-
If you missed the WSU women's hoops (10-5,2-2 Pac-12) game yesterday, you missed a dandy. The Cougs mounted a historic comeback to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. You had to be a faithful Coug to hang in with this contest against USC (8-5,1-2 Pac-12). The Trojans come out playing like the team who was coming off a win over top-rated Arizona. There really aren't enough adjectives to describe how bad the Cougs were shooting in the first quarter. Rather than dazzle you with colorful language, consider this fact. Wazzu managed to make one bucket. That's right. One 3-point shot is all WSU put up on the scoreboard over the first 10-minutes of play. When the scoreboard shows 17-3 in favor of your opponent, most fans head to the bar, refrigerator, or liquor store. By halftime, the crimson and gray-clad team narrowed the margin to 37-30 and there was some hope for a road win. Man, the Cougs really played good ball the rest of the way. One fact that may have helped their cause was the draconian health measures put in place by LA County. There were no fans in attendance, just family. It appeared there were as many WSU family members in the stands as USC had. And in the end, Wazzu left Galen Center with a 71-63 conference win. In the process, they overcame a 17-point deficit marking the largest comeback in the history of WSU women's hoops. Also, it was the first Wazzu win in Galen Center since the 2013-14 campaign, when WSU knocked off Southern Cal, 79-75.
After the game, Coach Kamey Ethridge had this to say:
"It feels really great to get a win. I thought we started the game playing really hard. I thought we executed well and got good shots, but the ball didn't go into the basket. We didn't create any offensive rebounding or other options and got ourselves into a hole. I love the way our team responded. I thought Johanna (Teder) was critical to us in the second quarter, with some 3-pointers and Ula (Motuga) hit a couple as well that really got us going. Just getting the game manageable by half was huge for us. And then it might have been our best execution all year in the third and fourth quarters. Just really quality basketball and getting what we wanted. We played a tremendous 20-minutes in the second half. I'm thrilled that we got this win. It's hard to win in this league, so I'm happy for any of them."
WSU will complete this road trip on Sunday with a 12noon tipoff against UCLA which will be telecast on the Pac-12 Network.
https://wsucougars.com/news/2022/1/14/womens-basketball-cougs-post-a-historic-comeback-in-win-at-southern-cal.aspx -
Coach Jake Dickert has added another member of the football coaching staff by hiring Nick Whitworth who most recently was coaching special teams for Texas State. Whitworth will handle special teams duties while also mentoring tight ends. That's not a typo. Dickert not only signed a tight end he will have a coach assigned to bring them along. If you're still shaking your head about Wazzu using tight ends, here's the reason. WSU hasn't had a tight ends coach on staff since Rich Rasmussen held down those responsibilities for former Coach Paul Wulff in 2011. Whitworth spent the past three seasons as special teams coordinator/running backs coach at Texas State. He had the same job title at FCS Portland State (2015-18) and Division II Central Washington (2011-14). This looks like a good fit for the Cougs.
-
Here's a twist on the "grass-greener" mindset of guys entering the transfer portal. Cammon Cooper opted to enter the portal rather than compete for playing time at quarterback for WSU. After weighing various offers, Cooper decided to transfer to Hawai'i. Not a bad place to live out your college eligibility. However, the guy who convinced him to leave Pullman, Todd Graham, is gone. Graham resigned as head coach for the Rainbow Warriors Friday amid some nasty rumors of player mistreatment and poor management skills. Apparently, Cooper didn't notice that while he was transferring into that program, 16 players were in the transfer portal looking for a new school. Perhaps Cooper can opt-out because the coach left? Perhaps most of Cougar Nation could care less?
-
From the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" files, food and drinks will not be available during Cougar basketball games “at least through the end of January,” per a statement from WSU President Kirk Schulz.
“This will allow attendees to keep their masks on at all times,” Schulz wrote.
WSU made adjustments to its campus COVID-19 procedures “to provide increased protection against the highly transmissible omicron variant,” per the release. Such efforts have proved highly successful in slowing down Omicron. Oh! Wait a minute, there is no data to support this move. Way to go Washington State! -
Jamey Vinnick posted news yesterday about another player transferring to WSU. Washington State is adding tight end Billy Riviere to the team. A transfer from North Dakota, Riviere has three years of eligibility remaining, and just told CF.C he is walking on at Washington State. It's going to take some time to adjust one's mindset to the recruitment of tight ends to Pullman.
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 ...
