WSU
football
Eastern
Washington U. QB Gage Gubrud denied medical redshirt, sixth year of eligibility
now in question
Feb. 4th,
2019
By Theo
Lawson
Spokane’s
Spokesman-Review
Gage
Gubrud’s looming transfer to Washington State hit a major roadblock Monday, and
it now seems unlikely that the former Eastern Washington quarterback will earn
a sixth season of college eligibility.
The
Spokesman-Review learned through multiple sources the former FCS All-American
and two-time Walter Payton Award finalist had his medical redshirt denied by
the NCAA, which would prevent Gubrud from spending the 2019 football season in
Pullman.
According
to sources, Gubrud will appeal the NCAA’s decision, though the timeline for an
appeal is unclear.
The S-R
learned on Jan. 27 that Gubrud had chosen WSU as his transfer destination,
pending the approval of a medical redshirt. The quarterback considered multiple
schools before narrowing his search down to the Cougars and Utah.
To earn a
sixth year of eligibility, Gubrud needed to show the NCAA he’d missed most of,
or all of, two seasons because of a medical injury or hardship. Gubrud
sustained a season-ending toe injury during EWU’s Sept. 29 game at Montana State,
which forced him to miss the Eagles’ final 10 games last season.
A player
may qualify for a redshirt if he plays in one-third or fewer of his team’s
games. Because EWU advanced to the FCS national championship game and therefore
played 15 total games, Gubrud appeared in exactly one-third of the Eagles’
games.
The NCAA
may have denied Gubrud a medical redshirt because the QB wasn’t able to prove
he suffered another long-term injury during his career in Cheney. Gubrud
redshirted in 2014 and played in three games during the 2015 season before he
became EWU’s full-time starter. The QB played in 24 games over his redshirt
sophomore and junior seasons before making just five appearances in 2018.
If the
appeal is denied, the McMinnville, Oregon, native will end his college career
with 753 career completions, 9,984 passing yards and 87 passing touchdowns. One
of the top dual-threat QBs at the FCS level, Gubrud also had 1,042 rushing
yards and 13 TDs on the ground.
Gubrud
would’ve added playing experience to an unseasoned group of quarterbacks at WSU
– one that loses grad transfer sensation Gardner Minshew, who led the nation in
passing yards per game last season and was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of
the Year. The Cougars bring back redshirt seniors Trey Tinsley and Anthony
Gordon, along with redshirt freshman Cammon Cooper. True freshman early
enrollee Gunner Cruz will also compete for the starting job.
The
Spokesman-Review’s Ryan Collingwood also contributed to this report.
…………
Vince
Grippi of Spokane S-R says about Gage Gubrud:
Before we
get into the award news, how about we examine a longshot? Gage Gubrud heard
from the NCAA recently. According to our Theo Lawson, the organization decided
the former Eastern Washington quarterback doesn’t fit its criteria for a sixth
year of eligibility.
We had
written before it was a tough ask for Gubrud, who was injured in the Eagles’
fifth game last season and lost the rest of his final year. Not because of
that, as Eastern went on to play 15 games, keeping Gubrud’s injury in the first
third of the season.
No, what
was problematic was his first redshirt season. The NCAA will look long and hard
at two seasons lost to injury – as is what happened to WSU’s Peyton Pelluer –
and sometimes be amenable to a sixth season. But redshirt a season for
developmental reasons – either academic or athletic – and the NCAA usually
tells you to go start your life.
So
Gubrud’s inevitable appeal is a Hail Mary of sorts. His best chance if he can’t
prove two years of injuries, according to folks I have spoke with over the
years, is to show he needed the redshirt year to adjust to the academic rigors
of college. Pulling at the NCAA’s academic heartstrings has worked occasionally
in the past.
We’ll have
to see if anything works this time for a student/athlete that just wants to
keep playing the game he loves.
…………….
NCAA
denies EWU’s Gage Gubrud medical redshirt
Quarterback
has intention of transferring to WSU if he receives sixth-year of eligibility
By JOHN
SPELLMAN, Evergreen
Feb 5,
2019
Eastern
Washington quarterback Gabe Gubrud was denied a medical redshirt by the NCAA,
according to The Spokesman Review.
