Monday, April 29, 2019

News for CougGroup 4/29/2019


WSU Spring 2019 Commencement in Pullman is Saturday



29 April 2019: Moscow Pullman Daily News



Commencement ceremonies for Washington State University graduating students will be 8 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday in Beasley Coliseum, 925 NE North Fairway Road, Pullman.



WSU President Kirk Schulz will confer degrees at each ceremony, which will feature graduates from the university's different colleges.



Tickets are not required for the ceremonies, which are open to the public.



Video of all proceedings will be streamed live:



https://experience.wsu.edu/commencement



Information about parking, accommodations and the breakdown on which colleges will be featured at each ceremony is available at the WSU Pullman commencement website:



https://commencement.wsu.edu/spring/schedule



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Football Cougs ranked in CBSSports.com top 25 poll



By Barry Bolton Cougfan.com



WASHINGTON STATE is ranked in CBSSports.com’s post-spring top 25 poll that was released on Monday. A fast and furious quarterback battle will take place out on the Palouse in August but Dennis Dodd, in positioning the Cougars in the poll, seems to have already decided on WSU’s starting QB for 2019.



The Cougs are No. 21 in the CBS top 25 poll.



“Gardner Minshew and his mustache are gone. Eastern Washington transfer Gabe Gubrud will be the latest quarterback to become a star under Mike Leach. The Cougars will continue to play quality defense under Tracy Claeys,” writes Dodd.



Gubrud missed most of the spring with a foot injury and did not play in the Crimson and Gray game.  He did, however, get some 11-on-11 work in the final practice sessions and was a full participant for the first time in the last practice of the spring session.



In the view of CF.C’s correspondents on the ground, Anthony Gordon ended the spring looking the most ready of all the Cougar QBs to be the starter if the season began tomorrow. Trey Tinsley was close to Gordon all spring and after a shaky showing in the spring game, bounced back on the 15th and final day to look sharp. Cammon Cooper, John Bledsoe and Gunner Cruz are the other QBs on the roster battling for positioning this spring.

Expectations are high for the Cougs in 2019.



They have 15 returning starters (7 offense, 6 defense, both specialists).  Last season, WSU returned only nine starters, the fewest in the Pac-12, and finished No. 10 in the polls, the top-ranked team in the Pac-12, with a program-record 11 wins.

NOTABLE NOTES:

ESPN hasn’t released a post-spring top 25 but it’s most recent “way too early top 25” has Washington State ranked No. 13 in the land.

Sporting News in its early top 25 published this month slots Washington State at No. 18



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Three WSU athletes arrested on felony vandalism charges



Two football, one soccer players allegedly jumped two cars



By JAYCE CARRAL, Evergreen April 29, 2019



Filed under Crime, Local, News, Top-feature, WSU Pullman campus



After allegedly jumping on and damaging two cars, three WSU athletes were arrested on suspected felony vandalism charges.



Pullman Police Cmdr. Chris Tennant said the alleged incident was reported by witnesses at 1:14 a.m. Saturday at Cougar Ridge Apartments.



He said the witnesses of the alleged incident reported the suspects leaving the scene by vehicle. The witnesses followed the suspects in a separate car and provided police with license plate information and location of the vehicle.



Tennant said a Whitman County deputy pulled the suspects over in a traffic stop and they were transported to and questioned at the Pullman Police Department.



He said the witnesses and later police identified the three suspects as WSU football players Christian Haangana, Fa’avae Fa’avae and soccer player Makamae Gomera-Stevens.



Tennant said officers were dispatched to the scene of the alleged crime and found evidence corresponding to the descriptions given by the witnesses, including dented roofs and a broken windshield.



Bill Stevens, associate director of athletics, said WSU’s athletic department is aware of the alleged incident.



“We are still looking into it,” Stevens said. “We consider it a team matter and it will be handled internally.”



Haangana, Fa’avae and Gomera-Stevens denied any involvement with the alleged incident, Tennant said.



