Link to schedule here:
http://wsucougars.com/schedule.aspx?path=wvball
Coach Jen Greeny and her squad look to continue the success from 2017
Coug Center Jun 19, 2018
After reaching the second round of the 2017 NCAA Volleyball tournament for the second consecutive year, Washington State head coach Jen Greeny will look to repeat and improve the success of her team in the upcoming season. Washington State released the 2018 volleyball schedule on Monday and included was the Pac-12 television schedule for the Cougars.
Led by senior Taylor Mims, the Cougars will have 12 televised games this season, including games against top-25 conference opponents Washington, USC, Utah, UCLA, Stanford, Colorado, and Oregon. The Cougars finished last season ranked 38th behind eight conference opponents who were scattered among the top 34.
Things will start off with quality opponents as their first two games will come against teams that made the NCAA tournament. The season opener on Saturday August 25th in Raleigh, North Carolina will be against Virginia Commonwealth and they will follow that up against North Carolina State the next day. The Following week the Cougars will head to Cedar Falls Iowa to take on Northern Iowa before returning home for the Cougar Challenge Tournament on September 7th and 8th.
They will get the opportunity to face another quality team during the Cougar Challenge when they host another NCAA tournament team in Stony Brook following matches against McNeese State and Illinois State.
Things wont slow down for them as they wrap up their non conference schedule September 14th and 15th against another tournament team in Western Kentucky. They will also take on Northern Illinois and East Tennessee State that weekend in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The Cougars will start Pac-12 play in a gauntlet as they will have two away games and two home games against four different teams in the current top-25. Their first conference game, which also happens to be their first of three consecutive televised games will come in Seattle on September 20th against the Huskies before they travel south to Eugene to take on the Ducks. They will then return home for a Friday (9/28) and Sunday (9/30) match against Utah and Colorado.
The Cougars will hit the road for four matches before alternating two home and two away games for a month until November 16th when they finish out the season with four home games capped with hosting Washington November 29th, the day after the 2018 Apple Cup in Pullman.
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If you or family or friends attend WSU home football games in Pullman and stay in your RV or trailer while in town, this news (story below from Pullman Radio) about the retaining wall at Pullman's Walmart on Bishop Boulevard might be of interest because some Cougs with RVs and trailers park in that Walmart parking lot.
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Second try at fixing the Walmart wall in Pullman complete
June 19, 2018 Pullman Radio
The second attempt to fix the massive retaining wall at the Pullman Walmart is complete. The construction zone and traffic restrictions around the big box store on Bishop Boulevard were removed late Tuesday afternoon.
The most recent failure of the 40 foot high wall occurred in the Spring of last year. An extensive project to install anchors and faceplates to fix the slumping wall began in November. The work forced the closure of Harvest Drive up to the store and led to one lane being shut down on Bishop. Previous reports indicated that the repairs were going to cost upwards of 4.5 million dollars.
The wall first starting coming down in the Summer of 2014. Harvest Drive was closed for several months 4 years ago when the initial failed attempt to fix the wall was conducted. The Pullman Walmart opened in 2010.
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Junior college men's basketball recruiting expert says WSU scored big in its hoops class
By Barry Bolton, Cougfan.com
WASHINGTON STATE has found success on the hardcourt when it has found a niche – in the Bennett years, it was the pack line defense. Could the right niche for Ernie Kent be JC recruiting? We talked to an expert in the field who broke down the four JUCO members of the Cougs’ recruiting class, and offered insights that may surprise some readers when it comes to recruiting junior college talent.
Cameron Belden is a longtime basketball scout for Mullen Sports, generally regarded as the top JC scouting service used by four-year schools. Belden said around 350 four-year schools subscribe to Mullen for its evaluations on the nation’s junior college basketball players.
“We field a ton of phone calls from coaches all the time who want to know more things beyond our write up ... we give the 4-year schools our opinion of how good they are, where they can play, what their strengths and weaknesses are, everything we can provide to help them make their recruiting decisions,” said Belden.
With the hoops recruiting class enrolling at WSU this week, we asked Belden for his analysis on the four JC members in Kent's class.
PG Ahmed Ali (Jr., 5-11, 165, Eastern Florida State JC) -- “That's an exciting signing right there for Coach Kent. He's been one of the most exciting players in all of JUCO the last two years. He put on a show at our top 100 camp last summer. He's a playmaker, can shoot, leads his team, he has constant energy. Love that kid. He's really fun to watch.”
SF/W Marvin Cannon (So., 6-5, 170, Barton CC) -- “He had a tremendous national tournament ... that kid is a dynamic athlete. He plays with a really big motor - the sky is the limit for him talent-wise. Just love the way he plays, he's athletic, very good in transition. If you had to pick something for improvement, I'd say he needs to become a more consistent shooter. But he's a tremendous rebounder ... he jumped off the page at a lot of guys at the national tournament.”
PG Jervae Robinson (Jr., 6-2, 175, Otero JC) -- “Love that kid. He's another who made a run at the JC national tournament ... I thought that kid was underrated all year. He's at least 6-2, can play the point and is just a really solid all-around basketball player. He's strong with the ball, takes care of it, hits open shots, makes the right play. There's not a ton of flash to his game but there are kids out there that are really flashy and make a lot of mistakes, and this kid doesn't play that way.”
PF Isaiah Wade (Jr., 6-8, 215, Iowa Western CC) -- “At the beginning of the year we put out our top 125 of kids that didn't commit early and I know we had him up pretty high on that list ... he was one of the better kids still out there.”
HOW WSU’s JUNIOR COLLEGE CLASS COMPARES NATIONALLY:
“We don't necessarily (rank classes but) just off the top of my head, I would definitely have them high up on the list because every one of those kids we had on our top 125 ... if I had to say, they easily had a top 5 class, they would definitely be up there at the top.”
“They didn't take a player that wasn't on a top 25 team this year ... the players they recruited and signed are all winners. They're coming from good, traditional winning programs. They've been coached well and they should come in there ready to contribute and help those guys try to win games right away.”
CAN JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYERS have a meaningful impact in the Pac-12? They already have, says Belden.
“Sometimes there's a negative connotation there but there have been more (impactful JUCO players) than people probably realize coming into the Pac-12 and leagues like that all over the country,” said Belden. “There have actually been quite a few JC players over the last 10 years at the Pac-12 level … In that conference, Oregon has had a whole lot of success with them, I think two years ago that team had three JC kids starting … Arizona has had some over the last five years that have come in and had an impact."
WE DON’T KNOW YET if an emphasis on JC players will become a recruiting trend at WSU under Kent. The 2018 signing class at Wazzu could have just been a way to get some mature talent in place for this one class. But it’s an intriguing idea for a school like Washington State. Kent’s recruiting coordinator, Elwyn McRoy, is well-versed in JUCO recruiting, said Belden.
“It may be from the mindset, 'OK, these guys are getting better freshmen than we are, but maybe we can beat them with an older, more mature team.' So it would make sense -- if Coach Kent is going that route – to do so with Elwyn on board, because he can go get them. Elwyn has been doing this for a long, long time (and) he's always been among the guys who can go out and get the best of the best JC players ... It's a good way to go out and get a mature player who is a little older who should be ready to go right away,” said Belden.
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Trio of Cougars to Compete at USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Iowa
from WSU Sports Info 6/18/2018
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State's Brock Eager, Alissa Brooks-Johnson and CJ (Craig) Allen will compete in the USATF Outdoor Championships, June 21-24, at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
Eager, a rising senior at WSU from Renton, Wash., throws the hammer with a lifetime-best distance of 228-feet 3 inches (69.57m), achieved at the 2018 Stanford Invitational. That mark is fourth-best in WSU's all-time records. He was the 2017 Pac-12 hammer champion and finished as the runner-up this spring. He is a two-time All-America second team honoree after 14th-place finishes in the hammer at the 2017 and at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Eager won the USATF Junior Olympics 18U hammer throw in 2014 after being the runner-up in 2013 and placing seventh in the intermediate boys hammer in 2012. Eager's entry mark is 13th-best among the qualifiers for the USA Championships.
Brooks-Johnson, from Doty, Wash., just completed her collegiate eligibility with her second All-America first team heptathlon performance at the NCAA Championships. Brooks-Johnson's lifetime-best of score of 5,977 points was achieved at the 2018 Bryan Clay Multis in Azusa, Calif. She is a three-time Pac-12 heptathlon champion winning titles in 2015, 2017 and 2018. She finished sixth in the heptathlon at both the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Championships and was 11th in the pentathlon at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships. Brooks-Johnson also has tallied honorable mention All-America recognition for the heptathlon and the 400m hurdles in 2015. In WSU's all-time records Brooks-Johnson is: second in heptathlon (5,977 points 2018), third in the pentathlon (4,190 points in 2018), fourth in the 400m hurdles (57.86 in 2018), and sixth in the 100m hurdles (13.65 in 2018). Brooks-Johnson's mark is fourth-best among the competitors at the USA Championships.
Allen, a 400m hurdler from Allyn, Wash., completed his collegiate eligibility in 2017. His lifetime-best time in the intermediate hurdles is 49.40 seconds which was achieved at the 2017 NCAA West Prelims. That time is third-best in WSU all-time records. He won the Pac-12 400m hurdles titles in 2014 and 2016, and was the runner-up in 2017. Allen placed ninth in the 2017 NCAA Championships to earn All-America second team honors. His 2018 best time of 49.85 is 15th-best in the USA Championships.
The days and times for Cougars' competition are (may be changed due to weather conditions):
Thursday, June 21
1:05 p.m. PT Men's 400m Hurdles First Round
Friday, June 22--
1:20 p.m. PT Men's Hammer Final
3:10 p.m. PT Men's 400m Hurdles Semifinals
Saturday, June 23--
8 a.m. PT Heptathlon - 100m Hurdles
9 a.m. PT Heptathlon - High Jump
11:05 a.m. PT Heptathlon - Shot Put
Noon PT Heptathlon - 200m
1:36 p.m. PT Men's 400m Hurdles Final
Sunday, June 24 --
9:30 a.m. PT Heptathlon - Long Jump
10:50 a.m. PT Heptathlon - Javelin
12:50 p.m. PT Heptathlon - 800m
NBC Sports is televising the championships daily on its networks.
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New Year, New Identity for WSU Women's Basketball
from WSU Sports Info 6/18/2018
New coaching staff =
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Kami Ethridge comes to the Palouse with Coach of the Year honors, National Championships, and Olympic experience. She brings renewed energy and purpose to the Washington State Women's Basketball and has already attracted 4 new players to the program. Her staff includes WNBA Experience in Laurie Koehn and experience playing in and recruiting the Pacific Northwest in Jackie Nared.
New players =
In addition to retaining a solid core of committed veterans and one early signing, Cherilyn Molina (Kailua Kona, Hawaii), Coach Ethridge has brought in three new recruits: Shir Levy (Ness Ziona, Israel), Ula Motuga (Logan, Australia), and Michaela Jones (Wymore, Neb).
New Ticket Deals = Senior Citizens (60+) can purchase a reduced price reserved seat for just $69. This is a $20 discount (~22%) on last year's price. Current and retired faculty and staff of WSU will also see a discount on reserved prices. This year's price is $10 cheaper than last season and is just $69 for a reserved season ticket. Family 4 Packs will once again be offered this season. Pick any game, and receive 4 general admission tickets, 4 beverages and 4 hot dogs for just $28.
Plus 1 program =
Cougar Women's Basketball's "Plus 1" Program allows disadvantaged local youth and families access to Washington State Women's Basketball tickets so that they can experience the excitement in Beasley Coliseum. Fans will be asked when they go to purchase or renew their basketball season tickets to purchase an extra season ticket. (youth General Admission $39) Fans can add it to their season ticket purchase, or purchase separately using the promo code "PLUS1". The ticket will be used by Coach Ethridge in her community outreach efforts for this coming season.