This would
prevent Gubrud from earning a sixth-year of eligibility to transfer to WSU and
play in Pullman next season. He plans on appealing the NCAA’s decision,
according to the Spokesman.
On Jan.
27, Gubrud decided WSU was his preferred transfer destination if he was able to
earn a medical redshirt.
To qualify
for a medical redshirt, an athlete must play in one-third or fewer of his
team’s games during a season. EWU played 15 games this past year and Gubrud
suffered a season-ending toe injury Sept. 29 against Montana State, forcing him
to miss the Eagles final 10 contests. This means Gubrud appeared in one-third
of EWU’s games.
In order
to earn a sixth-year of eligibility, Gubrud needed to show that he missed most
or all of two seasons due to an injury or hardship. He may have been denied a
medical redshirt because he wasn’t able to prove he sustained another long-term
injury at EWU.
Gubrud
redshirted in 2014 before turning heads over his next four years. If Gubrud
doesn’t take the field again, he will finish his career with 9,984 passing
yards, 87 passing touchdowns and 753 completions.
Until the
ruling on the appeal is made, it looks like WSU fans will have to wait to get
more clarity on the quarterback battle next season.
:::::::::::::::::::::
College
transfer rule seems cruel to student-athletes
Students
can transfer whenever, athletes have to wait one year before
By ALEX
BIVIANO, Evergreen
Feb 5,
2019
College
students have the ability to change their university relatively freely.
Student-athletes are held to a different standard and have restricted options
when it comes to leaving sub-optimal conditions.
This year,
transfers played a big role in college football as many talented players
excelled after a change in scenery. Quarterback Gardner Minshew II is a great
example of a player who elevated his career by transferring to a better program
and university.
On the
surface, the transfer rule created by the NCAA seems straightforward and fair.
However, the intentions behind it are far from pure.
Student-athletes
in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, football and men’s ice hockey are
forced to sit out an entire season and forfeit a year of their limited athletic
eligibility if they transfer schools.
The NCAA
claims that this is for the sake of the student. According to the official
website of the NCAA, transfers are regulated so that student athletes can make
logical decisions regarding their futures.
Communication
Professor Benjamin Shors, who teaches a class on sports and the media, said
reform on the rule is imminent and is called for from many different groups
involved in college athletics as a whole.
“Is [the
transfer] about academics or athletics?” Shors asked. “Are we trying to get
people additional educational opportunities?”
These
questions must be answered while reforming this consequential element of
college athletics. Perspectives of students, coaches and universities must be
catered to in order for effective change to occur.
If the
NCAA actually wanted transfer students’ restrictions to correlate to academic
reasons then simply finding a better program at another school should be enough
justification to transfer. As a student, I’m free to transfer at any time
without constraint. For student-athletes, it’s a different story.
Many
coaches view transfers as a negative experience for their program rather than a
positive experience for the student. Ernie Kent, men’s basketball head coach,
said he is firmly against student-athletes transferring.
“From a
coaching perspective, it definitely hurts. From a fan perspective, it
definitely hurts,” Kent said.
While Kent
has reason to be against transfers as a coach in a smaller market, player
mobility is not a bad thing for college basketball. Players putting themselves
in the optimal position to succeed only increases the quality of the sport and
enhances their chances of playing professionally.
During Kent’s
five years at WSU, 14 players he recruited to Pullman have transferred,
including guard Malachi Flynn.
“Sitting
up here in Pullman, we have guys who aren’t the four-star recruits coming out
of high school,” Kent said. “You develop them, and two years later, they look
like a four-star recruit and they move on to greener pastures.”
This
dilemma is obviously frustrating for a coach, especially one as passionate as
Kent. As a Pac-12 school, WSU is not as inept on the transfer market as it may
seem. Freshman guard Chance Moore recently transferred to WSU from Wichita
State.
Kent
didn’t seem to have a problem with transfers in regard to Moore, who will be
eligible to play this time next year.
Shors said
he is against players having to sit out a year because it hurts
student-athletes academically, which is exactly what the rule aims to prevent.
As a
student who has the power of mobility, athletes should have the same
capabilities to move to the best situation for them. While some programs may
suffer as a result of increased mobility, college sports should always put the
athlete’s interests first.