“They were subsequently arrested and later released … on their own recognizance,” Tennant said. “We are still investigating and a final report will be filed with the Whitman County Prosecutor.”

He said the Whitman County Prosecutor’s office will review Pullman Police Department’s final report and decide whether or not to officially charge the three suspects.



Stevens said the three involved are still currently on their respective teams.



“We’ll see how the process plays out and wait for the legal system to run its course,” he said. “As of right now they’re not guilty … if action needs to be taken then that will be handled internally.”



Tennant said Pullman PD has yet to determine a motive for the alleged crimes, as well as whether or not the three suspects were under the influence of alcohol.



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WSU International enrollment, study abroad increases



Upward trajectory has risen over the last four years, director says



By GEORGE ERALIL, Evergreen April 29, 2019



An increased participation in study abroad programs and international enrollment becomes more apparent as the university embarks on its “Drive to 25” initiative with a greater focus on internationalization and building diversity.



Asif Chaudhry, vice president for WSU International Programs, said a total of 744 students participated in study abroad programs that offered academic credit during the 2018-19 academic year.



“We have seen an increase over the last three to four years — significant enough that we are now happy to see this upward trajectory, and we are putting more effort into taking it to the next level,” Chaudhry said.



He said the university engages in many creative measures to send students abroad. Edward R. Murrow College of Communication’s “Backpack Journalism” program is one measure, in which students enrolled in the program go to places like Nepal and Africa to cover stories and events.



The Global Leadership Certificate is another program that encourages study abroad participation, Chaudhry said.



Christine Oakley, director of the Office of International Programs’ Global Learning Department, also talked about the Carson College of Business’ incorporation of an international education requirement into their curriculum.

Oakley said the college sends about 35 percent of the total number of WSU students going abroad.



She said students participating in study abroad programs have a range of scholarships they can apply for. While the Office of International Programs has multiple donors who want to see students going abroad, the different colleges in the university also have specified scholarships that can help ease students’ financial load, Oakley said.



She added that students also have the option to earmark funds received from the all university general scholarship for study abroad programs.

Oakley said WSU has about 25 partner universities for exchange programs and has about 500 study abroad programs in different countries to select from.



“We had a student one year that said, ‘I want to go where no other Coug went before,’ ” Oakley said. “So, we said, ‘How about Antarctica?’ ”



In addition to increased participation in study abroad programs, Chaudhry said they also saw a significant increase in international student enrollment. About seven to eight percent of the total student population at WSU are international students, Chaudhry said, and they aim to grow to about 15 percent.



Chaudhry said their growth persists despite a national decline in international enrollment.



“The reason [for the increase] is we’ve been aggressive in making sure that we maintain it,” Chaudhry said.



When the political climate in the country changed and the number of students enrolling as freshmen or transfer students declined, the university partnered with INTO University Partnerships (IUP). Together, they created pathways for students that require additional assistance to make the transition to WSU, Chaudhry said.



Students that choose this path take classes at WSU and spend a semester or two, gain the knowledge required and then register to become WSU students, Chaudhry said.



During the 2018-19 academic year, about 150 students enrolled through this program, he said. About 230 international students enrolled as direct-entry freshmen or transfer students during the same period.



Chaudhry intends for the growth in international enrollment to contribute toward enriching the student experience at WSU and building the diversity profile of the university.



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WSU Tennis selected to NCAA Tournament for first time since 2012



Cougars will face Miami in first round match Friday



By TY EKLUND, Evergreen

April 29, 2019



No. 34 WSU tennis was selected to the NCAA Tournament on Monday and will face No. 19 Miami in the first round Friday in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

The Cougars (19-10) were one of 64 teams selected to the tournament. The winner of WSU’s match with the Hurricanes (18-7) will face the winner of the match between No. 15 overall seed Oklahoma State (19-7) and Central Arkansas (20-7) in the second round Saturday.



When the team received the news, they celebrated and took to social media to show off the vanilla and chocolate cake they enjoyed during their viewing party.



This is the first time since 2012 that WSU has been selected to the NCAA Tournament and third time under Head Coach Lisa Hart.



