks’ prized 2019 recruiting class, Bol and freshman guard Louis King, appeared on the floor together for just two games after King missed the first seven games of the season due to his own injury. King scored a season-high 17 points, though on a 6-for-17 performance from the floor, as the preseason Pac-12 favorite Ducks opened league play with a loss against OSU.
For the Beavers, it was their first win in a conference opener on the road in 26 years.
Franks hobbled
Colorado might catch a break this week with the injury status of Washington State standout Robert Franks.
A 6-foot-9 forward with a solid outside shooting touch, Franks dipped his toes into the NBA recruiting waters last spring before opting to return to WSU for his senior season. Franks missed WSU’s loss at Seattle on Nov. 14 due to a foot issue and has missed the past two games — a home loss at Santa Clara on Dec. 29 Saturday’s Pac-12 opening loss at Washington — due to a hip injury.
Franks status remains uncertain going into Thursday’s date at the CU Events Center. He leads the Pac-12 at 22.1 points a game while shooting .524 from the floor. Franks also averages 7.9 rebounds.
Player of the Week
USC forward Nick Rakocevic was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for his standout performances in the Trojans’ wins against Cal and Stanford.
Rakocevic began the week by scoring a career-best 27 points on a 12-for-14 night against Cal while adding eight rebounds. Against Stanford, Rakocevic posted his Pac-12-best seventh double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Rakocevic also totaled three steals, two assists, and two blocked shots with only one turnover in 50 minutes.
Rakocevic begins the week as the league’s leading rebounder at 10.1 per game.
Notable
ASU’s 24 assists against the Buffs on Saturday tied for the most by the Sun Devils in any Pac-12 game over the past 13 seasons…The reeling Pac-12 still is lagging in the NCAA’s NET rankings, with Washington leading the league going into this week at No. 53 and Arizona following at No. 58…Once again no Pac-12 team reached this week’s AP top 25 poll, with only Arizona State receiving a lone vote.
Pat Rooney: rooneyp@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/prooney07
