Pacific’s roster is as deep as the ocean

Damon Stoudamire promised that everyone would get a fair shot as he went about rebuilding the Pacific basketball program.

However, the second-year coach couldn’t possibly have meant it like THIS …

Could he?

No one in the Tigers’ fan base is complaining, not with a 16-5 record and a 3-2 start in WCC (that very well could be 5-0) heading into Thursday night’s scrap at home with BYU.

Following that matchup, Pacific heads to Spokane — giving the No. 1 Zags their first look at hoops socialism, or whatever Stoudamire chooses to call his spread-the-wealth program.

The Tigers had leading scorer Jahlil Tripp returning, and he figured to be Pacific’s steadying influence.

Tripp is certainly is doing his job, clocking 15.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

But after that …

Well, it’s clearly hoops by committee as no less than 12 players are averaging at least 14.4 minutes per game (through this past weekend).

Freshman Pierre Cockrell II leads the Tigers in assists at 3.9, in just a tick over 18 minutes of playing time, and James Hampshire, a 7-foot-1 transfer from Casper College, has registered close to two blocks per game — after being 14th in the nation in that category among community college players a year ago..

With this Pacific team, the old joke is true: You really can’t tell the players without a program.