WSU women's basketball head Coach Kamie Ethridge breaks down numbers and more in Q&A
By Dylan
Haugh
Cougfan.com
June 7
2019
PULLMAN -
Outgoing and energetic, new Washington State women’s basketball coach Kamie
Ethridge doesn’t sound like someone who has been in nonstop hiring and
recruiting mode since taking the helm in April. In a rare moment to downshift,
she recently talked with Cougfan.com about her big recruiting plans for next
year, her staff and much more. Here are some highlights:
Cougfan.com:
How’s the
transition to Pullman been and are you all settled with your current 2018
class?
Coug Coach
Ethridge:
It feels
like I’ve been here longer than six weeks now … we certainly have hit the
ground running in recruiting — we have four (incoming) players so that gets
(the roster) up to 11. I feel really good about that and going forward with
that group. That allows us to have six scholarships for the 2019 class ... I
want more numbers for that class so we have a year to recruit that class.
I’ve
obviously spent a lot of time in trying to finalize the staff and getting the
perfect fit ... I’m real close to that, I have everybody except one. I’m
hopeful of the person I want — we just need to tie up some loose ends to make
that happen.
Cougfan.com:
What do
your two bench coaching hires so far — Laurie Koehn, who comes with you from
Northern Colorado, and Jackie Nared, a young coach who was the video
coordinator at Oregon last season— bring to the program?
Coug Coach
Ethridge:
I
recruited Laurie (at Kansas State) and she played for me. She’s been around our
programs wherever I’ve been. She’s our associate head coach and I certainly
wanted her to have that title.... I think she’s one of the premier player
development-type coaches. She’s played professionally all over the world and
has a ton of contacts overseas … If anyone ever wanted to see what kind of
shooter she was they just need to Youtube her (see link at bottom of page) and
you’ll see her make 132 out of 135 3-pointers in five minutes. She can still do
it, too, which is a great asset to have as a coach.
(On Nared)
I did not know Jackie before WSU, but became familiar with her through Kelly
Grave, the coach at Oregon. He just spoke so highly of her and said she’s ready
to be a recruiting coach … She is an ex-player that had tremendous success in
high school (in Portland), was recruited to Maryland after they won the
national championship, signed and went out there for a year, and came back to
this region (where she starred at Saint Mary’s). I think she gives us a niche
in recruiting this area of the country but she also has earned the respect as
an elite player at the highest level.
Cougfan.com:
One of the
more interesting topics that stemmed from your introductory press conference
was the letter the returning members of the team sent you when you were hired.
Is that pretty rare to see from a group of young players, collectively getting
together and expressing their feelings with a new head coach?
Coug Coach
Ethridge:
It’s
completely rare. I’ve never heard of something like that. I was blown away to
get that note on the flight from Seattle to Pullman. I was shocked that it
came. And in the words and expressions that they used it just lets you know
they were glad that they had somebody in place. They wanted me to understand
that everything that I was going to get from them, Pullman and Washington
State. It made me realize why those girls stayed and what a commitment they
made because they love this place and this program … that they were going to
give their heart and soul to us as a new staff and this program.
Cougfan.com:
Looking at
two of your returning anchors, leading scorer Borislava Hristova and floor
general Chanelle Molina, what have you seen from those two that excites you?
Coug Coach
Ethridge:
Well, I’ve
seen two hours of them and that’s it (laugh) —I really haven’t been on the
court, but I’m about to see them in action. Obviously in the summer we’re going
to get (the NCAA -allowed) four hours a week with them for six weeks.
At the end
of July I feel like I’m going to know so much more about our team and those
players in particular ... it’s great to have a point guard who is a really
solid player and having someone who can just score the basketball in Bobbi. I
just love the makeup that we have even though there were just seven (returning
players) here … there’s only 11 of them (total) so we’re not going to be a very
deep team and we’re young. I just like the fact that we’re going to play a
system that will be really beneficial for both of them and it will give them
space to play in.
Cougfan.com:
What are
your early expectations for this group?
Coug Coach
Ethridge:
I think in
the realm of athletics and in the realm of successful programs, the process of
becoming better and the process of succeeding long term comes about in being
hard workers and good teammates on a day-to-day basis … Are we going to
compete? Are we going to push each other and be consistent daily and create a
culture that is going to lead to a successful program down the line? That’s
what I’m going to do. We’re going to build on that. I’m not going to have a
number that were trying to get to, wins will come if we’re really, really
consistent in the things that we’re going to build our culture on.
Cougfan.com:
You spent
18 seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas State with Deb Patterson. You had
great success there but in 2014 K-State let her go. Kirk Schulz was the
president there at the time. Talk about that.