::::
TRACK
& FIELD
Athlete of
the Week: Emmanuel Wells Jr.
Junior
60-meter sprinter brings WSU success by breaking school records
By TY
EKLUND, Evergreen columnist
Feb 5,
2019
Call him
the crimson speedster or a real roadrunner, junior track athlete Emmanuel Wells
Jr. has trails of flame with his record speeds.
With a new
year comes new records to break. Wells made viewers go wide-eyed and whistle at
the Bronco invite in Nampa, Idaho. There, he won the 200-meter dash and the
60-meter dash at 6.72 seconds, which marked him at the seventh fastest 60-meter
time in school history.
Only one
week later, Wells set even more records for the Cougars at the 17th annual WSU
Indoor meet. Running faster still and keeping pace with the wind, Wills ran a
6.69 second 60-meter dash and set the WSU Indoor meet record.
While on
the road at the New Mexico Team Invitational, Wells ran a mad dash for a new
and improved 6.67 second record, .05 seconds faster than at the Bronco Invite.
This new
60-meter dash time moved Wells from his recently crowned seventh fastest time
in school history to being tied with previous Cougar Anthony Buchanan for
fourth in the fastest margin for the Cougars.
A record
breaking trend wouldn’t end and, like an infomercial, Wells was following up
with wait-there’s-more.
At the
Cougars’ most recent Indoor meet Saturday, Wells was gone with the wind and
broke his previous indoor record of 6.69 seconds and tied for third in the WSU
men’s Indoor 60-meter record at 6.65 seconds.
With many
more months of track and field left in the year, there’s plenty of
opportunities for this star to rise higher and move past others records. The
success Wells has brought to the Cougar team leads him to be this week’s
Evergreen Athlete of the Week.
::::::::
CITY OF
PULLMAN
Pullman to
start master plan for downtown
City has
budgeted $100,000 to begin crafting plan in 2019
By Anthony
Kuipers, Moscow Pullman Daily News
Feb 5,
2019
The city
of Pullman is beginning its downtown master plan this year to determine what
its downtown will look like in the coming decades
That’s
according to city officials and Washington State University representatives
during a League of Women Voters of Pullman meeting Monday night at the
Congressional United Church of Christ.
In an
attempt to promote downtown revitalization, the city will choose a consultant
this spring to help it craft a master plan for economic development,
accessibility, art and the general look of downtown during the next 10 to 20
years.
Pullman
Public Works Director Kevin Gardes said the city has received eight proposals
from consultant firms after sending out requests for qualifications. The city
is in the process of putting together a selection committee to evaluate those
proposals. The city has budgeted around $100,000 to get started on the master
plan.
Parking,
Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility, pedestrian and bicycle
friendliness, and public art are among the many areas the consultant will be
asked to work with the city on improving.
Part of
the 2019 budget, Gardes said, will be to begin making improvements to High
Street Mall, start on the Pine Street Plaza extension and improvements to Main
Street and Grand Avenue.
The city
will be aided by the Downtown Pullman Association, a group organized to tackle
downtown-oriented projects that has already contributed to Art Walk, the Winter
Farmers Market and helping new businesses.
As traffic
is a major concern for downtown, an audience member asked the panel how plans
for a south bypass highway would factor into the master plan. City
Administrator Adam Lincoln said such a route could take a portion of traffic
out of downtown, but it will take a lot of time and money to complete.
The south
bypass would connect U.S. Highway 195 to the Moscow-Pullman Highway with a
route that goes around the Jess Ford dealership and Walmart.
Lincoln
said it would cost about $1 million just for the planning and could take
generations to complete unless the city can work with the Washington State
Department of Transportation to complete it more quickly.
Allison
Fisher, a WSU graduate student and downtown initiative coordinator with WSU’s
Office of the President, said a WSU professor performed a noise and quality of
life study on Pullman’s downtown and determined that with all the traffic and
large vehicles passing through downtown, the noise was louder than New York
City.
The panel
also discussed the importance of business development.
Fisher
said six businesses have opened downtown in the past year and a half, and the
city hopes to continue supporting business growth by joining the state’s Main
Street Program, which can provide funding for more downtown revitalization
projects.
