2015 PF 6-9 will be on an unofficial visit this week. WSU has offered.



Talking Hoops

Will take an unofficial to WSU tomorrow.

The early period began on June 15.2014. The coaches can contact players and have off campus visits with them. So far ,the cougs have extended offers to SF 's 6''7 Tony Anderson and 6''7 Nate Grimes. They are also eying 6'10 Isaiah Robinson and 6'11 Greyson Smallwood. These two positions being recruited ,show the need for bigger swing forwards and legitimate big men. The cougs have only 6''7 Cheatum and 6''7 Longrus as legitimate big men after next season. The staff is trying to address the needs at this early date.The cougs can offer playing time for all new players being recruited,so they are probably playing up this in their recruiting.

Ernie Kent is holding out the last one hoping to land a "big' at this late date.The only ones potentially availiable are Manderson and Olive .a pair of OSU commits.The pickings are rather slim at this late date. Times are slow so i am just putting this out to see if any other names pop up.It is no secret that the cougs need help on the inside.I believe that he is happy with all of his underated recruits right now.

What are the Cougs prospects for next year under Kent? How do you see your team finishing in the Pac 12 and do you see post season tournament as a possibility? Outside of Lacy, who will be your impact players? Thx

Someone did four years ago and we had a lot of fun.

Isiash Manderson a 6'10 -250 center asked and was given his release from Oregon State according to unofficial reports. Manderson a three star center was sought by about 20 D1 programs. One would expect that Cameron Oliver a 6'8-225 pd PF and an OSU commit may soon follow.. It is unknown if Kent and company are actively recruiting these players After Robinson was fired, things are starting to happen.. These two players are high quality with Scout rating Oliver as a four star recruit.. Oliver is from Sacramento so he may be a possibility,one can hope the stars align

This post was edited on 6/4 8:45 AM by gazooks2

Is announcing tomorrow. It looks like the coug's will have a hat on the table. Do we have a shot?

PULLMAN, Wash. - Scott Thom has been named Washington State University men's basketball strength and conditioning coach, head basketball coach Ernie Kent announced Wednesday.

"Scott has the experience and passion to help elevate our basketball program to another level when it comes to strength and conditioning," Kent said. "Having worked at this level in a successful basketball program like Cal's, he will blend nicely with our outstanding strength and conditioning team we already have in place here."

Thom spent the previous four years at California where he served as the strength and conditioning coach for the men's basketball program, working with former head coach Mike Montgomery and a strength and conditioning staff led by Mike Blasquez and Hank Behrens. The Golden Bears made postseason appearances in each of Thom's four years at Cal, while two of the student-athletes he helped train were named Pac-12 Players of the Year, Jorge Gutierrez (2011-12) and Allen Crabbe (2012-13), both who went on to play in the NBA.

"The Cougars will love Scott," Montgomery said. "He's an excellent strength coach, relates really well to the kids, has a ton of enthusiasm, just wants to be a part of it and wants to win and do whatever he can to help. He's a great addition to the Cougar family."

Prior to joining the staff at California, Thom coached basketball and taught physical education for seven years at Vintage High School in Napa, Calif. In 2009, Thom was named Coach of the Year as he led the Crushers to their first playoff appearance in 10 years. He was intern at Cal's strength and conditioning department where he worked primarily with the men's basketball program before being hired full-time in 2010.

"I was extremely fortunate to step into an environment at Cal led by Coach Montgomery, where his staff and the players created an energy that inspired you to do your best job," Thom said. "After meeting Coach Kent and the basketball staff at Washington State, I knew right away that this was going to be a great situation too. I was so excited after we all met and they showed me the amazing facilities, that I had a hard time falling asleep that night. I can't wait to meet the players and start training. I think Pullman is a special place and the school is filled with faculty, staff and coaches that believe deeply that Washington State can be a powerhouse in the Pac-12. I just want to help anyway I can and be part of the movement."

Thom received his bachelor's degree in physical education from Chico State and teaching credentials in physical education from Sonoma State. Certified though both CSCS and USAW, Thom is currently working on his master's degree in coaching and athletic administration through Concordia University.

(via WSU Athletics Communcations)


This post was edited on 6/4 2:09 PM by Britton Ransford

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Trevor Dunbar (5-10, 170, Guard, San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Preparatory) has signed a Financial Aid Agreement (FAA) to play for the Washington State University men's basketball team beginning with the 2014-15 season, head coach Ernie Kent announced Tuesday.

