Rush The Court

So maybe it’s a little late to still call it Midnight Madness, but season-kickoff events are still happening across the country. In the Pac-12, Stanford, Arizona State and Arizona introduce the 2012-13 versions of themselves to the fans with a trio of scrimmages over the weekend, along with slam dunk contests for the Cardinal and Wildcats. In light of what is happening in Palo Alto, Tempe and Tucson, here are three predictions for each of the three schools on what will happen.

Stanford’s Friday Frenzy Cardinal-White Scrimmage (October 19, 5:30 PM)

1. Dwight Powell will throw down the nastiest dunk: Last year, Powell threw down a dunk off a side-of-the-backboard pass from Aaron Bright (it’s at the 0:54 mark- you really won’t want to watch the first 30 seconds). It didn’t win the competition as Josh Huestis won last year’s dunk contest, but Powell will take home the crown this year.
2. Aaron Bright will make the biggest “wow” play of the night: Bright is the closest thing Stanford has to a showman, and he will be in all his glory later tonight. Behind-the-back passes, no-look passes, deep threes; Bright will put it all on display.
3. White will defeat Cardinal: Johnny Dawkins doesn’t put his projected starting five all on the same team for the scrimmage, so it’s not key players vs. reserves. Cardinal has won the last two years, so it’s time for white to take home some early-season bragging rights.

Arizona State’s Maroon-Gold Scrimmage (October 20, 10 AM)

1. It won’t take long for Jahii Carson to win over the crowd…: There probably isn’t anyone in Tempe itching for November to roll around more than Jahii Carson, Arizona State’s highly-touted 2011 prospect who had to sit out last year after being ruled academically ineligible. Carson will be eager to show the Sun Devil faithful what he has to offer, and with a YouTube mixtape like this, Carson will certainly have a few tricks up his sleeve in a for-the-fans scrimmage setting.
2. …But Carrick Felix will be the scrimmage’s leading scorer: The Sun Devils’ returning leading scorer will try to assert himself as the alpha dog and, for at least one scrimmage, he will do just that in the points column.
3. Maroon will defeat Gold: There aren’t reported results from previous season-kickoff scrimmages in recent history, but this prediction has a 50 percent chance of being right.

Arizona’s Red-Blue Game (October 21, 2:00 PM)

1. Gabe York will stand out the most among the recruiting class of 2012: He’s “only” a four-star recruit, but Gabe York is better suited to play in a scrimmage than his other freshmen teammates, mainly because he’s the only guard of Sean Miller’s five-man recruiting class. While Sean Miller will want his guys to get something out of this scrimmage (i.e., don’t fool around for the whole time), these games tend to become more perimeter-oriented. York will have the ball in his hands more than the likes of Kaleb Tarczewski, Brandon Ashley and Grant Jerrett, and he’ll do something exciting with it.
2. Gabe York will win the slam dunk contest: Enough said.
3. Blue will defeat Red: To keep it consistent with my prediction of White defeating Cardinal, Blue has lost at least the last two to Red (no release for the 2009-10 Red-Blue Game), and that mini-streak will come to a screeching halt in the McKale Center on Sunday.