WSU men's basketball hits
road after tough week at home
Team travels to face Arizona schools in hopes of grabbing second
conference win of season
By ISAAC
SEMMLER, Evergreen Feb 7, 2019
This
Thursday and Saturday, the WSU men’s basketball team will begin a short
two-game road trip to face off against a pair of Arizona teams.
The
Cougars will look to snap a five game losing streak as they take on Arizona
State on Thursday. However, this is a tough test for WSU as the Sun Devils
(15-6, 6-3) are currently second place in the Pac-12.
Head Coach
Ernie Kent said he believes his players are starting to pick up the way they
play and they will be dangerous when the majority of the team is on its game.
“Consistency
is key,” Kent said. “Everyone knows what Robert Franks is capable of doing.
When we are all on our game, we’re a very difficult team to handle.”
Lack of
consistency has definitely been the Cougars’ problem this year and the past few
seasons. WSU started off 7-6 before the new year. Since then, they have won
just one of their last 12 and are 1-8 in conference play.
The Sun
Devils won’t be the Cougars’ only challenge, as they will face off against
Arizona on Saturday.
Despite
falling somewhat below expectations this season, the Wildcats have a 10-2
record at home and are one of the most challenging places to play in the nation
due to the atmosphere the fans bring every game.
Kent said
playing solid defense will be important but inconsistency continues to be the
problem for his team.
“Our
ability to guard, defend and the things we do to keep teams off balance is very
successful when we are consistent,” Kent said. “The problem is that we haven’t
figured out how to be consistent.”
Though senior
forward Robert Franks and freshman forward CJ Elleby have been dominant on both
ends of the court, they still remain the only two scorers averaging double
figures for WSU. Currently, ASU has five players who average double digits with
a strong bench while Arizona has three people in the double digits with some
depth as well.
Defense
will obviously be the main focal point for the Cougars in order to pick up
their first road win of conference play. However, these two teams definitely
pose their own unique challenges.
Kent said
his team is getting blistered by players driving down the lane and if they can
prevent stops down below they can get a couple of wins this road series.
“Games
really center around the defensive end of the floor,” Kent said. “When we don’t
rebound they get open shots around the perimeter and when we take bad shots we
give up easy buckets. We need to stop that.”
WSU’s
Thursday game against ASU will be on the Pac-12 Network with tip off starting
at 5 p.m.
This story
has been updated to reflect the correct time of the game against Arizona State
at 5 p.m. Thursday.
::::::::::::::::::::::;
WSU Women’s
Basketball Cougars look to break six-game losing streak in Beasley
WSU hosts
Arizona State, Head Coach Ethridge says team needs physicality
By COLIN
CONNOLLY, Evergreen
February
7, 2019
WSU
women’s basketball (7-15, 2-9) is set to take on No. 20 ranked Arizona State
(15-6, 6-4) on Thursday and Arizona (14-7, 4-6) Saturday at Beasley Coliseum.
Coming off
their third straight weekend being swept, the Cougars are excited to be playing
back at home. Head Coach Kamie Ethridge said she thought this past weekend was
a challenging one for WSU as a team, starting with UCLA, who Ethridge said had
a dominating performance.
“They
[UCLA] showed the very thing that we aren’t,” Ethridge said. “That is a
physical team that is willing to rebound.”
Their
second game last weekend was a much closer game, one that the Cougs had the
lead for a good amount of time.
Ethridge
said that they lost their intensity a bit in the second half and although they
figured out the offensive end, they hurt themselves on defense.
“We have
to be pretty perfect in how we play,” Ethridge said.
That means
being sound on both sides of the ball and putting it all together. Just scoring
or halting the other team isn’t enough—both need to occur to have a chance at
winning.
The
Cougars have a chance to put it all together this weekend at home against the
Arizona schools.
The Sun
Devils bring a lot of offensive sets to the table, Ethridge said. She said the
team is really studying some of the plays they run and that they are really
going to have to guard well in order to win.
Next, WSU
will face the Wildcats who are have a different style of play than the Sun
Devils, but still pose a big problem for the Cougs. The problem is redshirt
sophomore guard Aari McDonald who is averaging just over 25 points per contest
for Arizona.
“Arizona
has one of top players in this league that can rattle off 30 or 40 [points] if
you’re not careful,” Ethridge said.
Although
both teams have very different styles, Ethridge said they both relate to other
teams they have played before, so this isn’t completely new for WSU.
Ethridge
wants the Cougs to create difficult matchups offensively and still be difficult
to guard as well.
“I expect
us to continue to work and put great effort forward,” Ethridge said.
WSU will
play Arizona State at 7 p.m. Thursday and Arizona at 12 p.m. Saturday. Both
games with take place inside Beasley Coliseum.
:::::::::::::
Pullman
2040 wants to make community changes
Graduate
student committees tackle problems concerning downtown businesses, navigation
By CHERYL
AARNIO, Evergreen Jan 29, 2019
Francis
Benjamin, the co-chair of the Pullman 2040 committee, talked about its efforts
to change and improve the Pullman community at the GPSA meeting Monday night.
He said the
committee had looked at people’s feedback about what they wanted for Pullman,
which included a small community that was friendly, welcoming, vibrant, safe
and diverse.
There were
comments saying downtown should improve, specifically the restaurants, entertainment
and shopping, Benjamin said.
He said
there is a way-finding committee, which works on improving the trail system,
the path sys-tem, maps and transportation, including driving.
There is
another committee that added Music On Main and the butterfly mural, and looks
to add more art, Benjamin said.
