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With Covid wiping out Cougar hoops action, there isn't much to pass along in the way of news. Backup kicker Andrew Boyle has entered the transfer portal. It was thought that Boyle would be the starting place kicker for the Cougs last season, but an injury during fall camp sidelined him for the season opener. Dean Janikowski stepped in to fill his shoes and remained first string the rest of the way. You may recall that Janikowski earned All-Pac 12 honors in the process.
Lincoln Victor walked on last season at wide receiver. Thanks to former Coach Rolovich's connection with Hawai'i, Victor was lured to the Palouse where he hauled in 22 receptions last season. That performance and work ethic earned Victor a scholie. -
Some of you remember the name Brett Bartolone. If not, here's a little refresher. Bartolone had an excellent freshman season back in 2012, grabbing a team-high 43 catches. He looked to be an outstanding inside receiver for another three years after that. But a shoulder injury put him on the sidelines most of his sophomore campaign. Bartolone never caught another pass wearing crimson and gray. His focus shifted from being a player to coaching. As reported by Colton Clark, his coaching career got a huge boost recently when it was announced he'll be the offensive coordinator for Jackson State. Does JSU ring a bell? It should. That's where head coach Prime Time Deion Sanders led them to 11-2 last season and a lot of national attention. Playing for Mike Leach in Pullman, coaching with Matt Mumme at Nevada, Bartolone plans to bring his version of the Air Raid to Jackson State.
https://www.khq.com/sports/washington_state_university/former-washington-state-receiver-brett-bartolone-hired-as-jackson-state-offensive-coordinator/article_ed688098-4eaa-5055-b430-fc7966007144.html -
Based on some reports I've come across, it would seem that part of the allure for Jayden de Laura to enter the transfer portal was the offer made by Arizona. His NIL package is said to be in the $300,000 range. Not bad money if you can get it, and he got it. His heir apparent in Pullman, Cameron Ward, didn't get quite as sweet a deal. Again I'm going with unconfirmed information from reliable sources, Ward got a $60,000 truck, $50,000 cash, and $20,000 for housing. Players have been getting similar deals for decades, but it used to be prohibited by the NCAA. Not anymore. If you're a starting quarterback for Alabama, win the Heisman, and a national championship, well, you will be showered with roughly $1,000,000 in cash and merchandise. Oh, the times they are a changin'.
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 ...
