Pac-12 men's basketball coaches mourn the end of 'Conference of Champions'

LAS VEGAS — Pac-12 media days traditionally start with a big pep talk, the commissioner standing at a podium touting the past, present and future of the conference. Then it would be a short question and answer session with the media in attendance.

When the teams convened at the Park MGM in Las Vegas on Wednesday for perhaps the last Pac-12 media day ever, there was none of that. Second-year commissioner George Kliavkoff made a brief appearance early when players gathered for a quick group picture, but otherwise kept a low profile and didn't mingle much with coaches, athletes or media.

Yes, this was the last Pac-12 media day in its current form for the core schools, with 10 headed to new affiliations next season including Arizona and Arizona State who are Big-12 bound.

Former Los Angeles Laker Mark Madsen is the lone new coach in the Pac-12 this season, taking the reins at Cal, which is soon headed to the ACC. He has a unique perspective, having excelled at Stanford from 1996 to 2000 and being part of two conference championship teams. So the news hits him hard.

"I'm incredibly sad about it. I'm incredibly sad about the breakup of the Pac-12. In the back of my mind, there's always the hope, 20 years from now, 15 years from now, things don't work out with some of these other conferences and it gets put back together in some way, he said. "But that's the reality we live in, and we're still going to be able to embrace it. Where some doors close, other doors will open."

Players and coaches from Arizona and Arizona State were up on the main stage early, with teams going in alphabetical order.

ASU's Bobby Hurley, heading into his ninth season, was accompanied to media day by juniors Frankie Collins and Jamiya Neal. He noted a different vibe to media day and has always felt like he is more of a traditionalist and he's appreciated his near decade in the Pac-12 and what the teams on the West Coast have to offer.

ASU has never won a Pac-12 title in the sport and Hurley is hoping his team can make a run and end its tenure in it on a winning note.

"I've always loved West Coast basketball, the Bay area swing, the Los Angeles schools, the other trips to Washington and Oregon and more recently the mountain schools. And each has a particular challenge," Hurley said. "All are pretty unique and you get to know the coaches and you get to play in some historic places like Pauley Pavilion (UCLA), just great environments," he said. "It's going to be different."

UCLA and Arizona have been the marquee teams in the conference, winning 32 and 17 regular season titles respectively. UCLA coach Mick Cronin is disappointed but not surprised, only saying he thought the dissolution was a couple of years off but football fast-tracked the developments.

He says he appreciates history and that's one reason he says he has to "pinch himself" when he walks into the UCLA venue each day and sees all the banners hanging from the rafters and realizes he gets to coach there.

"It didn't surprise me. I'm like the Grim Reaper. I was in the Big East when it broke down. I'm bad luck," he laughed. "I've developed relationships with our coaches. The sad thing for me is football is the reason. Everything has changed. I'm a proponent, like (UCLA football) coach (Chip) Kelly about football having its own division. `OK football, you figure it out and let the rest of us do what we have to do.' "

Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd brought Oumar Ballo and Pelle Larsson to media day. He hates to see the Pac-12 end the way it has but looks forward to the challenges of the Big 12, which has emerged as the premier conference in the sport.

"This year it's about doing the best job we can in the Pac-12. Arizona's done a lot for the Pac-12 and the Pac-12 has done a lot for Arizona. So we want to go out and have a great experience. I'm sure there are going to be a bunch of moments that we're going to be sentimental about over the course of the season. So I just want to enjoy this experience but at the same time, change can be exciting."

Oregon State and Washington State are the leftovers with no answer yet as to what their conference affiliation will look like this time next season. Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle is in his ninth season but he grew up in the Pacific Northwest so the state of the conference has impacted him too.

"That's up in the air. I'm not a blame guy. I'm more of a solution guy," he said. "It's sad that, as a guy that grew up mostly in the northwest and Spokane, I never saw this coming. It is what it is. We've got to find a way to deal with it, but I know this. Who we are at Oregon State and Washington State could probably be painted with the same brush. We find ways to solve problems."

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Many talked about trying to maintain the rivalries, not just because it is good for those schools but good for college basketball as well. Tinkle said there is a good chance his school will still play rival Oregon although he isn't sure the teams could play two games each season, a home and way set.

Perhaps no rivalry in the Pac-12 has been bigger recently than Arizona and UCLA. Cronin says the schools are talking about trying to keep each other in the schedule but it's hard to say what will happen because he isn't sure what his Big Ten schedule will be yet.