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Wazzu men's hoops (6-2, 1-1) will host undefeated Weber State (8-0) tonight at 7pm in Beasley Coliseum. The game will be telecast on the Pac-12 Network with Greg Heister and Dan Dickau calling the contest from courtside. This will be the second time in less than a week WSU will have an opportunity to hand an opponent their first loss of the season. Though Weber State is a mid-major school, make no mistake, this is a very good basketball squad. It will take 40-minutes of solid play if Wazzu expects to earn a victory. Colton Clark put together a nice preview of both games this week:
https://www.khq.com/sports/washington_state_university/washington-state-basketball-looking-forward-to-really-challenging-week-against-mid-major-notables-weber-state/article_eb5556c3-1223-5632-ad94-cf05d76aad22.html -
You may or may not have been aware of freshman Myles Rice coming to Pullman this year to play for Coach Kyle Smith. There was a fair amount of hype surrounding his joining the Cougs, but he has yet to see any playing time. Here's a nice write-up by Jamey Vinnick on the status of Rice:
https://247sports.com/Article/WSU-hoops-Kyle-Smith-says-Myles-Rice-being-fitted-for-a-redshirt-177656853/ -
The Pac-12 announced their all-conference picks yesterday and there were plenty of Cougs who earned recognition for their play. Of the 14 players selected, the marquee award went to Jayden de Laura as Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. Not to be overshadowed, three other guys earned first-team placement as a result of their stellar play, including: Abraham Lucas at offensive tackle; EDGE Ron Stone, Jr. and kicker Dean Janikowski. Wide receivers Travell Harris and Calvin Jackson Jr. were both named to the second team, the first set of Cougar wideouts to earn all-conference first or second team since Michael Bumpus (1st) and Jason Hill (2nd) in 2004 and both are the first WSU wide receivers to earn first or second-team honors since Gabe Marks was a first-team selection in 2015 and 2016. Nine players were named All-Pac-12 honorable mention: running back Max Borghi; quarterback Jayden de Laura; defensive back Daniel Isom; EDGE Brennan Jackson; defensive back Armani Marsh; wideout De'Zhaun Stribling; Lincoln Victor as an all-purpose player; defensive back Jaylen Watson and linebacker Jahad Woods. WSU's 14 all-conference selections are the most since the 2003 team earned 17 selections.
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Based on a radio interview, it looks as if new WSU offensive coordinator Eric Morris will be bringing at least one new wrinkle on the Air Raid to Pullman. Morris has made effective use of the tight end position during his time at Incarnate Word and Texas Tech. Since Wazzu doesn't have any tight ends on their current roster, look for a couple of players to join the Cougs via the transfer portal. Here's a complete recap of the interview with Morris:
https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/Article/New-football-offensive-coordinator-Eric-Morris-tight-ends-returning-to-WSU-offense-177683567/
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 ...