An audience
member asked what the city can do about empty storefronts and buildings,
including the long-vacant Mimosa building on Main Street. Lincoln said these
are difficult problems because the city wants to avoid violating private
property rights.
He said Pullman
is better off focusing its attention on improving what it can control instead
of those buildings that have not been touched in years. He said if the area
around these buildings are beautified and put to good use, that may influence
building owners to do the same.
“What
works best is being peer-pressured as opposed to government pressure,” Lincoln
said.
Timothy
Esser, who owns a law firm on Main Street, expressed frustration about the
current state of downtown. He suggested several ideas, including condemning the
Mimosa building and persuading Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe to introduce a
satellite store downtown.
He also
said the city’s plans to move city hall to its new Crestview Street location is
a “terrible blow” to Pullman’s downtown, especially since the city has not
decided what to do with the current city hall building on Paradise Street.
::::::
Jon Wilner
Pac-12 Hotline
Behind the
scenes: How WSU and Bill Moos lured Mike Leach out of Key West
By Jon
Wilner, San Jose Mercury News
Pac-12
Hotline
February
5, 2019
Former AD
Bill Moos traveled to Key West to get WSU's Mike Leach. Here's the tale of how
the trip went and how the Cougars' football future would be decided on Splash
Mountain at Disney World.
On Nov.
29, 2011, Washington State fired one of its own: Paul Wulff, a former Cougar
offensive lineman, was let go after four dismal seasons.
At the
press conference to announce Wulff’s termination, athletic director Bill Moos
was asked about the composition of the search committee.
“You’re
looking at the search committee,” he said.
Unbeknownst
to the public, Moos’ work was already done.
At the
time, Washington State was the lowest of the low, having won just four of 32
conference games under Wulff. Ticket sales, donations and energy were as bad as
the on-field product.
Moos had
known for months that a coaching change might be required and had a short list
ready. The name atop the list: Mike Leach.
In
October, after blowout losses to Stanford and Oregon State — the first at home,
the second at CenturyLink Field in Seattle — Moos made the decision to dismiss
Wulff at the end of the season and do everything possible to hire Leach.
“I thought
the Air Raid would entertain the fans while we built the program,’’ Moos told
the Hotline last week. “It would bide us time to get the facilities and recruit
the players.”
Leach was
out of coaching and living in Key West, having been fired two years earlier by
Texas Tech after a controversial incident with the son of former ESPN analyst
Craig James.
(Moos said
the incident wasn’t a concern and that he received no pushback from the WSU
administration or donor base: “I had done my homework. That wasn’t a factor one
bit.”)
With more
than a month remaining in the season — and knowing that several schools would
likely pursue Leach — Moos knew speed and stealth were of the essence. Through
an intermediary, he made contact with Leach’s agent, Gary O’Hagan.
A
face-to-face meeting with Leach was scheduled for Key West. Moos used a
personal credit cards to purchase a plane ticket and hotel suite — his
university-issued versions would be subject to public records requests — and
rounded up the materials for his pitch.
Three
connecting flights later, he was in Key West.
“I get
there and it’s like, ‘Did I just see Ernest Hemingway?’ What a place that was.”
The
morning of the meeting, Moos arranged his suite. On the coffee table, he
positioned renderings of WSU’s plans for $100+ million in facility upgrades,
pictures of new Nike uniforms and copies of university policies and procedures.
He had soda, coffee and pastries available.
He had
sent word to Leach that the meeting would be casual. To Moos, that meant slacks
and dress shirt but no tie.
“I go to
open the door,” Moos said, “and there he is in a white V-neck T shirt, cargo
shorts, flip-flops, three-day growth and a Styrofoam coffee cup.”
They shook
hands and looked each other over.
“I got a
message that this would be casual,’’ Leach said.
Moos asked
if Leach needed his parking validated.
“Nah, I
rode my bike.’’
And then
it hit Moos.
“At that
point,’’ he recalled with a laugh, “I’m wondering what have I gotten myself
into.”
They
headed for the large, wrap-around couch in the middle of the suite, next to the
coffee table with Moos’ presentation.
