The departure of graduating seniors Taylor Rochestie,  Aron Baynes, Caleb Forest, and Daven Harmeling opens up the opportunity for greatly increased roles for the remaining Cougar basketball team. Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto appear to be the leading candidates for taking on an increased role in the team’s success as they both build off of last year’s All-Pac 10 freshman team selections. Nikola Koprivica is the only upperclassmen on the young team, meaning the Cougars will require an increased leadership role from him. One of the top players from the incoming recruiting class is 6 foot 9 power forward Brock Motum from Australia. The highly athletic southpaw Motum is rated as a three star prospect by scout.com and has good shooting range for a big man, similar to the departed Caleb Forest. These four players shared a common link during the summer offseason, gaining valuable experience and realizing success while playing in international competition.

Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto were selected to represent the United States on the 12-man U19 team roster featuring the best players under 19 years of age. The team recently earned the gold medal in the U19 international competition, finishing with a perfect 9-0 record including an 88-80 victory in the championship game against Greece.  Klay Thompson played a significant role in the success of this team, logging the third most minutes on the team at 19.3 minutes per game, while averaging 7.8 points per game and fourth best 4.4 rebounds per game. Klay was especially effective from downtown by making 16 of 31 three pointers, good for 51.6 percent. “It showed he can play at a high, high-caliber level and be successful,” Cougar head coach Ken Bone said. “It’s not like he wasn’t confident before, but it gave him an understanding that he can do a great job against any caliber of talent, not just here, but around the world.” DeAngelo Casto also came on strong for the United States, averaging 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Casto’s tenure on the U19 team was unfortunately cut short when he suffered a slight tear in his lateral meniscus (knee).  The recovery period for this injury tends to be in the four to six week range, meaning that Casto will be fully recovered in time to play this season.

Brock Motum also participated in these games for his home country of Australia. Motum was clearly the best players on the Australian team that placed fourth in the U19 international competition. Motum averaged a team leading 13.6 points per game, good for the 20th best individual performance in the competition field of 16 teams. Motum was exceedingly efficient in scoring his points during the tournament by shooting a tournament best 60.7 percent. He also achieved great consistency by scoring double figures in eight of Australia’s nine games.

Nikola Koprivica represented his home country of Serbia in the World University Games. His role was limited for the gold-winning Serbs, but he did play a significant leadership role on the team. Koprivica averaged 1.9 points per game in 8.3 minutes of work. “He’s our only upperclassman,” Ken Bone said. “We don’t have any juniors, and he’ll be our only senior. We need his leadership. He has the most experience of any player on our team playing in the Pac-10 and at Washington State. Even though he didn’t get a lot of minutes, it was a big lift for him to be on that team. It was an absolute honor for him to be a part of that national team.”

Klay and DeAngelo will clearly play a significant role on next year’s team, but it may be Motum who will be a wildcard for the team’s chances of success next year and beyond. Motum is a member of one of the highest rated Cougar recruiting classes in recent memory and will likely play a significant role next season. “We’ll need him immediately,” Bone said. “I’m hoping that he’s gained confidence, that he can compete at a high level and be successful.” Based on his high level of play during the U19 tournament, Ken Bone and the Cougars should have nothing to worry about. Andy Katz, a writer for ESPN.com, has gone as far as saying “The 6-9 Motum should be one of the top freshmen in the Pac-10 this season.”