Nov 16, 2018 San Jose Mercury News by Jon Wilner
During his first year on the job, Washington State athletic
director Pat Chun has frequently told the story about the time his current
employer faced his previous employer.
It was Sept. 2002, and the 10th-ranked Cougars ventured to
Ohio Stadium to play the No. 6 Buckeyes.
Chun has vague memories of the game itself — OSU won handily
— but vivid recall of what happened afterward.
Buckeyes athletic director Andy Geiger walked into the
office and told his staff, including Chun, to commence a $20 million
fundraising campaign to support a renovation of the Woody Hayes Athletic
Center.
“Both teams are top 10, and Ohio State uses that game to
start a reinvestment in the program,” Chun said. “Washington State doesn’t do
anything with its facilities, and you see how that can erode the program.”
Chun has no intention of letting the Cougars squander
another prime opportunity made possible by football success.
Yes, they poured $65 million into a renovation of the Martin
Stadium press box earlier in the decade, adding club seats and luxury suites.
Yes, they spent $61 million on a football operations complex
that opened in 2014.
But that’s not enough, Chun said — it cannot be enough.
“I remind everyone that Washington State has the ability to
compete at the highest level, but sustaining it is the goal,’’ he added. “And
the fundraising piece is what will allow us to sustain it.
“The stadium renovation and the operations center helped
modernize us, but we need a new indoor practice field. It’s a reinvestment. If
you want to sustain success, reinvestment has to happen annually.”
The Cougars are in the process of securing approval for a
$10 million baseball clubhouse. Once that’s complete, Chun plans to charge
forward with the indoor facility and its $25-to-$30 million price tag.
The baseball project is being funded entirely by
philanthropy.
“That’s the model for our plan (for the football facility),”
he said. “We have to keep adding to the portfolio.”
Unless the Cougars would prefer to backslide into
irrelevance, for the trajectory of WSU’s football program over the past two
decades mirrors the level of facility reinvestment. Or lack thereof.
The Cougars built a rudimentary indoor practice ‘bubble’ to
protect players from the elements in 2002, in the middle of a three-year
stretch in which they won 30 games.
But as Chun tells so many constituents, the school didn’t
double down with dollars at the required level through the remainder of the
decade.
As a result, the Cougars fell behind in the facility race
and recruiting suffered. Combined with a poor coaching hire (Paul Wulff), the
program collapsed with stunning speed.
Not long after back-to-back-to-back seasons of 10-plus wins,
they suffered back-to-back-to-back seasons of 10-plus losses.
At the turn of the decade came a rebirth orchestrated by
former athletic director Bill Moos: The South side renovation, the football
operations complex, and the hiring of Mike Leach.
“The years before Leach have left battle scars here,” said
Chun, who was hired last winter. “Nobody wants to go back to that. It affects
the institution when football isn’t winning.”
Likewise, it affects the institution when football wins big
— just as it’s doing this fall.
Ticket revenue is at record levels thanks to four sellouts
(double last year’s total), and donations are soaring: The Cougar Athletic
Fund, which supports scholarships, raised a record $7.6 million in the 2018
fiscal year and is on pace to shatter that mark.
According to Chun, donations to the CAF are up 28 percent
year-over-year (Nov./Nov.), with many months of momentum remaining.
WSU gambled with the stadium renovation and football
operations, spending $120 million without the philanthropic support needed to
comfortably service the debt. As a result, the athletic department is facing an
$85 million long-haul deficit.
But without that investment, there would be no 9-1 record or
No. 8 ranking. There would be no winning streaks against Oregon and Stanford.
There would be no fake mustaches at Martin Stadium.
Chun knows the reinvestment must continue without increasing
the department’s deficit. There is only one means to that end (fundraising) and
only one sport that can power the process.
If not a lesson for the rest of the conference, the Cougars
are at least a gentle reminder of the impact football can have across all sports
and all branches of campus .
“I call us the best story in college sports,’’ Chun said.
“From the tragedy (the death of Tyler Hilinski) to finding Gardner Minshew to
how the team came together to GameDay coming here and the impact that has had —
emotions here are at an all-time high.
“They call it the Flutie Effect, right? When your football
team gets exposure at a high level, applications increase. Philanthropy
increases.
“College football is a huge opportunity for universities
because it’s all about connecting people. We’ve got a lot of opportunity with
the success we’re having.”
::::::::::::
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
LOSING ITS FIRST TWO CONTESTS OF THE SEASON, WSU WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL TEAM WINS THIRD GAME VS. NEBRASKA, DOUBLE OVERTIME IN PULLMAN
After its first two 2018-2019 season games, the WSU Cougars
women's basketball team got its first win by beating Nebraska 87-84 in double
overtime Friday night, Nov. 16, 2018, on Friel Court/Beasley Coliseum.
It was also the first victory as a Cougar for new WSU head
coach Kamie Ethridge.
WSU opened the season with a 72-61 loss and lost, 70-64, to
St. Mary's of California.
All three games in Pullman on Friel Court/Beasley Coliseum.
In the game vs. Nebraska, WSU led 19-18 at end of the first
quarter. At halftime, the Cougs had a
39-29 lead. After three quarters, WSU led 60-49 after three quarters of play.
After first OT the score was tied at 78.
In the first OT both teams scored 8 points. In second OT,
WSU outscored Nebraska, 9-6.
Borislava Hristova scored a game-high 31 points to lead the
Cougars.
:::::::::::
WSU FOOTBALL
Gardner Minshew for Heisman? Washington State sure thinks so
Thu., Nov. 15, 2018, 6:56 p.m. Spokane S-R
PULLMAN – With Heisman Trophy ballots being handed out on
Nov. 19, Washington State felt it was time to make sure one name was front and
center for voters.
Another promotional effort for Gardner Minshew’s Heisman
Trophy campaign. #WSU will be “FLASH the STACHE” promotional cards in the press
box Saturday. They’ve also mailed the cards out to local and national media
members.
On Thursday, a Twitter account was created to help drum up
support for the WSU quarterback. Minshew, a graduate transfer from East
Carolina, has thrown for 3,852 yards and 29 touchdowns this season for the
eighth-ranked Cougars.
Minshew has already been named a semifinalist for the Davey
O’Brien, Maxwell and Walter Camp awards, along with being named a finalist for
the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award.
Heisman Trophy finalists will be named on Dec. 3 with the
presentation taking place on Dec. 8 at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times
Square.
Ryan Leaf is Washington State’s lone Heisman finalist. Leaf
lost the award to Michigan’s Charles Woodson in 1997. Tennessee’s Peyton
Manning was the other finalist.
:::::::::::::
WSU FOOTBALL
Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin returns to the place (Pullman) where
his career as an offensive guru first took shape
Fri., Nov. 16, 2018, by Theo Lawson Spokane S-R
PULLMAN – Imagine the 2012 college football season without
Johnny Manziel’s gridiron wizardry and bombastic swagger, or the 2011 campaign
without Case Keenum and his rocket right arm.
Somebody else would have been on top of the podium at the
2012 Heisman Trophy ceremony, lifting college football’s most coveted prize,
and Hawaii’s Timmy Chang would still be the king of the NCAA’s all-time passing
chart, with his 17,072 career yards.
Manziel and Keenum led offensive revolutions at Texas
A&M and Houston, respectively, but there’s a scenario in which they
wouldn’t have: Kevin Sumlin begins his coaching career anywhere other than
Pullman.
More than two decades earlier, the man responsible for
mentoring both quarterbacks – add Arizona’s Khalil Tate to the list now –
obtained his undergraduate degree from Purdue University and went straight to
work as a group insurance underwriter.
But desk clumps and rate-setting got old. Sumlin wanted a
change of scenery and two of his former coaches at Purdue – Joe Tiller, the
Boilermakers’ defensive coordinator, and Bill Doba, an outside linebackers
coach – had just accepted positions at Washington State, joining forces with
successful Cougars coach Mike Price.
Sumlin left the insurance world in a hurry and took a
graduate assistant position on Price’s staff in 1989. Almost three decades
later, the first-year Arizona coach is returning to the Palouse with the
Wildcats (5-5, 4-3) on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ESPN), and scores of memories from
the first pit stop of his career.
“I owe (coach Price)
everything in my coaching career because he gave me the opportunity to come to
Pullman, put me in a position that helped me as a young coach, and some
responsibilities that taught me lessons that I use to this day,” Sumlin said
two weeks ago on a Pac-12 Conference call. “All that started in Pullman.”
Had it not been for those two brief years at Washington
State, Sumlin may have been a defensive lifer.
Texas A&M may not have sprinted to an 11-2 record in
2012, stunned Alabama in Tuscaloosa and sent its star quarterback to New York
for the Heisman ceremony. Houston may not have won the 2011 Conference USA
championship, scoring 49.3 points per game. Without Sumlin’s spinoff of the
spread offense, Keenum certainly wouldn’t have had a chance to shatter Chang’s
NCAA mark and set one with 19,217 career passing yards.
Sumlin, a Brewtown, Alabama, native, went to Purdue as a
linebacker and he came out as a linebacker. He excelled as a run-stopper all
four years he was with the Boilermakers, notching 375 career tackles, and still
sits No. 7 on Purdue’s all-time list.
He had a defensive mind, but more important than that, he
had a football mind. Price recognized that didn’t feel the need to pigeonhole
his young GA.
“Mike gave me
probably the biggest opportunity, was to be a graduate assistant and move me
from defense to offense,” Sumlin said, “and really kind of change my career
path.”
It’s not always an easy transition – the one from offense to
defense – Price insists.
“It is a little
rare,” the longtime WSU coach said by phone earlier this week. “If you start as
a defensive guy, you mostly stay as a defensive guy. He made the transition to
offense and just took off. He’s really smart and was able to do it.”
Doba, a defensive guru most of his career, benefited from a
similar experience. He was a linebackers coach for Lee Corso at Indiana
University in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but made a temporary move to
offense when the Hoosiers’ quarterbacks and receivers coach left.
He believes it allowed him see the game from a different
lens.
“By being a defensive
player and then going to offense, you know what hurts you and in my career,
twice I went over to offense,” Doba said by phone Tuesday from his home in
southwestern Michigan. “That really helped me to know how to coach my
linebackers, how to drop against – what are they looking at, where are they
reading? So that helped me.”
But Doba never envisioned Sumlin in a coaching role.
“I thought he was
smarter than (being a coach),” Doba said. “I didn’t think he’d be a coach. I
know he knew the system well and studied hard as a player, but I never thought
about him going into coaching until he came out to Washington State as a GA.”
Price also entrusted Sumlin with a head-coaching gig while
he was in Pullman. The GA was responsibility for the Cougars’ junior varsity
team, which traveled throughout the region to play games against junior
colleges.
While Sumlin didn’t earn more than a small stipend, the
experience was invaluable. He was a sponge sitting in the same meeting rooms as
Price and his staff – an impressive collection of names that included Doba,
current Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, former Idaho State coach Larry
Lewis and Tiller, who’d eventually go on to become a head coach at both Wyoming
and Purdue.
Sumlin’s fellow grad assistants included current Oakland
Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson and Memphis defensive coordinator
Chris Ball.
“(Kevin would) do
anything,” Price said. “Great recruiter. He really could recruit, just has a
way about him and he has a good sense of talent.”
Sumlin and Ball roomed together and, as poorly compensated
GAs, worked summer jobs to help cover cost of living expenses.
“We got them a job –
both of them – up the Snake River,” Doba said. “This guy was building a house
and they were doing all the construction work for them, taking care of the
house. The only way to get there was by boat, so they were isolated. I don’t
know how they got supplies. But anyway, we were up there to go fishing and we
pulled over to say hi to them and they were just sitting next to a big bucket.
… I found out later that they had a salmon in there that they caught out of
season, so they’d try to hide it.”
Sumlin got his first assistant job in 1991 at Wyoming as a
wide receivers coach when Tiller was hired as the Cowboys’ head coach. But he’d
occasionally return to WSU for the “one-back clinics” held by Price, who held
an annual summit for college coaches interested in trading ideas on spread
offense theory.
At one of those, he ran into the coach who’ll be opposing
him Saturday at Martin Stadium when Arizona takes on No. 8 WSU.
“First time I met
Kevin Sumlin was at Washington State,” said Mike Leach, then working at
Kentucky. “You walk through the door and there’s Kevin, who was at Purdue and
(Noel) Mazzone was at Auburn at the time. Anyway, so I got to meet him in
person some day. How about that? I was a little more thrilled to meet Mike
Price because he was the head coach and had been to the Rose Bowl and
everything, but I was delighted to meet Noel and Kevin as well.”
The all-day clinics would be followed by nightly gatherings
at a watering hole that still stands in downtown Pullman.
“Everybody would talk
about their scheme or whatever and you’d take notes while the other guys were
talking,” Leach said, “and I can’t remember where we ate or what not but then
everybody would go to the Sports Page.”
“One-back clinic was
really good and it enabled us to study how people were reacting defensively to
it around the country, and we shared ideas and had coaches with similar ideas
offensively, and we shared them and took what we wanted from each guy and it was
a great teaching tool for my coaches and everyone,” Price said.
Leach and Sumlin have had their share of success
proliferating the spread offense – the WSU coach with his pass-happy Air Raid
and the Arizona coach with a version of the system that relies more on
read-option tactics and the quarterback’s athleticism.
“Leach develops some
guys and changes the plays just to match his talent and those kinds of things,”
Price said. “But Kevin’s good at it, too. (You can) look and say, ‘OK, that
offense that he’s running right now is probably a little bit different with
Tate than it would’ve been at Texas A&M.’ So he can see that and he’s on
top of everything offensively and defensively. He’s just a smart guy and he
hired smart people to help him coach.”
And he made a key decision at the outset of his career that
changed his career path entirely.
“Just a tremendous learning experience for me the two years
I was (in Pullman),” Sumlin said.
::::::::::::::
Way back when (1989 and 1990 seasons) Arizona head football coach
Kevin Sumlin was a WSU Cougar.
Kevin Sumlin coaching history
1989–1990 Washington State (GA)
1991–1992 Wyoming (WR)
1993–1996 Minnesota (WR)
1997 Minnesota (QB)
1998–2000 Purdue (WR)
2001 Texas A&M (AHC/WR)
2002 Texas A&M (AHC/OC/WR)
2003–2005 Oklahoma (TE/ST)
2006–2007 Oklahoma (co-OC/WR)
2008–2011 Houston
2012–2017 Texas A&M
2018–present Arizona
::::
Arizona's Kevin Sumlin smiles at memory of career start at
Wazzu
By BRIAN STULTZ July 25, 2018
LOS ANGELES – Kevin Sumlin remembers doing a lot of the
usual graduate assistant grunt work on Mike Price’s Washington State staff in
1989 and ‘90 and is unequivocal about his time in Pullman. “Loved it there,” he
told Cougfan.com on Wednesday at Pac-12 Media Day in Los Angeles. "Had
some great friends -- even in administration. Jim Livengood was the athletic
director and Chris Del Conte (now AD at Texas) was there."
Now entering his first season at Arizona -- and 11th as an
FBS head coach -- Sumlin has come a long way since his days on the Palouse when
he and fellows GAs Chris Ball (now the defensive coordinator at Memphis) and
Greg Olson (now the Oakland Raiders' offensive coordinator) “did all the other
(non-football) work and washed cars and did whatever.”
Price shared one of those “whatevers” with CF.C several
years ago when asked about his greatest recruiting feats while at WSU. He
shared a colorful story about wooing Drew Bledsoe while on an official visit to
WSU and noted that Sumlin and Ball had rallied fraternities and sororities to
come outside and cheer Bledsoe as the van taking the quarterback and his
parents home to Walla Walla drove down Colorado Street. “So as the van drives
through Greek Row all these kids are chanting ‘We want Drew' and ‘We need you'
and slapping the sides of the van. It was a fantastic visit,” Price chuckled.
WSU WAS SUMLIN’S FIRST-EVER coaching stop. He landed in
Pullman courtesy of the late Joe Tiller, “who was the defensive coordinator at
Purdue when I was a player and, ironically, was hired as the offensive
coordinator (at WSU),” Sumlin said. The Cougars’ defensive coordinator at the
time, Sumlin noted Wednesday, was Mike Zimmer, who is now the Minnesota
Vikings’ head coach.
When Tiller took the head job at Wyoming in 1991, he brought
Sumlin on as his receivers coach and both their careers were off to the
proverbial races. Tiller went on to become the beloved head coach at Purdue and
Sumlin, with a 67 percent winning percentage as a head coach, is pulling down
$12.4 million this season ($2 million base from Arizona and a $10.4 million lump
sum buyout from A&M).
Sumlin said he’s “always indebted” to Price and Tiller
because they “gave me an opportunity.”
As for his widely reported dalliance with WSU to succeed
Bill Doba in 2008, Sumlin smiles and plays coy. “Allegedly,” he quipped good naturedly. “You guys don't know that for sure ... Let's
clear that up right now.”
The Cougars hired Paul Wulff and Sumlin, then the
co-offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, was hired as head coach at Houston, which
he parlayed four years later into a six-season run at the helm of Texas
A&M.
::::::::::::
WSU makes sweeping changes to Student Conduct rules
Pullman Radio News 11/16/2018
After a two-day meeting considering a number of agenda
items, Washington State University regents have approved an overhaul to the
student conduct process that greatly expands student rights and
responsibilities in disciplinary investigations and hearings, after a
comprehensive two-year review of the student conduct code. WSU President Kirk Schulz authorized the
review of the code in fall of 2016. More information about the changed to the
conduct code can be found on the Division of Student Affairs website:
https://studentaffairs.wsu.edu/initiatives/student-conduct-process
Among other items on the agenda was a proposal for a
state-of-the-art baseball clubhouse on the Pullman campus, to be paid for by
donation. The clubhouse proposal will be
voted on in January.
:::::::::::::::::
Washington State Football gets oral commitment from City
College of San Francisco cornerback Derrick Langford
Thu., Nov. 15, 2018, 7:32 p.m. Spokesman-Review
PULLMAN – The Bay Area to Palouse connection keeps getting
stronger for Washington State as cornerback Derrick Langford orally committed
to play for the Cougars on Thursday.
The 6-2, 185-pound defensive back is a freshman at City
College of San Francisco, the same program that gave the Cougars Easop Winston
Jr., Anthony Gordon, Rob Valencia and Robert Taylor.
According to 247Sports.com, Langford also had offers from
Hawaii, Incarnate Word, Liberty and Rutgers.
Langford has played in all 10 games for the Rams this
season, totaling 25 tackles, four pass breakups and an interception.
:::::::::::::
‘The start of my goodbye’
WSU senior football player Andre Dillard hopes to complete
dream of playing in NFL as WSU career nears end
taking an interest in the sport. “I thought it would make me
cool,” he joked.
By DYLAN GREENE, Evergreen Nov 16, 2018
In football, the arm of a quarterback, the hands of a
receiver and the feet of a running back are glorified by the people looking at
the sport from the outside.
But for those who have or do play the sport, there is a
place they pay attention to where the outcome of nearly every game is decided —
the line of scrimmage.
Andre Dillard is very familiar with what happens in the
trenches, and as the Cougars’ starting left tackle he knows the work he does on
the field usually goes unnoticed.
“The typical fan isn’t going to be watching the [offensive]
line every play,” he said. “They’re going to watch where the ball is.”
He said it feels like the O-line and D-line have their own
little game going on that is completely separate from the skills positions.
“It’s a different world,” Andre said.
The trash-talking and physical nature of competing in the
trenches is unlike any other position on the field. However, Andre tries to
stir clear of the words and focuses more on speaking with his play.
“To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever talked trash to
opposing [defensive] lineman,” he said. “I’ve had things chirped at me before but
I just don’t say anything and then they shut up by themselves.”
Since Andre took up football, he has become accustomed to
the nature of the position because he’s only ever played at one spot on the
field — left tackle.
But Andre is a late bloomer as he didn’t start playing until
eighth grade, and he had a good reason for picking up the sport.
“I thought it would make me cool,” he joked.
However, it would’ve been natural for Andre to take an
interest in the sport as his dad, Mitch Dillard, played at WSU from 1983-86.
Mitch walked on at WSU and started out as an outside
linebacker, but the Cougars needed a center and he was willing to do anything
to make the team, so he transitioned to that position.
In his senior season, the team moved Mitch to another
position. This time it was tight end and that’s where he played most of that
year. After college, Mitch played semi-pro football until he was 39 years old.
Once Andre started playing football, it became apparent to
Mitch that the sport was meant for him. So Mitch got a blocking dummy from a
friend and helped Andre with his footwork and technique in the backyard.
Dillard followed in his father Mitch’s footsteps by coming
to WSU. His dad played in Pullman from 1983-86.
Mitch also gave his son a football 101 lesson when he
started since Andre had minimal knowledge about the positions on a football
team. He used an electric football game he grew up with as a child to show
Andre where each player lined up on the field and their role. Mitch admitted
that Andre was a bit embarrassed early on when he knew so little.
“There were times
where he was wondering if he even wanted to play football … but I completely
understood that because I was the same way,” Mitch said.
But once Andre got the hang of it he fell in love with the
game, and when it came time to figure out where he would continue his football
career beyond high school, WSU was the only one that showed significant
interest in him.
That didn’t bother Andre because he was raised as a Coug
fan. He remembers watching WSU play every weekend with his dad growing up, so
he followed in his father’s footsteps.
“I was thrilled to
death when [WSU] offered him a scholarship,” Mitch said. “I’m so glad he made
that choice because I think it was the best place for him to be.”
Now in his final season in Pullman, the senior is looking to
take the team as far as he can and continue his career beyond college.
Depending on where you look, Andre is seen as a potential
first round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Regardless of where he goes, Andre said
being drafted would feel surreal.
“I’ve had dreams
about that,” he said. “Just calling my name in the draft, that’s just something
I’ve always wanted to happen.”
This year Andre has had to adjust to new offensive line
coach Mason Miller. Despite hearing from a new voice, Andre said nothing has
changed and the bond he has built with his fellow offensive linemen has grown
stronger.
Throughout the offseason, Andre said the offensive line spent
time together by having barbecues and playing video games.
“My face always hurts
from laughing whenever I hang out with all those guys at once,” he said. “It’s
just a great time.”
There is one thing Andre has yet to accomplish during his
time at WSU that every Coug wants on their resume by the end of their career —
an Apple Cup victory.
Andre has had three chances to knock off University of
Washington, and each time the Cougars have been blown out, losing by a combined
score of 131-41.
Andre knows any game against UW is important.
“Realistically, we
just focus on one at a time,” he said, “but when I think about it, it’s my last
chance and a couple other seniors’ last chance to finally put them to an end,
so we’re going to do everything we can to prepare for that when it comes.”
Mitch said he hopes the fourth time’s a charm against the
Huskies.
“I want really badly
for him to get to experience that before he leaves, so I will be jacked up for
that game,” he said. “I’m sure they want it as badly as a person could want a
game.”
Andre said he will be emotional when he steps off the field
at Martin Stadium for the final time in a Cougar uniform.
“It [will] kind of be
like a goodbye,” he said. “The start of my goodbye.”
::::::::::::::::::
WSU presents plans for new baseball clubhouse
Proposal for project will next be considered at Board of
Regents meeting in January
By Stephan Wiebe, Moscow Pullman Daily News 11/16/2018
Washington State's baseball program could receive a major
boost to its facilities in 2019.
A proposal to construct a $10 million clubhouse was
presented to a WSU Board of Regents committee Thursday afternoon at a meeting
at WSU's campus.
The project will be financed by donations, although it will
require $3.5 million of bridge financing from the university to cover
construction costs until the remaining pledges are received over a five-year
period, according to the proposal.
The proposal calls for the facility to be built on the
third-base side of Bailey-Brayton Field, and includes locker rooms, meeting
space, a training area and Hall of Fame area. The project will be considered at
the Board of Regents meeting in January.
"We're proud of the fact that it's the first project,
to our knowledge in athletics, where 100 percent of it is through philanthropic
donations," athletic director Patrick Chun said. "It's a $10 million
project. We actually have $10.2 million in cash and pledges."
Chun said the project is a long time coming.
"Our program is the only school in the Pac-12 with an
outdated baseball facility," he said. "So with the history and
tradition we have with our baseball program - I think it's four College World
Series, 16 NCAA appearances - we gotta get our program to where it once
was."
Here is the project timeline presented in the proposal:
Nov. 15: Project presented to Institutional Infrastructure
Committee
January 2019: Proposal to be approved, denied or altered at
Board of Regents meeting
January to September, 2019: Design phase
August 2019 to August 2020: Construction phase
And here is a breakdown of the project's $10 million
financing plan:
Donated cash on hand (as of September): $4 million
Pledges receivable by August deadline: $2.5 million
Debt financing: $3.5 million
Total: $10 million
If the proposal is approved, the debt financing will be paid
by the general revenues of the university, but will be paid off with donations
over five years, according to the proposal.
The bridge funds could come from one or a variety of facets,
including fixed or variable loans or bonds, based on market conditions during
fiscal year 2020, according to the proposal.
Chun said 73 people, institutions and companies have either
already donated or signed pledges for $10.2 million and WSU will continue
fundraising throughout the project.
"Every dollar is accounted for in terms of what's been
mapped out and in terms of the bridged dollars we will need," Chun said.
"And that's what makes it easy to ask the university for a loan because the
vast majority, if not all of (the pledgers), are people that have historically
made gifts to the institution and understand what we're trying to do."
Chun said some of WSU's other varsity programs - including
football, soccer and volleyball - have benefited from facility improvements in
recent years.
Meanwhile, the baseball team still uses locker rooms and
training areas at Bohler Gym - more than a quarter-mile away from
Bailey-Brayton Field, where the team practices and plays.
"In today's market place, today's day and age in terms
of recruiting facilities are critical," Chun said. "As we keep
building our athletic program, the goal is this is the first of multiple
building projects in which philanthropy is going to push us forward."
:::::::::::::
WSU SOCCER bounced from NCAA soccer tournament by No. 1 seed
Georgetown
The Cougs played tough, but couldn’t break through with a
goal against the second-ranked team in the country.
Based on story by Jeff Nusser Coug Center Nov 16, 2018
The Washington State Cougars were bounced in the second
round of the NCAA soccer tournament by the No. 1 seed Georgetown Hoyas on
Friday, 1-0, in Washington, D.C. That brought a season of crazy highs and lows
to an end.
The Hoyas had not lost all season, and the Cougs did not go
quietly. Georgetown scored in the 10th minute on a set piece off its first
corner kick, leaving WSU to chase the game for the final 80 minutes. They
chased it valiantly, racking up 10 corners to Georgetown’s seven, and the
Cougars put four shots on goal without conceding again — goal keeper Rachel
Thompson was credited with four saves. However, they never could break through
for the equalizer.
Notably, the Hoyas did an excellent job of limiting the
Cougs’ most dangerous player, Morgan Weaver. The junior striker had just one
shot on the day.
The game was fairly indicative of the Cougars’ season in
that they showed they could play with anyone in the country — they were the
last undefeated, untied team in the country earlier this year while soaring
into the top 10 of the rankings. They also were one of two teams to play
top-ranked Stanford to a tie.
But it also was a squad ravaged by injuries; while the team
was down multiple starters — including goalkeeper Ella Dederick and forward
Elyse Bennett, both of whom were strong all-conference candidates — the Cougs
suffered a midseason five-game slide. Ultimately, the losses cost them a high
seed in the tournament and put them on a path to facing the Hoyas on the east
coast.
“It’s always tough to end your season especially when you
have a special group of seniors,” WSU coach Todd Shulenberger said. “I am super
lucky to been able to coach these ladies. It’s been another great season for
Coug soccer. I am very proud of this team to accomplish another NCAA run. The
season itself experienced a ton of highs while fighting through a ton of
adversity. We are a proven contender now and I know this team will continue to
grow and will be hungry for more while representing this great university.”
The Cougs’ finished the season 13-6-1 overall, tied for the
fifth-most wins in program history. It was the second consecutive season WSU
had advanced past the first round, and was the fifth time in 12 NCAA
appearances the Cougars advanced out of the first round. It was just the second
time in program history the Cougs have made it out of the first round in
back-to-back seasons, the first being in 2009 and 2010.
That said, the future is still extremely bright for WSU.
Although the Cougs will have to replace stalwarts Maddy Haro (all-conference
second team), Meagan O’Neill (third team), and Grace Hancock, everyone else
returns — including Weaver, an all-conference first teamer who scored 12 goals.
:::::
(News for CougGroup does not have access to entire article,
but what was available, below, very interesting.)
Steve Spurrier Jr.: WSU football recruiting surge turning
Pac-12 heads
Cougfan.com 11/16/2018
PULLMAN – Washington State outside receivers coach Steve
Spurrier Jr. told a Cougar Athletic Fund luncheon audience Friday..
…………………………………………
WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun spoke on athletics’ current
successes in academics during Thursday night’s Faculty Senate meeting.
BY CHERYL AARNIO, Evergreen Nov 16, 2018
WSU Director of Athletics Pat Chun spoke about the
importance of athletics at the Faculty Senate meeting Thursday night.
Chun said the athletic program places an emphasis on
academics.
He said the better athletes are in the classroom, the more
successful they are on the field, and therefore academics are not negotiable.
“If you want to
sustain what you do, if you want to keep winning at the highest levels,” Chun
said, “there’s a direct correlation to the classroom.”
He also said the athletic department emphasizes integrity.
“Through the good,
the bad and the ugly, winning is expected,” Chun said. “How you win is what
you’re judged upon.”
He said the athletic program develops character and
leadership so they can have the best team possible. Developing those kinds of
characteristics creates not just better people, but better athletes, Chun said.
He also cleared up a question about where the funds for the
new baseball facility will come from. He said the project is completely funded
by philanthropy.
“There was no
borrowing,” Chun said. “Every dollar that’s needed for that facility upgrade is
already spoken for.”
……….
Arizona’s Six Million Dollar QB
They have rebuilt him, but have they made him better?
By Jesse Cassino Coug Center
Nov 16, 2018
True dual threat quarterbacks are a defensive coordinator’s
nightmare. If you drop into coverage, he beats you with his feet. If you sell
out to stop the run, he beats you over the top with his arm. Sometimes you have
to dedicate one of your defenders as a spy. You have to pick and choose your
blitzes with a little more care, and ensure that your rushers are maintaining
lane integrity. Most defenses are good at one or two things; very few defenses
can be all things to all offenses. Dual threat QBs put those defenses to the
test. Khalil Tate put the Cougar defense through the ringer last year, to the
tune of 275 yards through the air (on only 17 attempts!) and another 146 on the
ground. It was chunk play after chunk play after chunk play. And Wazzu wasn’t the
only defense to feel the wrath of Khalil. Our new quarterback overlord racked
up 1400 yards on the ground. And he didn’t even play in the first few games.
So obviously, when Kevin Sumlin takes over this year, the
one thing he wants to do is keep Khalil Tate in the pocket and have him run the
ball a lot less often.
[record scratch]
Wait, what?
Tate has 233 yards rushing. On the season. That’s about 26
yards per game. To put that in perspective, he rushed for more than 26 yards in
every game last year except one (24 against Houston), even if he was only in
for mop-up duty or injury replacement. Tate himself was dealing with an ankle
injury for a lot of the year, but even in week one against BYU, Arizona was not
running Tate nearly as much as they had in the past. So let’s look at Khalil
Tate 2.0 and how his game has changed since last year.
First, if you need a refresher on just how good Khalil Tate
was last year with the ball in his hands, I will just leave this here. (Also,
this is my all-time favorite image/gif thus far in my tenure on staff here, so
I will use any justification to post it again don’t judge me.)
It is ridiculous in so many ways. Also, you can check out
last year’s look at Khalil Tate (praise be unto him) and Arizona’s offense
under Rich Rodriguez. Of course, the sub-heading of that article was “Here’s
how #SpeedD will stop him” so..... I mean.... whoops.
Back to the more recent past. This first play doesn’t look
like much, but it’s representative of the changes to the Arizona offense. The
formation is pretty similar to what we saw a lot of from RichRod and the ‘Cats
last year; it’s almost a flexbone look with two tight ends as wings. Last year,
JJ Taylor would have been next to Tate in a more traditional shotgun look. This
year, Arizona has shown a bit more Pistol.
Last year, this absolutely 100% would have been a zone read
where Tate kept the ball. BYU is showing seven in the box and a two-deep safety
look. The end at the bottom of the screen slow plays the zone read look, which
allows the backside tight end to pull around and, had the play been a keep by
Tate, seal him. The playside tight end takes the outside linebacker/nickel
defender out wide, and the right tackle hopefully doesn’t whiff on the middle
linebacker like he does here, and Tate’s probably off to the races. BYU rolls
its coverage here, and I believe the safety that drops into frame at the snap
(#11) is spying Tate. But I would like my chances with Tate in a foot race
against just about anyone on BYU’s defense. Or anyone’s defense.
This year? It’s just a simple zone left that gets dropped
for a minimal gain. BYU runs a nose/tackle loop that beats the zone block of
the left guard. The tackle basically runs free into the gap and meets Taylor in
the hole. The left guard whiffs on the outside linebacker on that side as well.
This is where having a dynamic athlete at quarterback can make you look like an
offensive genius. If Tate pulls the ball and runs, I don’t know that BYU can
stop it. The offensive line doesn’t block particularly well, but it still may
go for six just because Khalil Tate is so good.
Next up is a version of one of the plays that scorched the
Cougar defense last year, and it may show us why Sumlin is banking on Khalil
Tate the passer instead of Khalil Tate the option threat.
The wing tight ends running down the field should give
Cougar fans a little bit of PTSD. Arizona killed #SpeedD by exploiting the
aggressiveness of its safeties flying down to support the run. The safeties
would be out of position to stop the tight ends from streaking down the seam.
This play isn’t exactly the same, as it’s the tight end running a wheel route
down the sideline, but the concept is similar. In this case, the tight end gets
a rub from the outside receiver, who also streaks vertical. It’s basically Four
Verts, just with the two receivers on each side switching their paths.
Tate throws a gorgeous ball here. The linebacker has no
chance at this one while the ball is in the air. It’s perfectly placed right
over the defender’s shoulder, and right on the hands of the receiver. The
linebacker ends up sticking his hand in there and dislodging the ball for an
incompletion, but this pass is just pretty. So Tate can definitely hurt a
defense in the passing game. His strength is in the deep ball; he throws an
extremely catchable ball and can drop it in the bucket as well as any quarterback
in the Pac-12.
All that being said, the Cougar defense can’t assume Tate
won’t beat them with his feet. He can, and will, and has over the course of the
season. It doesn’t necessarily have to be by rushing for 300 yards. He has
gotten pretty good at manipulating the pocket and/or outmaneuvering the pass
rush. (Also this is Mesh because Everybody Air Raids™.)
Tate had five touchdown passes in their last game against
Colorado. On all but one of them, he was outside the pocket.
A lot of people have been pointing to this game as the
toughest test for the Cougs in this last stretch of games, and with good
reason. Khalil Tate is good enough to test anybody, and now that Arizona has
had a bye week to rest and recuperate, he might be back to 100% health, which
is a terrifying prospect. Whether the new and improved passing model of Khalil
Tate will be as effective as last year’s version will remain to be seen. Either
way, it will be incumbent upon Tracy Claeys and the defense to bottle up Tate
and not allow the same types of chunk plays that hurt the Cougs last year.
:::::::::::
Quirks, rumors about buildings on WSU campus
WSU’s architecture more than just concrete slabs; structures
give insight on university’s values, prestige
By EMMA LEDBETTER, Evergreen columnist November 15, 2018
Some of WSU’s most interesting hidden history lies in the
architecture on campus.
If you toured WSU as a prospective student or during Alive!
Orientation, you probably heard some strange stories about the buildings around
campus.
Every building was designed with a practical use in mind,
but the stories passed along by fellow Cougs rarely teach the true purpose and
instead create a living history of the WSU architecture.
“There are the facts about these buildings, and then there
are the stories … I’m more interested in the stories,” said Phil Gruen, an
associate professor of architecture in the School of Design and Construction.
Thompson Hall
Thompson Hall is situated near the residence halls on
Hillside and is across the street from the Murrow building. The old
administration building, now home to the School of Languages, Cultures and
Race, is one of the most notable on campus.
With its gray stone base and red brick facade, Thompson Hall
is a beautifully constructed building. However, the thing that stands out about
Thompson is not its Romanesque architecture, but the two towers, one of which
is missing a cone.
A popular rumor about the missing cone states that leaving
the building unfinished allowed the university to avoid paying state taxes on
it. While this seems interesting, this isn’t the case.
An article from 1893 in the Pullman Tribune reveals the
second tower was intentionally made flat to hold “meteorological instruments.”
Though this might address why one of the cones is missing,
it doesn’t provide any closure about the asymmetry of Thompson. Why would the
architects design two towers if one was meant to be conical and the other was
to be left flat at the top?
Cougs have many theories about the answer to this question,
but no one knows for sure why Thompson is so unusual in its design.
“President [Enoch] Bryan and other administrators at the
time were very interested in having the ability and mandate to create … a
dignified environment for students and faculty,” Gruen said.
While the flat tower may serve the functional purpose of
holding instruments to observe weather, WSU’s early administrators may have
intended for it to serve as a mark of sophistication and prestige for the
university. Given that it is still a talking point for many around campus
today, it seems they accomplished their goal.
Webster Physical Sciences Building
The Kate B. Webster Physical Sciences Building has 14
stories and is the tallest building in Pullman. It was built in the 1970s to
house the science departments in one location.
The tower stands apart on campus and not just because of its
height. While many of the halls around WSU are built with red brick, Webster is
almost entirely made of concrete except for some brick detailing on the front.
“The idea of a science tower was quite prevalent,” Gruen
said. “There was a lot of federal funding at that point coming into
universities to fund research.”
Like Thompson, Webster may have been a symbol of prestige
for WSU. At the time of its construction, society valued technological
advancements, efficiency and rational thinking, and having an impressively
large science building would signal that WSU also valued these things.
Even though Webster is meant to stand for rationality, there
are some rumors going around about it that aren’t completely true.
You may have been told that Webster is the tallest building
in the state of Washington because of Pullman’s elevation. While this is a nice
story for Cougs to share with others, it isn’t factual.
The elevation of Pullman is about 2,300 feet. The elevation
of Mount Rainier is much higher, so any building built on Mount Rainier, even a
one-story visitor center, would beat out Webster as the tallest building by
elevation, Gruen said.
“Webster is, as far as I know, the tallest human-made object
in an [80-mile radius] until you get to Spokane,” Gruen said.
Other tales
Cougars have an incredibly strong attachment to WSU, part of
which stems from the time we spend in buildings around campus. The longer we
spend here, the more we discover about the buildings we have been passing by
for so long.
One examples is the fact that Heald and Eastlick halls are
connected but the floors are offset by several feet, possibly because of
changing building codes, Gruen said.
Whether or not we know the truth about the buildings on
campus, we will continue to share the things we have heard and continue to
spread the culture that connects us to these physical spaces.
“Stories resonate longer and can begin to become the belief
system around which people attach meaning to a place,” Gruen said.
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