Moos began
to lay out his vision for Cougar football.
“Within
five minutes,’’ he said, “the conversation had turned to Winston Churchill,
George S Patton, Geronimo and snow blowers in Cody, Wyoming.”
After an
hour, Moos steered the conversation back to football, but it was clear the two
men had hit it off.
Eventually,
Moos brought up WSU’s new drug policy, particularly as it involved marijuana.
“We have a
strict drug-testing plan: Three strikes and you’re out.”
Leach
thought for a moment.
“What do
you think about one strike and you’re out?”
Moos was
all ears.
“I find
that stuff divides the locker room,” Leach explained. “I’ll probably have to
cut a couple starters, but the message will get across.”
The
meeting lasted four hours.
As Moos
walked Leach to the door, he handed him a folder.
“This is
my background.”
“I know
all about your body of work,’’ Leach said, “and it would be a privilege to work
for you.’’
The cargo
pants disappeared into the Key West afternoon, and Moos felt he had his man. At
the same time, he worried about the competition. Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi,
UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State would all be active in the 2011-12 hiring
cycle.
(Moos
later learned that other schools made the trek to Key West.)
By then,
the season was coming to a close. Moos conducted no other interviews and instead
focused on Leach, working with O’Hagan and school officials to lock down his
new coach.
The Apple
Cup came and went. Moos had a memorandum of understanding ready for Leach to
sign. What he didn’t have, was Leach.
“So I
called O’Hagan and I’m like, ‘Gary, where’s Mike? I need him to sign the
memorandum of understanding. I need to pull the trigger on this.’’’
“He’s
vacationing with his sister in Florida,’’ O’Hagan explained, “but I’ll have him
call you.”
Later, the
phone rang.
“Hey Bill,
it’s Mike.”
But Moos
had trouble hearing Leach over the background noice — a thunderous whooshing
sound.
“Mike, I
need you to sign the memorandum.”
Whooooosh!
“Yeah, OK,
sure. I’ll sign it.”
“Mike, I
can hardly hear you. Where are you?”
Whooooosh!
“I’m at
Splash Mountain,” came the response.
“Hey, have
you ever been on it? I just did it three times. It’s my second favorite ride,
behind Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Whooooosh!
Leach
signed the MOU that day.
The next
day, Wulff was terminated.
The day
after that, the Cougars announced Leach had agreed in principle to a five-year
deal.
“A lot of
schools wanted him. He wanted us,” Moos said at the time.
He laughed
at the memory of the Key West meeting — of the cargo pants and the three-day
growth, of Patton and Churchill and snowblowers and Splash Mountain.
And he
became a quick study in Leach’s unlimited curiosity.
“I met
with all my coaches regularly,’’ he said, “and with Mike, I would always go to
his office. That way, I could leave when I wanted, otherwise the visit could
last three or four hours.”
:::::::::::::
FOOTBALL
Steve
Spurrier Jr: True freshman is WSU's backup running back
By Braden
Johnson, Cougfan.com
2/5/2019
FOOTBALL SPRING
PRACTICES ARE more than a month-and-a-half away, but outside receivers coach
Steve Spurrier Jr. already has an idea of who will back up Max Borghi as
Washington State’s running back in 2019. And it's a true freshman who won't
arrive to WSU until June.
Spurrier
told Cougs in 60 radio host Derek Deis incoming freshman Jamir Thomas out of
Massillon, Ohio is on the fast track to see impact snaps once he arrives in
Pullman for summer classes and workouts.
“We knew
we needed a big, tough body in that position, and we recruited him pretty
hard,” Spurrier said. “Right now, he’s our backup tailback. We’re looking
forward to getting him here and getting started.”
For as
high as Spurrier is on Thomas (6-1, 215) the Cougar coaching staff originally
did not plan on recruiting him. Spurrier, who recruited Ohio while coaching at
South Carolina, Florida and Oklahoma, initially was looking at a wide receiver
at Massillon High. But a pointer from Massillon’s head coach changed Spurrier’s
recruiting course.
“We liked
(the wide receiver) and recruited him, and while I was speaking to the coach
about him, he said, ‘Have you seen our running back?’” Spurrier said.
