News for CougGroup 2/15/2018
Veteran Coug squad looking to take
another step
WSU has plenty of experienced players it
can lean on in Lees' third season
By Stephan Wiebe, Moscow Pullman Daily
News (also appeared in the Lewiston Tribune)
The Washington State baseball team is no
longer a young, inexperienced squad with a fresh head coach.
The Cougars made strides during coach
Marty Lees' second year at the helm last season, improving by five wins to
24-29 overall, and moving up three spots in the Pac-12 standings to ninth
despite finishing with one fewer win at 10-20.
This season, Lees has his most
experienced squad yet in his third year with the Cougars.
"We're a senior-led team,
senior-dominated team," Lees said. "Probably the most seniors I've
ever had on one team as a coach. Hopefully we can reap the rewards of
that."
The Cougars boast nine seniors and 16
total upperclassmen, led by senior lefties Scotty Sunitsch and Cody Anderson on
the mound and junior shortstop Andres Alvarez, junior second baseman Justin
Harrer and senior outfielder J.J. Hancock at the plate.
Harrer and Hancock drove in a team-high
32 runs apiece in '17 and Alvarez's .308 average is tops among six returners
who hit .288 or better.
"If there's a strength to where
we're at right now, it would be our team offense," Lees said. "I feel
very good about where the hitting is at. That's where I feel like we've come a
long ways."
The Cougars have to replace their most
consistent hitter from a year ago in departed third baseman Shane Matheny, who
took his .309 average and 34 RBI to the minor leagues, but Lees hopes to
replace his only all-conference player with a deeper offense this season.
Sophomore Dillon Plew will slide over
from second base to third to replace Matheny on the field, and he swings a
decent bat, too. The Kennewick, Wash., product hit .293 with 14 RBI in 52
games.
"You talk about replacing someone
who is very good, but Dillon has done a very nice job," Lees said. "I
think he'll actually be a better hitter earlier than Shane was as a sophomore
(in 2016)."
With more experience comes more
responsibility for Washington State's upperclassman, and they're taking the
responsibility in stride, from the practice field to the weight room to the
classroom.
"Just being around the team, being
around the coaches, knowing what to expect, you learn the ropes," Harrer
said. "(Now I'm) able to step next to a young guy and say, 'This is what
you're going through, it's no big deal, you're gonna work through it.' "
Harrer has bounced around during his
tenure at Washington State, moving from shortstop to outfield and, now, to
second base for his junior season.
Alvarez returns at shortstop and
.288-hitter James Rudkin returns at first base. Alvarez and Rudkin were the
only Cougars to start all 53 games last season.
Catcher duties will go to sophomore Cal
Waterman and junior Robert Teel while starter Corey Meyer recovers from a back
injury.
Hancock, fellow senior Blake Canton
(.248) and sophomore Danny Sinatro (.224) will command the outfield, although
Harrer will occasionally return to left field, Lees said.
Aside from Wednesday's winter storm on
the Palouse, Washington State enjoyed good weather this offseason - a plus
compared to last winter's blustery conditions that forced the Cougars indoors.
Lees compared the team's 2016-17 indoors
offseason to a basketball team having to practice its entire offseason on half
a basketball court. Not ideal.
"I would compare not being able to
be outside to (WSU) coach (Ernie) Kent working out all fall on half court and
not being able to use the full court until you play the first game," he
said. "It'd be kind of hard to be able to run a full-court offense and
defense."
Even with the decent weather this
offseason, the Cougars are itching to get out and play an actual opponent in
warmer temperatures.
The Cougars begin a daunting
early-season slate Friday in Tempe, Ariz., for weekend games against UC
Riverside and Big Ten power Nebraska, before heading to Phoenix to face Western
Athletic Conference favorite Grand Canyon.
"Really just anxious to get to some
warm weather and get down and start playing someone else other than
ourselves," Harrer said. " I think there's going to be some fun
baseball to watch."