“It’s been awhile,” Hart said. “We barely missed it last year, we were the first team out. I think our returning players have done such a great job in continuing to work really hard and use that as motivation.”

Miami was most recently swept 4-0 by No. 2 North Carolina in the ACC Championship semifinals.



The Cougars are coming off being swept 4-0 by No. 4 Stanford in the second round of the Pac-12 Championship.



Seniors Aneta Miksovska and Tiffany Mylonas said they were both excited to be playing in the NCAA Tournament in their final season.



“I think it’s amazing, it was worth the wait,” Miksovska said. “We waited for the last bracket and it was stressful but we got the great draw, I’m super excited.”



Mylonas, who was smiling ear to ear listening to Aneta’s comments, said the Cougars are looking to do some damage in the tournament.

“We’re ready to win the first two rounds and then go to the Sweet 16,” she said.



The time for the Cougars match against the Hurricanes on Friday has yet to be determined.



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Lack of resources prompted research of WSU buildings



WSU students used the history of buildings on the Pullman campus to create a book that should help the university staff on future construction projects.





By CAMERON SHEPPARD, Evergreen

April 26, 2019



Students at WSU researched the architectural history of the university to compose an informational booklet that will help guide future builders to be consistent with the campus’s design standards.



Phil Gruen, WSU associate professor of architecture, said the idea for this project came from the lack of easily available resources regarding the design and history of buildings on campus, for both the general public as well as designers and builders.



“I think it’s a beautiful campus, and it’s not appreciated enough,” Gruen said.



Abigail Shane, a master’s student of architecture, said this was a collaborative class project to help aid in the historical preservation of the WSU campus and the buildings that make it up.



Gruen said groups of students were assigned to research different eras of construction and development on campus ranging from 1890 to present-day. He said it was up to students what kind of information they wanted to include in their parts of the booklet.



Shane said the research process required them to look through online databases as well as through boxes of files from the campus library.

“We did a wide variety of research,” Shane said. “A lot of it had to do with this idea of significance.”



She said the students had to consider what information would be significant to individuals of the community as well as to those outside of the community who may want to know about these buildings.



Gruen said students found some consistencies in buildings from specific eras of WSU’s development.



Buildings built from the 1890s to the 1920s were built with the recognizable red brick, while structures like the Compton Union Building, built after World War II, were made of concrete, steel and glass.



Gruen said the booklet composed by his students will offer a relatively brief overview of the history of the built environment and landscape of WSU.

He said the booklet will be given to WSU Facilities Services, which is in charge of building structures on campus. The booklet will help lay out the design standards shared between all the buildings at WSU, things like acceptable materials and accessibility issues.



“The basic codes that go into the construction of any building,” Gruen said.

He said the research done by students will also help give historical context to these structures and the campus as a whole. It will help people understand the time period when these buildings were constructed.



“The hope, optimism and dreams of these builders, planners and administrators of that time,” Gruen said.



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Five Washington State football players who could hear their names called next year at the NFL draft



UPDATED: Mon., April 29, 2019, 7:31 p.m.



By Theo Lawson Spokane S-R



A seven-year streak of having players selected in the NFL draft continued for Washington State last weekend when left tackle Andre Dillard and quarterback Gardner Minshew were taken off the board in the first and sixth round, respectively, in Nashville.



It’s anyone’s guess how next year’s draft will look for WSU, but the program’s recent track record – in the win/loss column and with draft selections – suggests the Cougars will have something to celebrate when the event moves to Las Vegas in 2020.



Knowing there are plenty variables in play between now and then, we take a look at five WSU players who could hear their names called this time next year, from most likely to least likely.





1. Jalen Thompson, safety



Of the Pac-12 players taken in the recent draft, no position had a higher selection rate than defensive back. Seven of the 33 selected were defensive backs and one year ago, some thought Thompson would be part of that crowd, and would have an opportunity to make the NFL leap after his junior season. Thompson didn’t cultivate the same numbers he did as a sophomore – not a sign of his regression as much as it was a byproduct of WSU’s defensive scheming – but he returns as one of the league’s top safeties after earning all-league honorable mention in 2018. Pound for pound, he’s one of the fastest players on the team and as sure of a tackler as the Cougars have had at the position during the Mike Leach era.