Coug Coach
Ethridge:
My head
coach lost her job and we (all) got let go … So it’s interesting that it comes
back around. But when you speak of President Schulz, wherever he’s been he’s
been an unbelievable, very vocal, supporter of athletics. He’s committed to
making sure athletics has everything it needs to succeed … The fact that he
left Kansas State and came to WSU was a question I asked Noel (Schulz) in
particular -- why make that jump? They had great reasons for that and it made
me understand why this is a great university .... Kirk has always been very
supportive of me and obviously he signed off on me getting this job. I love the
fact that I know him from the past and more than anything I just respect and
appreciate their commitment level for what we need.
Cougfan.com:
How did
playing on the U.S. national team, overseas and competing in the Olympics help
shape your future in coaching?
Coug Coach
Ethridge:
I think it
all stems with what I was as a player. I wasn’t highly recruited but I was a
good player … probably the greatest compliment that anyone ever gave me was
that I made everyone else look better. There’s so many ways to affect the game
of basketball as a player to make your team better. That’s the mindset I wake
up with everyday and bring to the table. That’s why I stand in a circle and
talk to my team, we don’t have to have six Bobbi’s. We need Bobbi to be her
best and everyone around that circle to be their very best. Together we can
make this thing happen, I just love that process as a head coach to bring that
piece of putting everybody in the right place and making them better and
understand what it takes to be successful at this level...that’s what I was as
a player and I think I bring that as a coach every single day.
NOTABLE:
Ethridge
was a two-time All-American at Texas and led the Longhorns to the 1986 national
championship. She went on to win gold medals with Team USA at the 1986 Goodwill
Games, 1986 World Championships, 1987 Pan Am Games and 1988 Olympic Games.
The
Cougars had seven returning players on the roster when Ethridge came on board
following the graduation losses of Caila Hailey, Pinelopi Pavlopoulou and
Krystle McKenzie and the transfers of Louise Brown (Tennessee), Nike McClure
(New Mexico), Kayla Washington and Taryn Shelley. The returnees are Hristova,
Chanelle and Celina Molina, Alexys Swedlund, Jovana Subasic, Maria Kostourkova
and Johanna Muzet.
The four
incoming players are 5-10 combo guard Michaela Jones (Wymore, Nebraska); 5-11
wing Shir Levy (Ness Ziona, Israel); 6-0 stretch-4 Ula Motuga (Loganholme,
Australia); and 5-6 point guard Cherilyn Molina (Kailua Kona, Hawaii).
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
From
ESPN.com
Link
below, read story
“Klay
Thompson's singular focus allows the Warriors to be the Warriors”
::::::::::::::::::::
Coug Football
gets no respect from pre-season magazines.
Preseason
publications don't like Cougs' chances in the North
From
Cougfan.com June 6 2018
IF THE
WASHINGTON STATE PLAYERS need any extra motivation this summer, they don’t need
to look far. Three longtime preseason college football magazines as well as
ESPN, predict the Cougs to finish well back in the North this season.
How far
back?
Try
next-to-last place in the Pac-12 North division.
Lindy’s,
Athlon and Street and Smith all predict WSU will finish fifth in the North,
ahead of only Oregon State.
The three
preseason magazines unanimously project the North with OSU last, WSU fifth, Cal
fourth, Oregon third, Stanford second and UW first. In the South, the magazines’ consensus calls
for USC first, Utah second, Arizona third, UCLA fourth, Colorado fifth and ASU
sixth.
In ESPN’s
Football Power Index, WSU is also predicted to finish fifth in the Pac-12
North, with a record of 6.1-5.9. The
Cougs trail behind Cal (7.7-4.4); Oregon (8.3-3.8); Stanford (8.4-3.8) and UW
(10.6-2.1) in the FPI. Oregon State
(2.2-9.8) is sixth.
There are
four top 25 teams from the Pac-12 among the three magazines: UW (8th); Stanford
(14th); USC (19th); Oregon (t-23rd). The
FPI has the same four in its top 25, with Cal just outside the group at No. 27.
Washington
State has but four returning starters on offense and five on defense (you can
make a case it has seven on D with Peyton Pelluer and Marcus Strong but
strictly by Pac-12 methodology, it’s five) and none of its quarterbacks have
taken a snap under center for the Cougs, with only one QB having college
experience in transfer Gardner Minshew.
Elsewhere,
sportsbook Bovada on Tuesday set the over/under on Washington State wins this
season at 6.5.
So if the
Cougs need any external motivation during the summer conditioning program,
they’ve got it.
