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Let's lead things off with another transfer portal story. This one might affect those guys who love purple uniforms. Seems that Fresno State QB Jake Haener entered the transfer portal shortly after former Bulldog head coach Kalen DeBoer accepted the top job at UW. Haener had a terrific year this season and showed steady improvement under the tutelage of DeBoer. Why would Haener probably want to transition from a Bulldog to a Dawg? Simple. That's where he played his first two years of college ball. Also, DeBoer may need a first-string quarterback given the weak performance of 5-star recruit Sam Huard in the Apple Cup. Time will tell, but multiple sources, including Dan Raley of SI, believe there will be a reuniting of Haener and DeBoer in Montlake.
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WSU men's hoops (5-1, 0-0) begin their Pac-12 schedule this afternoon at 4:30pm PST in Tempe, AZ, when they take on the Arizona State Sun Devils (2-5, 0-0). You can watch the game on the Pac-12 Network. The Cougs have struggled in the second half of games this season and will have to play the full 40-minutes if they expect to capture a win. There were lessons to be learned from Wazzu's loss to 19-point underdog Eastern Washington. First and foremost, they need to run their offense. Or for that matter, any offense. When they simply look for a teammate to make a one-on-one move, things don't go smoothly. Here's Colton Clark's preview of the game:
https://www.khq.com/sports/washington_state_university/after-suffering-upset-loss-washington-state-heads-into-pac-12-play-searching-for-more-cohesion/article_ebab76bf-bff5-57b2-b274-93c2f15ec1e5.html -
Cougar volleyball will begin their NCAA tournament play tomorrow, Thursday at 2:30pm, in Waco, TX. They will face Big Sky champs Northern Colorado. After completing another challenging season of Pac-12 play, Wazzu knows what it takes to win at the next level. They will have to play much better than in their season finale loss to UW. No question that the key to a Cougar victory will be whether or not their best player, Pia Timmer, will be healthy enough to suit up. Even if Timmer is only at 75%, that's better than the players who will try to fill her shoes. Here's a nice preview by Jim Meehan of S/R:
https://news.yahoo.com/washington-state-volleyball-trying-next-030100430.html
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 ...