Thomas is
WSU's second-highest graded commit according to 247Sports. The Cougars also have speed merchant
Jouvensly Bazil (5-10, 180) in their signing class, another recruit Spurrier
ran the point on in Florida.
SPURRIER
SAID SELLING WSU FOOTBALL on the recruiting trail ahead of National Signing Day
has never been easier. He attributes an increased national presence and
recognition from recruits to WSU’s 11-2 season in 2018, the Alamo Bowl win and
Leach’s personality and coaching brand. For his part, Spurrier said he is as
excited as can be to recruit the 2020 class.
“I can’t
wait to start heading into schools and bring in my Coug gear and have people
know who you are,” he said. “They want to ask about Gardner Minshew, coach
Leach, and the bowl game. Recruiting becomes a lot easier when you win 11.”
He added
that Leach enacting the one-year rollover provision of his contract with
Athletic Director Patrick Chun is a boon to the Cougars’ recruiting efforts.
Specifically, with the head coach perpetually holding a five-year contract,
Spurrier said WSU can sell a consistent offensive philosophy and set of coaches
to wide receivers and other recruits.
How the
Cougars recruit in January has changed since the early signing period was
enacted in December 2017. Before, January meant WSU had to try and hold on for
dear life, as other schools tried to get the Cougs' verbals to flip at the last
minute. Now, Spurrier said, January becomes a look-ahead into the next
recruiting class.
“You work
so hard for that first signing day, and January becomes a junior evaluation
period,” he said. “We’ll go into schools and start talking about who their top
2020 players are and get a leg up on the evaluation process.”
WSU’S 11-2
RECORD come as a surprise to fans and media scribes – recall ESPN and local
media had the Cougars’ win total ranging from 3-to-6 in preseason predictions.
But Spurrier said he knew the team was in for a big finish five games into the
season. Minshew’s 89-yard touchdown pass to one of his guys, Easop Winston, to
seal a 28-24 win over Utah convinced Spurrier that the 2018 Cougars had some
magic in the locker room.
“I tell
you what, that was special,” he said of the play. “Watching that ball go up in
the air and Easop go 89 yards, it was remarkable. You knew it was going to be a
special year from there.”
CHUN ALSO
JOINED THE SHOW and said while rolling over Leach’s contract was huge, signing
defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys to a new three-year contract was just as
critical. Chun said he and Leach met in early December to discuss rolling over
his contract and Leach was more focused on ensuring Claeys would be in town in
2019.
Chun, who
celebrated his one-year anniversary as athletic director on Monday, said the
conversation between he and Leach about his contract and a new deal for Claeys
moved quickly. “Tracy was looking for stability as well,” Chun said. “When you
come here initially, you don't know how it’s going to work. Getting a former
Big 10 head coach to be your defensive coordinator and how well he fits with
coach Leach and Washington State, it’s a great thing.”
There is
no timeframe on fundraising efforts or construction for WSU’s new indoor
practice facility, but Chun said he and the athletic department are working
with a sense of urgency. Chun hinted that the project may be funded in a
similar manner to that of the Cougar Baseball Clubhouse.
“When you
have a head football coach at Mike Leach’s caliber, you have to keep adding to
his portfolio in terms of what he can do in recruiting,” Chun said. “It's
critical that we modernize and update (the practice facility). Once we do that,
that’s just another piece of the puzzle.”
CHUN AGAIN
EXPRESSED optimism about the state of WSU men’s hoops despite the team enduring
another frustrating weekend, losing home games to UCLA and USC. The Cougars
(8-14, 1-8 Pac-12) have dropped five straight and lost 11 of their last 12, but
Chun said freshman forward Aljaz Kunc’s performance against the Trojans on
Saturday was his positive takeaway. Kunc turned in a season-high 29 minutes and
scored a career-best 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
“That’s
someone whose emerging in our program as we keep growing,” Chun said. “The best
part is that adversity is in front of us, and that’s fine. Adversity is a part
of sports. It’s how we get through this season. When you see guys rising up,
that’s really all you can ask for at this point.”
The
Cougars play Arizona State and Arizona in road contests on Thursday and
Saturday, respectively. WSU’s next home contest comes against first-place
Washington on Feb. 16.
#