::::::::::
WSU
Architecture Prof Paul Hirzel holds Bachelors degrees in Humanities from
Washington State University, Art Education and Industrial Education from
University of Washington, and Architecture from Cornell University. He earned
his Master of Architecture with a minor in Landscape Architecture from Cornell
University in 1984 winning both the Eschweiler Prize and Cornell Marshall Award
for design excellence. A typological study of descriptive and metaphoric
relationships between landscape and architecture was his thesis focus.”
Building
your happy place: Pullman architect recognized for bringing the outside inside
By
Michelle Schmidt Inland360.com of Lewiston Trib 6/6/2018
When you
step into a building Paul Hirzel has designed, chances are what you’ll notice
is what’s outside. And that’s intentional.
Hirzel, an
architect and instructor at Washington State University, was one of 15 American
architects featured at the 2018 Venice Biennale, the most prestigious
international architecture exhibition in the world, taking place May 26 through
Nov. 25 in Venice, Italy. Hirzel’s work is recognized for its emphasis on
structure, economy and the physical environment.
Hirzel
grew up building forts into the hillside along the Snake River in Clarkston and
playing on it’s sandy river banks near the family home on Beachview Boulevard.
When he wasn’t there, he’d be among the toys and musical instruments at his
parents’ store, Hirzel’s Music on Lewiston’s Main Street. During those years,
he acquired a love for the local landscape. After spending time around the
U.S., he returned to Pullman to teach and practice privately — 20 years to the
month after he had left, swearing he would never come back.
Hirzel’s
focus on the outdoor environment came to him at a particular moment in time. In
graduate school, he had to write about two architects he was interested in:
Frank Lloyd Wright and Richard Neutra. He was slogging away at the assignment
when he realized something.
“I came to
this epiphany, which was that I really like being outside more than being
inside,” Hirzel said.
He was
more comfortable outside, he felt stronger, happier. He remembered that as a
child, the most effective form of discipline was keeping him indoors. And yet,
here he was about to graduate into a profession that “creates insides.”
He decided
to take landscape architecture classes, graduating with a minor in the subject.
Hirzel has since worked both as an architect and landscape architect, which
together form the basis of his design theory.
“To say
you’re designing a building, you’re already putting yourself into what I see as
a narrow view. I design environments,” Hirzel said.
That means
Hirzel advocates for the landscape being included in any kind of architectural
solution. When he designs a site, he considers trees, land contours, rain, sun,
astronomical conditions, wildlife and whatever other factors might make up an
outdoor space.
“The
building is part of the solution — not the whole solution,” Hirzel said.
A rural
setting is where the theory seems to most naturally apply. Hirzel has designed
homes that stretch over the Potlatch River, hug the hillside of the Clearwater
River canyon and stand among the pine trees on Moscow Mountain.
“The
outside can be part of whatever environment you’re in,” Hirzel said, but the
theory works in urban and suburban settings too. His home in Pullman, set on an
ordinary, quarter-acre suburban lot on the edge of town, is one example.
“I took a
different approach on what a suburban tract home can be,” Hirzel said.
The
strongly vertical home sits in an aspen grove, a species native to the Palouse.
Unlike the typical suburban house set in the middle of the lot, the home is set
more to one side, creating “better balance,” Hirzel said, and “a whole
different feeling.”
Even in an
urban setting, you can bring the outside inside. A couple years ago, Hirzel was
asked to design a tasting room in Moscow for Colter’s Creek Winery. The brick
Hattabaugh Building, built in the 1890’s, had a windowed storefront that became
progressively darker as one moved deeper into the space.
People
move toward the light, Hirzel said, which meant there would need to be
something to draw them away from the front windows and into the tasting room.
So a courtyard was created in the back half of the building that was open to
the sky and surrounded with glass.
“It brings
the sky and all of the wonders the sky brings us — rain, snow, moonlight,
daylight — into that space,” Hirzel said.
As a result,
people are drawn deeper into the building and “there’s not a bad seat in the
tasting room,” he said.
Hirzel
isn’t the only one that likes the outdoors. He regularly does an exercise with
new students where he asks them to name the place where they feel most happy
and strong. In a class of 30 students, Hirzel said, 100 percent of them come
back with places that are outside.
And, with
most Americans spending only 5 percent of their day outside, Hirzel said, this
could potentially have an effect on our our health and happiness. Which means
making our indoors more connected to the outdoors might be more more than a
nice idea.
“It could
be healthier for all of us,” Hirzel said.
View
several of Hirzel’s projects in the region at his website, paulhirzel.com
::::::::::::::
Electric
assist bicycles invade the Palouse
Local shop
owners, police say e-bikes popular for conquering area hills
By Scott
Jackson
Moscow
Pullman Daily News
2018 June
8th of 2018
Despite a
price tag reaching into the thousands of dollars, local shops are having
trouble keeping electric assist bicycles, or e-bikes, in stock.