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Pullman airport plan gets go-ahead
FAA accepts four-year improvement
proposal; budgeting $22 million for new terminal, apron
By Josh Babcock of the Lewiston Trib
PULLMAN - The Federal Aviation
Administration has accepted the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport's four-year
Capital Improvement Plan and is budgeting $22 million to help construct a new
terminal and terminal apron there.
Under the CIP, design of the building
would begin in 2020 and construction of the terminal would begin in 2021 - $16
million would fund the terminal's construction and another $5 million in 2022
would be used to construct the new terminal apron.
Design of the terminal is expected to
cost about $1 million.
Airport Director Tony Bean said the $22
million the FAA is providing would require a local match, similar to the
airport's current runway realignment project.
Bean said that local match is 8.12
percent, or about $1.94 million, but not all items are eligible for federal
funding.
"Most public areas are all
fundable; they will fund up to the counters for rental cars and airlines, but
nothing behind the counter," Bean said, noting any administrative office
space also is ineligible.
"My office is not the FAA's
problem," he said. "Whatever you want it to look like aesthetically
is on you."
Bean said he and the board are trying to
figure out how to raise the money for items - like the parking lot - that are
not eligible for federal funding. The parking lot alone will require about 500
parking spaces, which Bean anticipates could cost about $3,000 a piece; quickly
adding up to another $1.5 million.
With the design of the building not
expected to begin until 2020, no one knows what the total price will be just
yet.
"It depends on how ornate the
community wants the building to be," Bean said.
He said he will submit a proposal for
the future terminal to a consultant once information is gathered from the
airport's stakeholders, but he's hopeful for a "flexible" building
that can be expanded if necessary.
Washington State University, the
University of Idaho, the cities of Moscow and Pullman, Schweitzer Engineering
Laboratories, Ed and Beatriz Schweitzer, the Port of Whitman, and Whitman and
Latah counties are among the stakeholders in the runway realignment.
Bean said he also wants to meet with the
airport's stakeholders before making any financing decisions. The airport's
current terminal was funded mostly by a Pullman bond, but also included pledged
donations from stakeholders.
One thing is for sure - the new terminal
will have to be bigger than the roughly 10,000 square feet it is now.
Bean said the new facility needs to be
at least 40,000 square feet.
He said it's important to note that the
FAA has yet to award the airport any money, and all CIP projects are dependent
on the availability of funding in any given year.
However, with much of the funding
expected to trickle to the airport in just three years, he's confident the FAA
is serious about the new terminal and believes the project will come to fruition,
likely in 2023.
"It's something we've been pushing
for," Bean said. "I'm extremely grateful to the FAA for working with
us to better the situation here; a terminal building is a huge need and we're
busting at the seams right now."
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Washington State strength and
conditioning coach Jason Loscalzo to join Chicago Bears
UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 14, 2018, 7 p.m.
By Theo Lawson Spokane S-R
PULLMAN – Head Washington State strength
and conditioning coach Jason Loscalzo has reportedly taken a job with the NFL’s
Chicago Bears, a source close to the program told The Spokesman-Review. The
news was first reported by FootballScoop.com.
Loscalzo, who’s been with the Cougars
since Mike Leach’s first season in Pullman, will work in the same capacity with
the Bears. Loscalzo replaces former Chicago strength coach Jason George, who
was informed last month by the club he wouldn’t be returning for a fourth
season.
The sixth-year WSU assistant has
overseen all aspects of the development, coordination, implementation and
supervision of the strength and conditioning program for the Cougar football
program.
During his tenure at WSU, Loscalzo was
highly-regarded by players and coaches as one of the people responsible for the
Cougars’ turnaround on the gridiron. Loscalzo arrived in Pullman with Leach in
2012, as the Cougars were coming off three seasons that produced just three
wins.
Loscalzo’s weight program was especially
instrumental in developing WSU’s offensive line and the strength coach helped
the Cougars reach their first bowl game in 10 years when they qualified for the
2013 New Mexico Bowl. WSU played in the 2015 Sun Bowl, beating Miami 20-14, then
earned bids to the Holiday Bowl each of the last two seasons.