"Trevor is an outstanding young man that has spent an enormous amount of time refining his game, which will show in his ability to handle the basketball and see and make difficult plays," Kent said. "He has a certain style and flare to his game that will quickly unite and excite our student body when it has the opportunity to see him play. I look forward to coaching Trevor."

A three-year starter at St. Ignatius, Dunbar served as team captain as a senior, averaging 22 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals a game. He's a three-time first team All-WCAL (West Catholic League) selection and was named MVP of the league in 2014. Dunbar was also the 2014 Central Coast Section Player of the Year and named to Max Preps' 2013-14 California All-State Honorable Mention Team. During his senior year, the Wildcats went 27-7 overall and 11-3 in league, falling in the second round of the CIF State Boys Basketball Playoffs.

Dunbar joins a signing class that includes fellow incoming freshmen Jackie Davis[/B] (6-3, 195, G, Long Beach, Calif./Rolling Hills Prep School) and Nyaires (Ny-air-ees) 'Ny' Redding [/B](6-2, 180, Guard, Solon, Ohio/Westwind Prep-Ariz.), as well as junior college-transfer Aaron Cheatum[/B] (6-7, 240, F, Moreno Valley, Calif./East Los Angeles College). The Cougars have one scholarship remaining for the 2014-15 season.

(via WSU Athletics Communications)

I have noticed that WSU has recently offered Andre Adams a 6'9 HS PF from Arizona. Adams has not committed as he had to work on becoming qualified.. Adams is a three star PF drawing interest and offers from PAC 12 teams as well as Indiana. He was known by several schools as a possible Late summer commit. Lets hope that he is qualified and Kent can reel this PF ,known for his defensive abilities in. He would be the icing on the cake,so to speak.

Several players of interest in this report.

Pangos

Chauca signed with Cal today. It is too bad as this is the worst place he could have signed basketball wise.He will not do well playing for Counzo Martin. Counzo Martin likes a slower paced game and a smaller gusrd not possesseing extreme quickness or great jumping ability will have problems adjusting

Brandon Chauca will chose either Cougs or Cal Friday evening at 6. It would be nice if one of these went our way.

According to multiple reports, Gonzaga forward Lucas Meikle will not return for his sophomore season. The 6-foot-8, 200-pounder played in 15 games for the Bulldogs as a freshman and averaged 0.9 points and 0.7 rebounds per game.

Meikle is is originally out of Tacoma (Wash.) Bellarmine Prep. It will be interesting to see if Ernie Kent and staff take a sniff at the in-state product or if he decides to drop down and play immediately.


This post was edited on 5/27 4:31 PM by Britton Ransford

Former Washington State center James Hunter, who was released from his scholarship by Ernie Kent, will transfer to the University of South Dakota, the school announced on Tuesday.

Hunter, a product of Sydney, Australia, will be eligible to play immediately with one year of eligibility after graduating from Washington State this month. The 6-foot-10, 265-pound big man appeared in 18 games for the Cougars during the last two seasons, totaling 17 points and seven rebounds in 46 minutes of game action.

Hunter signed with Washington State out of Gillette College (Wyo.) following the 2011-12 season where he averaged 13 points and 6.8 rebounds.

Any word on the "Big" addition that was rumored about a week ago
when "the Direction" was changed.

Looks like PF and 2 Guards now?

Sure would be nice if another inside player is added.

PULLMAN, Wash. | Washington State University men's basketball rising-senior, DaVonte Lacy, was chosen as one of 13 Pac-12 men's basketball student-athletes to participate in a four-game all-star tour of China this summer as part of the league's Globalization Initiative, the conference announced Friday.

The aim of the initiative is to help support Pac-12 member universities' international outreach efforts, build their brands in an important market, and provide quality educational and cultural exchange experiences for student-athletes.

The team will be coached by Utah head coach, Larry Krystkowiak and features student-athletes from 10 of the conference's 12 schools. The Pac-12 intended on having all 12 member universities represented on the team. However, the academic schedules of student-athletes from Oregon and UCLA conflicted with the tour dates.

Last year Lacy (Tacoma, Wash.) led WSU with 19.4 points per game and was one game away from being eligible for Pac-12 individual rankings, which would have put him second in the league in points per game. His 3.3 3-pointers made per game would have led the conference and his .390 (76-195) would have put him at 12th in the league rankings. He was named All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and became the 34th Cougar to reach the 1,000 career point plateau.

The 10-day tour will commence Aug. 10 and will be the first men's basketball all-star tour for the Pac-12 since the conference sent both a men's and women's all-star team to Japan in 1996. The team will start with pre-tour practice at San Francisco, Aug. 7-9, and play games Aug. 13, 14, 16 and 18, before returning to the United States around Aug. 19.