Even the
Moscow Police Department has purchased its own e-bike, which differs from other
motorized bicycles in that the engine only adds to the power of the person
peddling rather than propelling the bike on its own.
MPD
Officer Casey Green said the bikes are useful in certain environments where a
vehicle may be an impediment.
"Part
of the reason that we're so bike heavy is that we get out there on bikes and
they're quiet, and you can roam neighborhoods and be pretty autonomous,"
Green said. "You can cover a lot of ground at your own pace so that you
can get out there and see things."
Although
Pullman has more hills than Moscow, Pullman Police Department Cmdr. Chris
Tennant said the city does not have pedal-assist bikes and there are no plans
to purchase one.
That is
not to say PPD officers are not interested in the bikes.
"I
have several officers, especially riding bikes up and down the hill, that think
electronically-assisted bikes would definitely be an aid," Tennant said.
"I'm certainly not opposed to it, but is it really necessary? That's kind
of where we are right now in our budget process is if it's not necessary, it
probably doesn't happen."
Sean
Ellis, an employee of B & L Bicycles in Pullman, said one advantage of
e-bikes is that they make bicycles a more viable option for those commuters
worried about steep grades but still want the health benefits of biking to
work.
"Here
in Pullman, the No. 1 reason people don't ride bikes is probably the
hills," Ellis said. "Around here, most of the people are buying them
for commute reasons - so if you're a professional at WSU, it's nice to show up
at your job and not be all hot and sweaty."
Ellis said
e-bikes can reach prices as high as $9,000, but those carried by B&L range
from about $2,300 to $3,700. Ellis said the shop has sold 30 e-bikes so far in
2018. E-bikes are in the middle of a boom, Ellis said. The industry is
attracting a broad field of manufacturers, new and old, some producing high
quality bikes - others, not so much. Some of the cheaper models can actually be
dangerous, Ellis said, noting at least a couple of bike shops in the United
States have burned down due to batteries that exploded while charging.
A Lewiston
resident, Ellis said he has purchased a few of the bikes for himself and his
wife and they have changed the landscape of his commute. Ellis said he
occasionally likes to bike the 30 or more miles to his job at B&L and
having a pedal-assist makes the route much more viable.
……………………………
LISTEN TO WSU
FOOTBALL COACH MIKE LEACH
Tony Kurre
and Dr. Josh Klapow interview Washington State Head Football Coach Mike Leach
live from Croatia
Coug
Center says, “… apparently Mike Leach
has a weekly spot on something called the Kurre and Klapow show, which
originates from Birmingham. This week, Leach joined the show from Croatia, where
it was well after midnight. He gave his thoughts on Klay Thompson, the Triple
Crown, visiting the White House if WSU ever won the national title (which,
hahahaha), and who is to blame for the NFL’s national anthem controversy.”
:::::::::::
About WSU
Athletics proposed new student fee for athletics
From
Cougfan.com June 6, 2018
WASHINGTON
STATE HASN’T laid out all the details yet behind a proposed new student fee for
athletics, and it ran into considerable resistance two years ago when it proposed
the idea. But it’s intriguing to look at the example of Arizona State.
Washington
State under President Kirk Schulz and former AD Bill Moos raised the idea of a
new $50-per-semester fee in 2016. WSU
students pay a $25 stadium renovation fee so the fee for athletics would have
increased to $75 per semester.
An uproar
followed and the proposal was withdrawn.
So how did
ASU pass its $75 per semester fee back in 2014?
By giving
the students something, and something significant.
For ASU
students, the fee includes free admission for ALL students to ALL Arizona State
athletic events. There are other perks as well, including new student seating
sections.
Washington
State appears to be pointing towards a smaller proposal. When asked how much a mandatory student fee
would cost, and what students would get out of the fee, Joan King, the
university’s chief budget officer, said the university cannot impose a fee and
any proposal would need student approval.
However,
WSU students currently account for $1.6 million and the school did say last week its projecting double that
-- $3.2 million annually -- from student fees by 2022.
So what if
WSU were to give students something for the increase, as ASU did? If the WSU students were to realize a
tangible benefit, rather than simply be assigned a new fee, it would follow
that any outcry would be far less than two years ago.
“I will
tell you this: the engagement I’ve had with students, on many levels, has been
overwhelmingly positive,” said AP Patrick Chun when asked if he'd discussed a
new fee with the students. “I’ve felt nothing but a clear love for Washington
State athletics.”
WSU is
projected to see budget deficits increase by $17 million over the next four
years before realizing an expected $200,000 surplus in fiscal year 2023.
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