k Hinton

[ElComanche]

Brand x reporting that he has left the team for "personal reasons". That is a good move for both Hinton and the team. The new wing players may have relegated Hinton to more backup duty. He can go play elsewhere rather than clap on the bench. Things are looking up for the team. i look for a totally different team and at least one more player will see his minutes drastically reduced next year.

 

[ElComanche]

Jordan Lathon is still out there. He visited SMU last week and is visiting Iowa State this week. The cougs now have one more scholarship to give out. The recruiting continues for the 2018 cycle. Also the 7'1 250 pd juco center James Hampshire may be recruitable for the 2018 cycle. So it will be interesting how this all plays out. I think that at least one more player will see his minutes drastically reduced next season

 

[SaveFerris]

With the Hinson news there is probably a decent shot we are getting a visit from Lathon. They obviously know they need to win now. Personally I think they need another big but it would also be tough to pass on a young PG like Lathon if he's interested.

 

[ElComanche]

The team does need a young big man but are there any available at this time? The chance to get a frosh PG at this time would be a bonus.This guy has way more potential than Flynn ever did at any point in his career

 

[7ICoug]

We certainly need another good impact player and they appear to be after a couple which is good

 

[YakiCoug]

With the Hinson news there is probably a decent shot we are getting a visit from Lathon. They obviously know they need to win now. Personally I think they need another big but it would also be tough to pass on a young PG like Lathon if he's interested.

Kent likely will get this season and next.

 

[SaveFerris]

We certainly need another good impact player and they appear to be after a couple which is good

Who are the others?

Kent likely will get this season and next.

He will get 2 more years but needs to show things have started to turn this year.

 

[Rich Lewis]

He will get 2 more years but needs to show things have started to turn this year.

With all the recent talk about the Athletic Department's debt I've been mulling this situation over. Given the projected debt of $85 million in 20??, even if they were to let Kent go right now it would have very little effect on the debt. In my view he needs to show a lot of improvement this year or they should let him go at the end of the season. They need to turn basketball into a revenue making rather than a revenue taking sport. That requires wins. A lot of them. I don't know if that's possible with an almost completely new and unproven team. You're probably right about 2 more years, but he sure as hell has had his chance(s).

 

[ElComanche]

I do not disagree with your comments. However,he will have two years to start winning or he should be gone,. The recruiting has been a problem and he was the one who did the hiring of coaches who basically proved inept in the recruiting arena.

 

[avabob1]

Given the current state of college basketball, I dont think anything short of a perrenial NCAA tourney team could get this program to break even.

 

[ElComanche]

It will take a winning team to jump start the program and gain fans interest. The student support is crucial in resurrecting coug basketball . The newcomers hold promise and the staff has to play the younger players. The older players like Franks,Pollard , Daniels,and maybe Chidom have to improve and provide some degree of leadership. The younger players have to mature fast and give energy and talent to the mix. If the staff play the younger more talented players,the team can mature and improve as the season progresses.The recruiting has picked up and they now have better athletes and players on campus. The coaches now have to do their jobs.

 

[jourdand]

Here we go again! our new players are great and will provide much better athleticism. Even though they are lightly recruited JC and very lightly recruited freshmen. I know this because of their amazing highlight clips and in most cases relatively mediocre stats. When will we stop this insanity? It’s the same every year. We could all name ten plus players in the last 4 years that were predicted to be game changers that barely see the floor doesn’t anybody else get sick of the hype with zero production?

 

[ElComanche]

I knew this was coming but this "insanity " springs hope eternal , What will stop it is a stable program with proven players, Unfortunately this has not happened. However,i really think this years crop is a cut above the other recruiting classes.I think that the potential is there. One has to be optimistic and the new season looms ahead. What is worse is the fans wanting a player to keep playing even though they really should not be playing . Of course i want to see other players on the court because if they are playing it means they are better players and the team should be better.

 

[avabob1]

At least most of our in coming players had interest from multiple quality mid majir programs. Not sure you can do much better than that in Pullman since I never remember us beating out UCLA, AZ. USC, ORE, Cal, or Stanford on anyone over the last 30 years.

 

[etowncoug]

At least most of our in coming players had interest from multiple quality mid majir programs. Not sure you can do much better than that in Pullman since I never remember us beating out UCLA, AZ. USC, ORE, Cal, or Stanford on anyone over the last 30 years.