Prior to his stop at WSU, Loscalzo was
the director of strength and conditioning at Boston College for five seasons.
The Humboldt State alum and Cool, California, native also spent four seasons at
Auburn as the top assistant strength and conditioning coach. The Tigers went to
four straight bowl games, including the 2005 Sugar Bowl, and finished the ’05
season with a No. 2 ranking.
Chicago is parting ways with George
after an injury-riddled 2017 season that saw 16 players land on the injured
reserve. A total of 21 Chicago players were on the injured reserve the season
prior. Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy is entering
his first season as the Bears’ head coach.
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MEN’S BASKETBALL
Washington State’s goals ‘evolving’ as
Cougars head into final six Pac-12 games
UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 14, 2018, 6:11 p.m.
By Theo Lawson of the S-R of Spokane
NCAA basketball
PAC-12 CONFERENCE
At Beasley Coliseum, Pullman
➤ Thursday, Feb. 15:
Colorado Buffaloes at Washington State Cougars, 8 p.m. PT TV: Pac-12 Networks
PULLMAN – The Washington State Cougars
believe they still have some good basketball in them, but now that most – if
not all – of their tangible preseason goals are wiped out, finding new sources
of motivation could pivotal for Ernie Kent’s club as it begins the final third
of its Pac-12 slate.
Winning over its home crowd again could
be one of those and the Cougars still have four dates in Beasley Coliseum
before the Pac-12 Tournament begins in March. WSU (9-15, 1-11) plays host to
Colorado (15-10, 7-6) at 8 p.m. Thursday (Pac-12 Networks) and welcomes Utah
(15-9, 7-6) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Any plans the Cougars had of earning an
at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament – for about a month to start this season,
those hopes were legitimate ones – were all but eviscerated by the time they
beat Cal in Pullman for their first conference win. Seven consecutive losses
later, WSU is guaranteed a losing Pac-12 record and the Cougars would only
break even overall if they somehow managed to scrape up wins in their last six
games.
All 12 teams are invited to the Pac-12
Tournament and none of them travels to Las Vegas with plans to lose, so even
the long-shot Cougars can take some solace in knowing there is still something
material to play for.
“As the season evolves, you’ve got to
evolve,” junior guard Viont’e Daniels said. “As a team, our next goal is to win
the Pac-12 championship. … They don’t stop, our goals don’t stop. They’ve just
got to evolve and we’ve got to do what we can to get to that next goal in
mind.”
Kent also believes the young Cougars
could use the back end of this season as a springboard for the 2018-19
campaign. WSU returns four of its usual starters and every player with the
exception of grad transfer Drick Bernstine.
“We don’t want to give up this season,
but I also know how good they’re going to be with another year of experience
under their belt,” Kent said.
Thursday’s encounter with the Buffaloes
is the fifth in two seasons for WSU. The Cougars are 1-3 in their last three
games against Colorado, having lost 82-73 to the Buffs in Boulder earlier this
season. But Thursday could represent WSU’s best opportunity to win in front of
a home crowd. Colorado is on a three-game win streak, but the Buffaloes have
won just one of eight contests away from home this year.
They’ve defended well of late, conceding
just 175 points in three wins over Utah and the Bay Area schools. Freshman
guard McKinley Wright has been a bright spot for the Buffs, averaging 14.5
points per game, 5.4 assists and 4.4 assists.
Franks cleared to play
A knee injury that precluded Robert
Franks from playing Sunday against Oregon won’t force WSU’s leading scorer to
miss any extra time.
Franks said he “felt great” during
Tuesday’s practice in Pullman and the Cougars’ 18 points-per-game scorer should
be back in the fold when WSU hosts Colorado.
In an 84-57 loss to Oregon, the Cougars
were held to their lowest point total of the season. Franks, while frustrated
he couldn’t lend his scoring, tried to see the positives of watching from the
bench.
