NEW: Three Cougars granted release from scholarship...

[britton ransford]

Trevor Dunbar, Aaron Cheatum and Jackie Davis have been granted releases from the Washington State basketball program, Ernie Kent announced in a press release Tuesday. This will open three scholarships for next season.

"We appreciate the contributions Aaron, Jackie and Trevor have made to the program over the last year," Kent said. "We wish all three of them nothing but the best both on and off the court."

Cheatum and Dunbar each played 16 games for the Cougars, each averaging 0.8 points per game. Davis played in 11 games, averaging 0.5 points in 5.1 minutes per game.

 

[SaveFerris]

There it is. Writing was on the wall with 3 or 4 or more offers to JCs. Questions on whether Pollard goes Prep School, King's health with a broken leg. Interesting spring recruiting period but looks like they are on the outside looking in for Boucher at this point. A player that looks to have a high ceiling.

Lots of gaps to fill.

 

[Glad Cougar]

Probably a good sign that Ernie expects to upgrade the roster. I was less than enthused when he signed those three last year, but understood that he was coming in late and needed to fill out the roster.

If he replaced each of them with a JC, assuming they are juniors coming in....our junior class is going to be quite large. That might set up a huge recruiting class in a couple of years.

Glad Cougar

 

[Coug1990]

Originally posted by Glad Cougar:
Probably a good sign that Ernie expects to upgrade the roster. I was less than enthused when he signed those three last year, but understood that he was coming in late and needed to fill out the roster.

If he replaced each of them with a JC, assuming they are juniors coming in....our junior class is going to be quite large. That might set up a huge recruiting class in a couple of years.

Glad Cougar

Setting up another huge recruiting class in a few years is probably a good thing. It is a gamble that could pay off if signing JC players helps the Cougars to improve now. With a winning season or two, it would be much easier to recruit a big class in two years.

 

[7ICoug]

King reported today his leg is healing and on schedule. Look for a visit perhaps tomorrow by Vionte Daniels of Federal Way.

 

[SaveFerris]

Is Daniels competition for Redding? Replacement for Davis? Watched some video and seems like a solid player but wonder whether he's a significant upgrade over what's on the roster now.

 

[Rich Lewis]

Hopefully Ernie can get a couple of these JCs this spring. It's ok to start with JCs to get the program going, but in the end you have to get HSers with a JC here and there to fill in.

 

[SaveFerris]

I think JC is the way to go this year. They need to prove they can win before most quality Prep players will take a look. Last year was better but not enough to prove anything to the players we want.

 

[Rich Lewis]

Yeah I agree. Kelvin's model is what is needed for now. Looks like Vionte Daniels may commit tomorrow. Rivals has him 3 stars with interest from Portland State. Scout has him NR with no interest. ESPN has him 2 stars with interest from Oregon State, Idaho and a couple of others.

 

[wulffbone]

Here we go again, battling the likes of Portland State and Idaho for recruits. Is EK really recruiting much better than Bone did?

 

[Brent H.]

Originally posted by wulffbone:
Here we go again, battling the likes of Portland State and Idaho for recruits. Is EK really recruiting much better than Bone did?

Coaching wise, much, but it's going to take a minute for him to recruit. Basketball is something that takes a few years to get kids looking at your program. Hopefully kids that are juniors or sophomores now are going to start looking at the program more. Daniels is a pretty solid player, he was 4A POY of the year, could be a later bloomer. There is a lot of kids that get lost and turn into great college players. Lacy wasn't looked at by many schools, Low wasn't, Weaver had zero offers for any major schools in the midwest, Steph Curry didn't have any offers. Not saying this kid will be those players, but if Kent can get players to run his system and be able to shoot that is what we need.

 

[7ICoug]

He is a late bloomer. Didn't get focus until his senior year. These are the types of players you bring in and work with and hope they bloom. He had an outstanding Senior year and season.

Probably until we get to winning seasons you get hidden gems.

I believe the JC center will also sign and who knows Pollard looks like he might be in rather than Prep school. He also had a good senior year. At least as good as many of the players from Colorado back a few years.

This post was edited on 4/1 7:47 AM by 7ICoug

Vionte Daniels

 

[CougSinceBirth]

Originally posted by Brent H.:

Originally posted by wulffbone:
Here we go again, battling the likes of Portland State and Idaho for recruits. Is EK really recruiting much better than Bone did?

Coaching wise, much, but it's going to take a minute for him to recruit. Basketball is something that takes a few years to get kids looking at your program. Hopefully kids that are juniors or sophomores now are going to start looking at the program more.

I think it's very feasible to turn a basketball program around in two, maybe three years. Obviously, it takes the right mix of coaching and recruiting.