This is pretty much it. Kwinton Hinson had an offer from Missouri. Milan Acquaah had an offer from UC-Santa Barbara. This incoming group has better offer sheets.

 

[7ICoug]

Here we go again! our new players are great and will provide much better athleticism. Even though they are lightly recruited JC and very lightly recruited freshmen. I know this because of their amazing highlight clips and in most cases relatively mediocre stats. When will we stop this insanity? It’s the same every year. We could all name ten plus players in the last 4 years that were predicted to be game changers that barely see the floor doesn’t anybody else get sick of the hype with zero production?

Hang on

 

[jourdand]

The biggest problem is not so much who offered as much as when. These offers came late in the recruiting cycle after WSU and the other programs had lost out on their main targets or lost players unexpectedly late in the year.

 

[ElComanche]

I do not see it as a problem. Granted they are not 4-5 star recruits but they had been offered for some time prior to committing. A player like Cannon really blossomed during the playoff s and his offers picked up.Kunc ,for example was a pleasant surprise. His size and skills are evident and i am surprised that he was not recruited really hard. He may be a "nugget" who somehow slipped under the radar. I believe that Robinson and Ali were rated 3 star recruits which is unusual for jucos. The unheralded and unpublicized jucos are usually given a NR or a 2 rating. That is why these players bring down a teams rating of recruits. I am not prepared to say it was a recruiting bonanza but each of these players have shown a lot of potential at their respective level of competition. Whether that translates to D1 success remains to be seen.

 

[SaveFerris]

It's not good getting 1 high school player in the early signing period over 2 years or 2 over a 3 year period (believe just Elleby & Acquaah) in year 4. Need to do a better job in with the November signing period.

 

[gazooks2]

I totally agree. Now that Kent has,belatedly, revamped his coaching/recruiting staff.i hope to see improvement.

 

[wulffbone]

Here we go again! our new players are great and will provide much better athleticism. Even though they are lightly recruited JC and very lightly recruited freshmen. I know this because of their amazing highlight clips and in most cases relatively mediocre stats. When will we stop this insanity? It’s the same every year. We could all name ten plus players in the last 4 years that were predicted to be game changers that barely see the floor doesn’t anybody else get sick of the hype with zero production?

This is one of the most realistic posts I've seen in years on Cougar Basketball. Well done Jourdand.

Most of us zero in on words posted such as hope, chance, potential, starting to turn, improvement, newcomers, better athletes, under the radar, nugget, and especially hope.

CEK has provided WSU very little "hope" that any of this will come true during his tenure at WSU. Kent should be using his talents selling used cars or timeshares instead of running WSU's basketball program. Wild guess here, but it seems that nearly 50% of Kent's recruits have transferred out. If the Cougs can't reach .500 overall or finish 8th or above in the conference, Ernie Kent should be put out to pasture with Bill Moos somewhere in Nebraska.

 

[ElComanche]

It is a terrible post. Coincidentally brand x posted a article about juco recruiting. Cameron Belden from Mullen sports,the top JC recruiting service Nationally had good things to say. They gave a rundown on WSU 's recruitment of juco basketball players. They called the incoming class a top 5 nationally rated juco class with players all from the the top 25 rated juco programs in the land.They pointed out that Oregon s program two years ago had 3 juco products starting. They also evaluated each player individually. It i It is easy for posters to lamblast the juco recruits without knowing anything about them. It does get tiresome listening to the same old arguments based on their "expert opinions" It is nice to get another opinion from people who truly follow juco basketball. I have been involved with basketball since i was 10 years old as a player,referee and coach.at the youth level. i see a lot of potential in the incoming players and get tired of posters discrediting videos which can show a lot to people who know what to look for. Lets give theses guys a chance and quit listening to self professed experts who dismiss them without knowing anything about them.I also agin think that Kunc will be fun to watch as he develops.

 

[avabob1]

I think Kunc snd Elleby have a lot of upside. I like their size as wings. Not prepared to make any projections on the JC kids, because you just never know.

 

[ElComanche]

Those two kids do have a lot of upside and i look forward to watching them play and develop. Despite the naysayers,i think there is reason for being somewhat optimistic.

 

[jourdand]

I think Kunc is a project worth taking a chance on but he is a long way from being PAC 12 ready. His shot appears solid but his athleticism is presently no where near PAC 12 level. Let’s see here El thought Cheatum would be an instant starter, then it was izundu. He thought Hawkinson didn’t deserve a D1 scholarship, he thought The kid Andy Van Vliet that went Wisconsin would leave early for the NBA, he left early after sitting on the bench for 2 years but not to the NBA. Oh yea and Cooper would be a force on last years team. Do I need to keep going?

 

[ElComanche]

The hope is alive. The naysayers like you do not help. You can call it objective but i call it stirring the pot. The athleticism and potential by Kunc is PAC 12 standards. He .like Chidom,needs to gain weight and strength. These are two standards which were spoken about with Chidom and others Of course you conveniently choose to ignore that fact.. There are many posters who want to see the guy play. They are the fans who want the program to succeed. The guy from Wisconsin was never an 5 prospect with a one and done deal. I could go on and on and you would not listen There is another objective evaluation of juco products which hits directly at your blanket condemnation of all the jucos. Quit trying to vary from that fact. You got caught saying the same old crap and then this nice article comes along. Will they all succeed? perhaps not but others see potential. The jury is still out on Chidom and we shall see if he can realize his potential. Sometimes coaches gravitate to a sport and set themselves up as experts and they sometimes are not what they profess and want themselves to be. The kids can sometimes develop and may be worth the wait. The jucos are an interesting group and do hold promise . The brief article is interesting and worth reading. Take the time to read it. I usually will not refer posters to brand x but this time i will.

 

[Glad Cougar]

I sure hope you are right, El C. Ernie Kent is getting paid more money than any WSU basketball coach in the school's history yet has the worst winning percentage for any coach since the 1950s with the exception of the infamous Paul Graham. Here's how the coaches stack up historically (all were at WSU for at least 4 years with the exception of Tony Bennett who was there for 3 years):

Tony Bennett .676

George Raveling .551

Kelvin Sampson .500

Ken Bone .482

Kevin Eastman .463

Marv Harshman .461

Dick Bennett .424

Len Stevens .417

Ernie Kent .379

Paul Graham .282

How big of a sample size is needed before some conclusions can be drawn? 5 years? 7 years? You felt very strongly about Ken Bone needing to be fired (which I agreed with after his 4th year) yet his winning percentage was 100 points higher than EKs.Optimism is great, a wait and see attitude is not unreasonable, but when you look at where the program is after 4 years of Ernie Kent, Jourdand's comments are not out of line or just unwarranted negativity.

Glad Cougar

 

[jourdand]

I apologize to ELcomanche for targeting him directly! I’m in Mexico and had a tad to much of the all inclusive cervesas las night. I think this recruiting class is solid and I think every player is worth the scholarship but I still think the roles they will be forced into are not the roles I would like to see them in next year, the following year maybe just not right away.

 

[ElComanche]

I also agree with the idea that Kent has to start producing wins. I said in another post that Kent has to start winning. The coaches have raw talent and the coaches have to mold them as players into a winning team.I do not think that WSU will wait two years if immediate progress is not shown. I have a thick skin so if people disagree with me then so be it. I rather see differing opinions than a dead silence on this board. I agree Kent has to start winning games and have an above .500 season this coming year.

 

[avabob1]

Tend to agree. This team under achieved last year in my opinion

 

[7ICoug]

I s
How big of a sample size is needed before some conclusions can be drawn? 5 years? 7 years? You felt very strongly about Ken Bone needing to be fired (which I agreed with after his 4th year) yet his winning percentage was 100 points higher than EKs.Optimism is great, a wait and see attitude is not unreasonable, but when you look at where the program is after 4 years of Ernie Kent, Jourdand's comments are not out of line or just unwarranted negativity.
Glad Cougar

That is nothing but the facts...pure and simple. We hope for improvement but conclusions are apparent.

 

[ElComanche]

The proof is in "da puddin" as the saying goes. The only true conclusion will be next years' record.

 

[7ICoug]

EK History suggests:

13-18 6-12
12-19 4-14
10-21 2-16 will be next as he has been on a steady regression.

We hope for 16-15 8-10 but this is unlikely.

 

[gazooks2]

Really i see a record of about 18-13 next year.If that happens then a NIT bid is probable. .I agree that the team will be an improved team next year..