By Joel Welser

Pepperdine lost some close games to end at .500. They fell to Oklahoma State, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine all by three points or less. Returning all but one player should provide what the Waves need to become more consistent. They won six of their last eight games and are poised to continue that streak.

Who’s Out: Shaun Davis is leaving Pepperdine after playing in 26 games for the Waves. The freshman scored 8.1 points per game and led the team with 4.2 assists.

Who’s In: A couple Canadians will make their way to Malibu as the two newcomers for Paul Westphal’s squad. Forward Russell Hicks and 7-0 center Oliver Prince will add more depth to the Waves frontline. Jarred Henry redshirted last season and is expected to make an immediate impact. The 6-11 center is a shot blocking machine, who averaged 7.0 blocks a game as a senior in high school. Kingsley Coastain also redshirted last year and will see his first playing time backing up the guards.

Who to Watch: Yakhouba Diawara missed his first 17 games of the season last year while waiting for a ruling from the NCAA after transferring from the College of Southern Idaho. The Waves went 9-5 with Diawara in the lineup. The 6-7 forward scored nearly 19 points and grabbed 6.6 rebounds per game. Diawara only scored under ten points once in those 14 games. He was just getting warmed up when the season ended and should be able to put up good numbers again this year.

Projected Conference Rank: In the end, it will be a tough schedule and a WCC that contains much more depth then just Gonzaga, that will keep the Waves down. Another 3rd place finish on the coast is expected, but this time they’ll go back to the postseason.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT