WSU Soccer's
Asst. Coach Jon Harvey adds recruiting coordinator to his duties
From WSU
Sports Info 1/16/2019
"I am excited to announce today that Jon will be named recruiting coordinator for our program," said Shulenberger. "Jon has worked with me for four years and has proven to have a keen eye in the evaluation of student athletes. He is very organized, hard working and has a great personality in this field. He will now keep us on top of key players as we continue to compete in the Conference of Champions."
Harvey has
been at Washington State for five seasons including the last four under
Shulenberger. As a member of the Cougars' coaching staff, Harvey has been in
charge of training the team's goalkeepers and defensive backline. In five
seasons the Cougars have proven to be one of the best defensive teams in the
country led by standout netminders Gurveen Clair and most recently Ella
Dederick, the program's all-time leaders in shutouts and wins. In addition to
his work on the field, Harvey has headed up WSU's recruiting, completely
reshaping the Cougars' roster over the last few years. With an array of youth
on the field over the last two years, the Cougars have hit new heights
including the program's first sweet-16 berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2017
followed by climbing to No. 7 in the country in 2018, the highest ranking in
WSU history.
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Hilinski:
One year later
More
suicide threats reported to Pullman police after athlete’s suicide than any of
the previous four years
By Anthony
Kuipers, Moscow Pullman Daily News
A year
after Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski’s suicide, mental health
awareness and the number of people seeking help for suicidal thoughts continues
to grow in Pullman and across the country.
So, too,
has the number of reported suicide threats locally.
The
Pullman Police Department responded to 63 reported suicide threats in 2018, a
number that far exceeds the previous five years. In 2015, the second-highest
year for reported suicide threats in that span, there were 39.
There has
also been an increase in welfare checks, in which officers are called to check
the health of a resident. There were 591 welfare checks in 2018, nearly the
most in the past five years. There were two suicides in 2018.
The number
of people taken to the Pullman Regional Hospital emergency room following a
suicide attempt has doubled in the past decade, Emergency Services Director Dr.
Pete Mikkelsen, said.
Additionally,
in 2018, there was an increase in patients coming to the hospital with
behavioral health complaints, depression and anxiety.
Pullman
Police Cmdr. Chris Tennant said Hilinksi’s death and the subsequent media
attention increased suicide and mental health awareness in the community.
Based on
the reports, Tenant said it appears people are more comfortable calling the
police when a friend or loved one is making suicidal statements or sending
alarming texts.
Mikkelsen
did not speculate on the reasons for the jump in emergency visits, but he
believes it is more than simply a result of the population growth.
“Some of
that has to do with general population increase, but that doesn’t explain all
of it,” he said. “We haven’t doubled our number of patients we’re seeing, we
haven’t doubled the size of Pullman or the size of campus.”
He did
commend the education efforts by mental health professionals and advocates
across the country, and believes it has reduced the stigma of seeking help for
mental illnesses.
But he
said there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to identifying those who
are at risk.
“One of
the biggest challenges is trying to predict who that will happen to,” he said.
“First of all, who has those thoughts and then how to get them help before they
act on it. No one’s come up with a perfect way to do that.”
Suicide is
the second leading cause of death in the 18-25 year-old age group.
Mikkeksen
said people can be screened for suicidality, but “no one’s found that kind of
magical formula to go from that screening to actually saving a life.”
WSU’s
Associate Vice President for Student Engagement Ellen Taylor said the
university has experienced a heightened awareness of mental health problems
that is part of a nationwide trend.
She said
the number of people seeking WSU’s behavioral health resources for help has
risen during the past decade, as it has across the country. She said this
generation of students is more likely to reach out for a helping hand than
previous generations.
“We have
worked hard to reduce the stigma of help-seeking,” she said.She said students
seek help for a variety of reasons, but the most common is coping with stress
and anxiety. Depression and relationship problems were the other top reasons,
Taylor said.
Taylor
said a person’s mental health can fluctuate much like a person’s physical
health.
Yet,
people do not view it that way. Instead, people tend to lose perspective and
think whatever is stressing them will never go away.
“There is
help and you can get better,” she said.
WSU
students, faculty and staff can make appointments with psychiatrists and
psychiatric nurse practitioners through Cougar Health Services. There is also a
24-hour Pullman crisis line at (509) 334-1133. Psychiatry and behavioral health
services are also offered at Pullman Regional Hospital, Gritman Medical Center
and several clinics around the Palouse.
Mikkelson
said PRH offers telepsychiatry so patients can contact a psychiatrist remotely.
He said the number of people who have used that service increased 30 percent
from 2017 to 2018.
After
Hilinski took his life in his Pullman apartment Jan. 16, 2018, the shock
reverberated around the country and drew attention to the mental health of
student athletes.
Hilinski’s
Hope, a foundation started by the Hilinski family, announced this week it is
partnering with the NCAA’s Sports Science Institute to support student-athlete
mental wellness. According toTthe Associated Press, Hilinski’s Hope has raised
more than $300,000 and sponsored mental health training at several
universities.
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Grip on
Sports: WSU needs to seize its opportunity tonight with California in town
Thu., Jan.
17, 2019, 9:07 a.m.
By Vince
Grippi Spokane S-R
A GRIP ON
SPORTS
• It’s an
important night in Pullman. The Washington State Cougars return to Beasley
Coliseum and are presented an opportunity. The California Golden Bears are in
town. Read on.
• It
hasn’t been the best of seasons thus far for Ernie Kent’s team. Winless in
their first three Pac-12 games, all on the road, the Cougars have seen their
record fall to 7-9.
They’ve
had to play the first part of the conference schedule missing their leading
scorer, senior Robert Franks, out for four games with a hip problem.
But things
are looking up.
Franks is
back tonight, cleared to play. It’s a big boost. And the Cougars are home. All
seven of their wins have come on Friel Court. They have yet to lose in Pullman.
They don’t want to start tonight.
Ask anyone
connected to college basketball and they’ll tell you the Pac-12 is a mess this
season. But no one is messier than California.
The Bears
have descended into the depths of the conference standings, winless despite
already having held a home weekend – something Washington State hasn’t enjoyed.
It’s
gotten so bad in Berkeley, there is a story this morning from the San Francisco
paper using the term “tough love” connected to Cal and its coach Wyking Jones.
That’s never a good sign.
But when
you are 0-7 away from your home arena, as the 5-11 Bears are, then maybe “tough
love,” however you define that nebulous term, is called for.
All I know
is tonight is a great night for the Cougars to get off the floor and pick up
their first conference victory.
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WSU men’s basketball
After
four-game absence, Washington State’s Robert Franks cleared to play against Cal
UPDATED:
Wed., Jan. 16, 2019, 6:55 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson Spokane S-R
PAC-12
MEN’S BASKETBALL
At Beasley
Coliseum, Pullman, Wash.
➤Thursday, Jan. 17: Cal
Golden Bears at Washington State Cougars, 7 p.m. PST TV: Pac-12 Networks
PULLMAN –
Ranked last in the Pac-12 in points per game, field-goal percentage and 3-point
percentage, Washington State’s slow-starting offense will get a major lift when
it returns home to Beasley Coliseum this week.
And
perhaps that’s understating things.
Robert
Franks, WSU’s top scorer at 22.1 ppg, returned to practice Tuesday evening from
a hip contusion injury and the senior forward has been cleared to play Thursday
against California, coach Ernie Kent confirmed during his weekly news
conference Wednesday afternoon.
Either the
Cougars (7-9, 0-3) or Golden Bears (5-11, 0-4) will claim their first Pac-12
win and end an extended losing streak when the teams meet in Pullman (7 p.m.,
Pac-12 Networks). WSU rides a six-game skid into its Pac-12 home opener and Cal
has dropped each of its last five contests. They’re the only two Pac-12 teams
without a league win.
Though
they haven’t played in a single-digit Pac-12 game, losing to Washington,
Colorado and Utah by an average of 21 points, the Cougars may restore some
optimism this week. They’re still unbeaten on the Palouse, sporting a 7-0
record at Beasley Coliseum, and they’re 7-4 when their leading scorer/rebounder
is in the fold.
WSU enters
Thursday’s game as a six-point betting favorite.
“With
‘Robo’ coming back to practice last night,” Kent said, “the first thing I
noticed is our passing got a lot better, our scoring got a lot better and our
size got a lot better on the floor and we got that calm back.”
Kent plans
to bring Franks off the bench Thursday and hasn’t determined whether he’ll be
placed under a minutes restriction after missing nearly a month.
“I don’t
know if I’ll start him in the game, just initially,” Kent said. “Him and I are
going to talk about that, so there might be some restrictions there. But I’ll
just have to see how he plays during the course of the game and keep my trainer
close by and in my ear during timeouts, because what you don’t want to do is
have him on the floor playing too fatigued and then sets himself up for injury
again.”
Nonetheless,
every statistical category would suggest the more Franks, the better.
The senior
from Vancouver, Washington, has missed five games this season because of
injury, including each of the last four with. The Cougars are 0-5 without
Franks and, not surprisingly, there’s a substantial contrast in offensive
production when he plays and doesn’t play.
With
Franks, WSU is scoring 84.4 ppg, but that number dips to 67.5 ppg when he’s
absent. The Cougars have hit the 90-point marker in four of Franks’ 11 games,
but haven’t reached 80 in a game without him.
“He’s one
of the better players in our conference,” Cal coach Wyking Jones said of
Franks, according to Cal Bears Maven.
Franks
poured in 34 points, on 10-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc, when the Cougars
and Bears met in Pullman last season.
“He gives
them a guy who can score at a high, high level,” Jones said.
The
Cougars haven’t eclipsed 70 points through three Pac-12 games and are averaging
a conference-low 65.9 ppg coming into their two-game home swing against the Bay
Area schools. WSU is also the only Pac-12 team shooting lower than 40 percent
from the field (39.2) and 30 percent from 3-point range (26.1).
Franks
promises to make a difference for the Cougars, but a team that also ranks last
in scoring defense (88.3) and field-goal percentage defense (55.4) needs
across-the-board improvement if it wants to change its Pac-12 fortunes.
“We
certainly have missed him,” Kent said. “Is he going to be the answer to all
sudden things that snap around? He’s going to be a big part of it, but we’ve
still got to get better at rebounding the ball, we have to get better at shot
selection, because I think with him being away more guys have tried to things –
shoot the ball more – that have allowed us to take some bad shots.”
The
Pac-12’s reigning Most Improved Player hasn’t appeared in enough games to
qualify, but Franks’ 22.1 ppg would rank 17th nationally and No. 1 in the
conference. His 7.9 rebounds are also sixth among Pac-12 players.
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