2. Dezmon Patmon, wide receiver



The Air Raid doesn’t pick favorites, so Patmon won’t be targeted as much as he might elsewhere and because of Easop Winston’s emergence at the “Z” position in 2018, he’ll also have to share reps. But if the senior-to-be can even match his production in 2018 – 61 receptions for a team-high 816 yards and five touchdowns – he’ll have a good chance to become the first Cougar receiver drafted since Vince Mayle in 2015. Patmon continues to fill out his 6-4, 225-pound frame – which projects extremely well to the NFL – and coaches insist he still hasn’t broached his ceiling. “He’s still got room to grow,” outside receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr. said. “If I can get him to play as good as he looks, he’s really going to be special.”



3. Abraham Lucas, right tackle



Lucas being drafted in 2020 obviously hinges on the offensive lineman making a decision to forego not just one, but two more years of college eligibility. And, yes, it’s unlikely he’ll do that, but it doesn’t mean he won’t have the opportunity. For one, it isn’t a bad time to be an offensive tackle at WSU. Lucas’ predecessor at right tackle, Cole Madison, was picked by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 2018 Draft and last weekend, Dillard was taken in the first round by Philadelphia. Lucas was tabbed a Freshman All-American last year – something Madison and Dillard never achieved – and he could be more projectable at the next level than both, standing at 6-7, 320 pounds. Last year, Mike Leach called Lucas “one of the best offensive linemen in the conference” and Dillard labeled him “some kind of robot or demigod.”



4. Tay Martin, wide receiver



Next on the list of WSU receivers who could catapult themselves into the draft conversation is Martin, a junior who probably has more untapped potential than even Patmon. The Louisianan tied for fifth in the Pac-12 with his eight touchdown catches last season and made 69 receptions for 685 total yards. Even with those numbers, Martin fought inconsistency all last season, totaling 100-plus yards in three separate games and finishing with 30 or fewer in six others. At his best, Martin is easily an NFL-caliber wideout, and if he can tap into that more times than not this fall, the rangy, athletic “X” receiver will have a chance to leave school a year early and pursue a pro career.



5. Gage Gubrud, quarterback



Each of the last four starting quarterbacks to start for Leach have earned NFL opportunities and it isn’t lost on anyone that the coach turned the last two – both former walk-ons – into sixth-round draft picks. Gubrud doesn’t have Luke Falk’s height or precision, or Minshew’s mojo, but his ability to improvise might be better than both and his starting point, as a former FCS All-American with 11,026 yards of total offense under his belt, is better than Minshew’s was this time last year. There’s a reason he’s the last player named on this list, but if Gubrud can produce in the Air Raid like a few of his predecessors did, he’ll have an opportunity at the next level. Winning the job, of course, is step one.

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Grip on Sports: WSU’s Mike Leach seems to have another former SMU runningback mad at him



Mon., April 29, 2019, 6:04 a.m.



Some of what Vince Grippi said in his Grip of Sports blog at Spokane S-R website …



A GRIP ON SPORTS • Having a party soon? Check the invite list. Make sure Mike Leach and Eric Dickerson’s names don’t overlap. It could get ugly. Read on.



This is going to be short. I’m on an airplane somewhere between Houston and Denver, winging over the football country both Dickerson and Leach made their football bones, one first in high school then SMU, the other at Texas Tech.



But right now the two Texas legends aren’t seeing eye to eye, and James “Boobie” Williams is the reason.



Williams left Washington State a year early to chase his dream as an NFL running back. That’s a pretty powerful temptation to try to resist. Add in the Williams’ family’s financial situation – James is engaged there is a baby on the way – and the decision was understandable.