“It’s very much of a different
perspective,” Franks said. “But you just see the little things the coaches talk
about that we need to win. Like the three to four minutes we can’t score, or
we’re not defending. But those guys went out there against Oregon and played
hard.”
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Meet the Cougars Track & Field
Captains: Abu Kamara
February 14, 2018 / Track & Field
MEET THE COUGARS TRACK & FIELD
CAPTAINS: ABU KAMARA
By: Nina Antic, WSU Athletics
From president to captain, this hurdler
has made tremendous leaps to leave his mark at Washington State.
Abu Kamara, a senior from Kent, Wash.,
is a hurdler for the WSU Track and Field team and is the Men's Track events
captain for this season.
Kamara's involvement stems far from just
track. In high school, he earned 10 varsity letters for football, basketball,
cross country, and track. At WSU, Kamara serves as the president of the Student
Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and has been active in the committee all four
years. He has been the 2017-18 Pac-12 representative for WSU through SAAC.
Kamara is driven by his culture and his
family. Kamara came to the United States in 2006 from Sierra Leone, Africa with
his father and younger brother to join his mother as she had established a life
for them in the US. Kamara hold close ties to his culture, still fluently
speaking Krio and Mende, the native languages of Sierra Leone, when home with
his family.
Family is of paramount importance to
Kamara, who names his mother to be his biggest inspiration. He makes it a point
to model after her mannerisms.
"She's the most selfless person I
know," Kamara said. "She taught me that you're only as good as the
people around you."
Kamara said his mother's outgoing nature
is what inspired him to participate in sports as a child. He has always loved
being around people and competing. Kamara said he started with playing soccer
in Sierra Leone.
"I was terrible," Kamara said
of his soccer skills, "but once I hit my growth spurt I started to get
better. That's when I wanted to try every sport."
When Kamara went into high school, he
played every sport he could. Needing a sport to play in the spring, he joined
the track team. Kamara originally competed as a sprinter, until the coach told
him to try hurdles because of his height, that is when he said he fell in love.
Kamara found success in the sport which
led him to compete in the NCAA West Region and to place in both the Pac-12 and
MPSF Championships last season.
As he embarks into the role as a
captain, Kamara wants to create more of a community within the team.
"I want to improve the camaraderie
within the team," Kamara said. "With track being such a big team, you
know people but you don't really know people."
Kamara said the values of his culture
are what influence his plans for the team. Sierra Leone capitalizes on community
and helping one another, Kamara said he's never lost that part of his culture.
"It's not difficult for me to
support my teammates," Kamara said. "If they're successful, I'm
successful."
Though support within the team does
exist, Kamara wants to further develop the support to build on everyone's
relationships and create a family-like bond.
As Kamara prepares for graduation at the
end of the semester, he plans to get a job where he can work with people and be
a leader. His background and experiences have given him the skills to be able
to communicate with people from all over the world. Kamara said his dream would
be to be a college Athletic Director.
"Sports have the power to help
people become successful," Kamara said. "I want to help people
achieve their goals."
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From WSU Sports Info about WSU Women’s
Basketball
WASHINGTON ST. (10-16, 3-11) at UTAH
(15-10, 6-8)
6 p.m. PT | Friday | Feb. 16, 2018
Salt Lake City, Utah | Huntsman Center
(8,590)
MATCHUP NOTES
The Cougs hit the road for the final
time in the regular season with a trip to Utah and Colorado. WSU looks for some
revenge against Utah as the Utes stole a win in Pullman last month, beating the
Cougs on last second free throws (Utah went 22-24 at the line in the game),
81-79, after coming back from 13 points down. In the loss Borislava Hristova
scored 29 points on 14-23 shooting. Last season, the Cougs beat the Utes in
Utah behind 13 points from Alexys Swedlund. The two teams split the season
series with each nabbing the road win from each other. Utah holds the 15-6
advantage and has won four of the last five meetings between the two teams.
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