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Once again, a prominent Cougar is in the news for an opportunity that would take him to another school. Technically this time around it wouldn't be an opportunity at one school, rather, it would be involving twelve schools. Current WSU president Kirk Schultz is a name being bantered around as a replacement for the Commissioner of the Big 12 Conference. One of the reasons he is being considered would be his time as president of Kansas State. Schultz was successful in building up the athletic program at KSU as well as a huge influence on the Big 12 Conference.
Would this be a promotion for Schultz? Well, it would be a job that comes with a larger salary. Though his focus would remain on creating ideal situations for students, this one would only have a significant impact on student-athletes.
"Schulz has been the president at Washington State since June 2016. Under his guidance, Washington State has achieved numerous notable accomplishments. The school’s statewide enrollment totaled a record-breaking 31,478 students for the fall of 2018, the third straight year that the school went over 30,000 students." - Riley Gates 247Sports.com
In the meantime, this story is still in the rumor stage and lacks comment from Shultz or the Big 12. -
If you're wondering what is going on with Efe Abogidi since he entered the transfer portal, it would be an understatement to say, "A lot". It seems Abogidi has narrowed down his search to continue his college career to just 35 schools. When the list of college suitors is that extensive, it would seem that Coach Kyle Smith wasn't the only one surprised by Abogidi opting to enter the transfer portal. That's also a significant increase in interest gauged by the fact that there were only three schools offering a scholie to him coming out of high school in Australia. Those were WSU, Creighton, and UT-Arlington. In the meantime, Abogidi is preparing to enter the NBA draft pool even though it's common opinion that he's not quite ready for that step.
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Details have emerged on the NIL deal put together in order to secure a commitment from Cameron Ward to play quarterback for Washington State. His total package is estimated to be worth $90,000. It includes an apartment and the use of a new pickup truck provided by a local car dealership. Add to that $50,000 in cash upfront for public appearances to be named at a later date. The package for Ward was put together by the Cougar Collective. WSU cannot directly pay for any player to play for the school. The package offered under the NIL has to be brokered through alumni and WSU supporters. This separation between the school and student-athlete is a distinction without a difference. If you don't think AD Pat Chun is involved in the process, well, you probably believe in unicorns.
https://brobible.com/sports/article/washington-state-cameron-ward-nil-cost/
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 ...