Leach didn’t like Williams leaving early, and that is understandable as well. Not just because the Cougars are losing their best running back. That happens for a variety of reasons often. Nope, Leach is adamant about his belief in the value of education as well.



Much of the discipline he does as a college coach revolves around school work. That’s been clear everywhere he’s been, even as an assistant. Sure, the cynic may say it’s all part of keeping the best players eligible and able to play, which benefits Leach, but it doesn’t take long talking with Leach outside of a football context to believe in his commitment to life-long learning.



When Williams announced he was leaving, Leach, never shy, shared his feeling about the decision. He wasn’t happy.



That’s where it sat, until this week. That’s when Dickerson, the former All-Pro running back and now Williams’ agent, entered the fray.



When Williams’ wasn’t drafted, Dickerson posted a couple missives on social media, blaming the coach and his comments for the NFL passing over his client.



There was even some pretty strong intimation Leach had been talking Williams down to NFL teams in the predraft process.



That just seems dumb.



Whenever there is a disagreement about issues, it pays to examine motives. What would Leach’s motive be to make Williams’ look bad? He’s not coming back. He can’t affect the present. The future? If Leach is bad-mouthing him and other recruits hear about it, some doors will close. And all football coaches love open recruiting doors.



Dickerson, on the other hand, needs the best deal possible for his client to attract other clients. Williams not being drafted doesn’t speak highly of Dickerson’s ability to sell his wares. Unless, of course, it is someone else’s fault.



Whatever the truth, it’s now in the public arena. Sides have already been chosen. And neither looks all that shiny.

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Pullman depot group marks debt retirement



Center celebrates payoff with symbolic burning, looks to generate $3 million for restoration work



    By Garrett Cabeza, Moscow Pullman Daily News

April 29, 2019



There is nothing quite like the feeling of paying off a debt — and sometimes you have to celebrate.



On Saturday, members of the Pullman Depot Heritage Center executive committee and a handful of others commemorated the center’s full payment of a $200,000 debt by burning an unofficial promissory note in the depot’s parking lot on North Grand Avenue.



The Whitman County Historical Society purchased the depot for $300,000 in March 2018, and a depot executive committee was formed to manage the center.



The society promised to pay $200,000 plus interest back to Columbia Bank — which it did thanks to donors — and $100,000 back to a private individual — which it is working to retire, PDHC Co-chairwoman Linda Hackbarth said.



John-Mark Mahnkey, an executive committee member, sounded a loud train horn a few times before lighting the note on fire in a portable fire pit Saturday afternoon. In addition to working to pay off the remaining $100,000 debt, Hackbarth said the committee is trying to generate $3 million to restore the 102-year-old building, the green Northern Pacific Railroad passenger car and the red caboose railroad car. Both cars are located near the building. So far, about $300,000 has been committed toward the $3 million goal.



Hackbarth said the committee is looking for someone to remove the other two railroad cars directly adjacent to the building.



“We want to expose the front of the building again because now you can’t see the architecture of the building and we can’t start on a restoration until we have better access to the whole building,” Hackbarth said.



She said the plan is to convert part of the passenger car into a movie theater where historic videos can be shown and to install train displays in another area of the car. A train simulator where children could “operate” a train is another possibility for inside the passenger car, Hackbarth said.



She said the committee wants to renovate the caboose back to its original state. Both cars are expected to be repainted.



Hackbarth said the committee wants to create exhibits and displays inside the building and make repairs to the interior and exterior of the structure.



“We’re fortunate that in 100 years no one has come in and just ripped out all of what makes it so unique,” said Debbie Sherman, an executive committee member.



Hackbarth said the space will be focused on Pullman’s history, including the significance of trains carrying Washington State University students, farmers’ products and equipment and other people and goods to and from the city.



“It’s touched the whole community — not just any one part — and that’s an honor to be able to save it,” Sherman said.



Hackbarth said Pullman has never had a place to celebrate its history.



“This is a museum for people who live here, who have lived here — whether they’re students, whether they’re farm families, whether they’re business people,” Sherman said.



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