Joining Lacy on the team are guards Andrew Andrews (Washington), Bo Barnes (Arizona State), Malcom Duvivier (Oregon State), Jacob Hazzard (Arizona) and Brandon Taylor (Utah); forwards Xavier Johnson (Colorado), Nikola Jovanovic (USC), Jordan Loveridge (Utah) and Roger Moute a Bidias (California); and centers Cheikh N'diaye (Oregon State), Jeremy Olsen (Utah) and Schuyler Rimmer (Stanford).

The Pac-12 All-Star team will face a Chinese university all-star team and play three games against teams from the Chinese Basketball Association, including the Shanghai Sharks. Eight-time NBA All-Star Yao Ming owns the Sharks. Max Zhang, a former CALIFORNIA student-athlete has been the center for the Sharks since his return to China in 2010. It will also play the Guangdong Southern Tigers, the 2013-14 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) regular season champion. The Tigers' leading Chinese scorer is Yi Jianlian, who played for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks under Krystkowiak during the 2007-08 season before returning to the CBA in 2012.

In addition to the competition in China, the team will participate in various youth clinics, as well as take in the culture and history of China with visits to various landmarks and historical sites in the cities of Shanghai, Nantong and Shenzhen.

The Pac-12 is working with HUPU Sports Media Co.[/I] in arranging and promoting the tour, competitions and cultural activities. The Pac-12 is also continuing its partnership with Federation of University of Sports (FUSC), China's equivalent of NCAA in organizing the 3rd China-U.S. University Sports Week, an annual collaborative event between the Pac-12 and the FUSC that will feature a friendly game between the Pac-12 All-star Team and a Chinese University All-star Team and coaching clinics. In addition, the United States Consulate in Shanghai has agreed to support the tour and will have senior members of the Consulate participate a welcome reception for the Pac-12 delegation, a tour press conference and various activities of the tour in Shanghai and Nantong.

To support the Pac-12 Conference's on-going effort to build awareness of its' member universities and the Conference in China, the Pac-12 is working with its Chinese partners to organize an academic symposium in conjunction with the Pac-12 men's basketball all-star tour in August. The symposium will include a high-profile U.S.-China university leaders' forum and business meetings between the Pac-12 university delegates and senior dignitaries from the Chinese government and universities. Six of the Conference's member institutions will send a senior member to join this symposium.

Over the past two summers as part of the Conference's Globalization Initiative, the league has sent an all-star women's volleyball team, men's basketball teams from Arizona State and UCLA and women's basketball team from California to China.


(Via WSU Athletics Communications)


This post was edited on 5/23 11:17 AM by Britton Ransford

I don't understand the lack of ANY interest on this site/board for Cougar Aron Baynes. Is anyone else even watching the Western Conference finals?

Last night in the 35-point pummeling of OKC, Baynes played the entire 4th quarter. While it was reserves vs reserves thanks to the then-30 point lead, Baynes had a couple of nice jump-hook baskets, couple of rebounds, and generally had his way with OKC rookie center (and reputed cheap shot artist) Steven Adams. Adams was 4-4 in the game until facing Big Daddy, and was 0-1 from that point on.

The best part was that the announcers talked about Baynes a bit, prominently mentioning WSU along the way. As I have opined before, Spurs fans have taken a real liking to Aron, with a comment today that he could likely start on some teams in the league with a little more develpment. Not sure if that is true, but it looks like he will stick in the League. When is the last time WSU had two NBA players at the same time? Collins and Ehlo?

... committed to Oregon. That's what I was hearing for about a week now, but he made it official at Lincoln this morning. Now the full-court press shifts to Brandon Chauca, who WazzuWatch.com spoke with earlier this morning. We've posted an update in the War Room.

There is a lot of speculation about Rorie on this board. Has there been any news on Brandon Chauca? There is a good chance that the cougs go 0-2 on these two. I am hoping that one of them commits to the cougs.Kent is recruiting against some good schools for these two. It is not like we are competing against San Diego University for their commits.

10 AM at Lincoln High School. I guess we will see then.

His decision on Wednesday according to LC Recruiting

Well it looks like option B is on the table. This guy is a 6'3 165 pd shooting guard. His videos indicate shooting ability but he would not be of immediate help in my opinion. He averaged 22 pts a game against suspect talent He is not a Rorie ,that s for sure. One would guess that Rorie is long gone and Kent is trying to find another shooting guard. Sanders is not a PG candidate .