Though this is an off week for Cougar football, there are still plenty of athletics activities worth taking a look at. Here's a sampling of the stories we've found out there on the interwebs:
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Wazzu women's hoops have most of last year's roster back for another season. That said, will they look much the same on offense and defense? Depth at the guard position might be even stronger based on the comments of Coach Etheridge.
https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/Article/WSU-womens-hoops-Get-ready-for-Grace-Sarver-to-run-more-at-the-point-174482089/ -
The Leger-Walker sisters, Krystal and Chalisse will likely be the foundation for the women's basketball team this season. Krystal will be one of those unique sixth-year seniors because she opted to take advantage of the NCAA ruling allowing student-athletes an extra year of eligibility.
https://www.inlander.com/spokane/sisters-krystal-and-charlisse-leger-walker-hope-to-lead-wsus-womens-squad-to-a-second-straight-magical-season/Content?oid=22645251 -
There's plenty of reasons for Cougar Nation to be optimistic about this upcoming season. Here's a nice view from a Wazzu student looking at why things are positive for Coach Etheridge and company.
https://dailyevergreen.com/119565/sports/cougar-hoops-ready-for-potential-history/
Men's Golf Sets Records
- The Washington State Men's Golf team capped off one of its best performances ever on Saturday, October 23rd, as the Cougars posted their lowest three-round team score in program history to win the Visit Stockton Invitational. The Cougs posted a team score of 816 (-36) to win the team championship. Meanwhile, redshirt senior Max Sekulic carded the lowest three-round score in WSU history by carding 16-under par, 197 to win the tournament's individual title.
WSU soccer looks to sweep UW this week
- #18 Washington State Soccer heads to Seattle for the Boeing Apple Cup Series contest with Washington. The Cougs entered the weekly rankings, jumping into the top-25 for the first time since the opening week of their 2021 spring campaign.
The Cougs are coming off of a sweep of the Oregon Schools as Senior Sydney Pulver earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors. The award was the second of the year for the super senior.
WSU Volleyball returns to Bohler Gym this week
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The Cougs are back in Bohler for the second go-around against the Arizona School with the Wildcats on the court first Friday night. The Cougs dominated play against the two schools a few weeks prior, rolling into the Copper State and sweeping away both teams on their home courts. It was the first sweep of the two schools on the road since 2016.
Last time out against the Wildcats the Cougs picked up just their eighth win all-time in Tucson. The offense found its form once again especially at Arizona where the Cougs hit .326, their best mark in Pac-12 play and third-best mark on the year. In the match, Pia Timmer was at her best hitting .444 while finishing with a match-high 19 kills. Additionally, the Cougs service game was at its best with a 7-0 advantage in the ace department.
In the last 10 matches against the Wildcats the Cougs are 7-3 including a 3-2 mark at home at Bohler Gym. The Wildcats did get the best of the Cougs last time in Pullman with a 3-0 sweep during the spring season after the Cougs had won the match a day prior, 3-1. -
Our final story does focus on Cougar football. Specifically, recruiting. With the head coaching job an unsettled situation for Wazzu, there are going to be plenty of schools looking to poach talent once committed to play football in Pullman. USC, which doesn't have a head coach under contract at the moment, is making a run at one of the prized athletes recruited by Coach Dickert.
https://247sports.com/Article/Taariq-Al-Uqdah-All-American-Bowl-jersey-washington-state-football-usc-trojans--174484512/
Go Cougs!!!
- It seems fitting to put together a list of coaches who branch off of the Mike Leach coaching tree. Perspective on his football genius can easily be determined by a cursory glance:
Dave Aranda/Baylor head coach – Graduate assistant coach under Leach from 2000-02 at Texas Tech
Neal Brown/West Virginia head coach – Played under Leach in 1998 when Leach was offensive coordinator at Kentucky
Sonny Cumbie/Louisiana Tech head coach – Played under Leach at Texas Tech from 2000-03 and later served as a graduate assistant coach under Leach
Sonny Dykes/TCU head coach – Coached wide receivers and later was the co-offensive coordinator at Texas Tech under Leach from 2000-06
Josh Heupel/Tennessee head coach – Played under Leach at Oklahoma in 1999 when Leach was the offensive coordinator for the Sooners
Dana Holgorsen/Houston head coach – Coached alongside Leach as assistants at Valdosta State from 1993-95, then served as a wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator under Leach from ...
- The news of former WSU Coach Mike Leach passing at the young age of 61 is very, very sad. I had the pleasure of writing about the Cougs when Leach was at the helm. To say that he was a unique person doesn't begin to describe the multi-faceted dimension of the man.
In terms of coaching football, Leach led his teams in a way that had most other coaches scratching their heads. His offensive creativity gave a multitude of defensive coordinators ulcers. To say that his techniques for molding student-athletes into football players were unusual would be accurate. Making guys run sprints in a sand pit named "Leach Beach" is a prime example. Crazy as that sounds, his players had fewer ankle injuries over the course of the season than any team in football. Only Mike Leach could get players to hit the beach. And if you look at the coaching tree that branches out from Leach, you'd find a myriad of men who owe him for their start in the profession.
When you examine the way Leach represented the schools ...
- Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so Wazzu's loss yesterday to UNLV by a score of 74-70 was just that, a loss. However, there were plenty of reasons to applaud both the performance and the progress the Cougs are making over the past few games. Let's get the bad observation out of the way. WSU turned the ball over a ridiculous 22 times. No one is going to beat many teams with such wreckless play, especially against a team that posted a 9-0 record going into the contest. Some of those errors might be attributed to Coach Kyle Smith going with a different lineup almost every game because of player injuries. Facts are facts and when there isn't a steady lineup, players struggle to play team ball. On the bright side, Wazzu shot a respectable 54.2% from the field, coupled with a very nice 56.5% from behind the arc. On defense, WSU held UNLV to just 30.4% from behind the arc and 50.9% overall. The Cougs outrebounded the Rebels by a margin of 33-20. Despite being down by ...