“Art makes
a tremendous difference in the community,” he said.
There was
a question regarding whether some long-term residents like the city’s
expansion.
When
big-box stores come in, there is sometimes opposition surrounding that, he
said.
“Our
community wants to grow,” Benjamin said. “For the most part, people do embrace
the growth that is happening.”
Another
question arose regarding Moscow-Pullman connections.
Some areas
do have a working relationship, he said.
“Just like
there’s a divide between WSU and [University of Washington],” Benjamin said,
“there [are] still some areas that are divided between Pullman and Moscow, in
that context.”
Benjamin
said the committee is trying to bring people together around food and housing
security. He said this is happening on a regional scale, not just in Pullman.
In
response to another question, Benjamin said the committee is trying to help
people understand how important it is to invest in the community.
He said an
idea the committee is thinking about is an Angel Investor fund. Many of those
funds look at how best to invest the money so investors see the greatest
return.
Benjamin
said the committee is looking at one in which the greatest return on investment
is made if the company stays in either the region or in Pullman.
GPSA
surveyed graduate students regarding the stipend levels they are paid, said
David Silva, GPSA executive vice president.
He said he
and a few GPSA senators will meet with Lisa Gloss, dean of the graduate school,
on Wednesday.
They will
discuss the statistics the organization collected. Gloss will tell them how and
when the sti-pend levels were created, and how they might collect the best data
to inform potential changes in the future, Silva said.
“There’s
some students that are really struggling,” Silva said. “Some programs are
really not paying their graduate students enough to really make it here in
Pullman without making some really severe cuts to their lifestyles.”
::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Pullman
pushing for SR 26 passing lanes
City, WSU
want to see construction start sooner than planned
By Anthony
Kuipers, Moscow Pullman Daily News staff writer Feb 7, 2019
Pullman
and Washington State University are putting pressure on the state to make State
Route 26 safer ahead of schedule.
During a
joint meeting Wednesday between the Pullman City Council and the Associated
Students of WSU at the Elson S. Floyd Cultural Center in Pullman, Mayor Glenn
Johnson said he sent a letter to the chair of the Washington Senate
Transportation Committee asking for construction on four additional SR 26
passing lanes to begin sooner than scheduled. That letter received the support
of other cities along the highway, the ASWSU and WSU alumni. The two-lane SR 26
is a primary route for students and community members coming to and leaving
Pullman.
The
current target year for the passing lanes to be completed is 2025, but Johnson
said state Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, told him the state could begin
construction as early as 2020. Johnson said Schoesler encouraged “Coug Nation”
to continue staying in contact with the Legislature and Washington Department
of Transportation to pressure the state into starting construction early.
Kelly
Marshall, deputy director of legislative affairs for ASWSU, said a group of students
who visited legislators in Olympia also talked to them about speeding up SR 26
construction and other topics relevant to the university such as mental health,
Title IX and funding for the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health.
City
Councilwoman Eileen Macoll, who is part of the Whitman County Solid Waste
Advisory Committee, said the city is also keeping its eye on legislation
affecting recycling, including bans on plastic bags and straws. She said WSU is
“ahead of the curve” for banning single-use plastics on campus.
Technology
was another topic of discussion at the joint meeting. City Administrator Adam
Lincoln said the city is planning on overhauling its website to make it more
modern and user-friendly. He said staff is looking at creating an app in which
residents will be able to report issues, such as potholes in a road, to the
city.
Jacob
Lizarraga, an ASWSU senator, encouraged the city to create a comprehensive app
residents can download to see traffic delays, directions, a live stream of the
Pullman Police Department’s social media feed and a way for people to pay
parking fines online, among other features.
When it
came to transit, Pullman Transit Manager Wayne Thompson told the students at
the meeting the city added new routes at the beginning of the school year to
cut down on interval times. Thompson said he would like to add more buses so
the vehicles can complete their loop in as little as 30 minutes. He said the
city next month will find out if it can receive grants to pay for two electric
buses, which cost $775,000 each.
:::::::::::::::
WSU
FOOTBALL
Analysis:
Three positives and three negatives of Washington State’s 2019 signing class
UPDATED:
Wed., Feb. 6, 2019, 10:47 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson of the Spokane S-R of Spokane/Inland Empire
PULLMAN –
After picking up 20 signatures in December, Mike Leach and Washington State
added two more pieces on Wednesday, signing high school defensive end Nicholas
Sheetz and junior college offensive tackle Jimmy Price to enhance a recruiting
class the Cougars believe has as much depth, quality and variety as any of the
ones signed during Leach’s stay on the Palouse.
By
position, the Cougars signed six defensive backs, four offensive linemen, three
linebackers, three defensive linemen, two wide receivers, two running backs,
one quarterback and one long snapper.
WSU cast a
wide recruiting net, inking players from Washington, California, Ohio,
Colorado, Arizona, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, Hawaii, Florida and South
Carolina.
With the
early period and the official National Signing Day in the books, we analyze
WSU’s latest batch of signees, listing three positives and three negatives of
the 2019 class.
The
positives
1.
Quarterback (for the future) – In the wake of the news surrounding Gage
Gubrud’s potential move to Washington State, some fans have bemoaned the
Cougars’ pursuit of a second transfer quarterback in as many years, suggesting
Leach and his staff were neglecting the high school QB market. In reality, WSU
is set up nicely for the future – if not for 2019, then 2020 and beyond. The
Cougars signed 6-foot-5 Casteel High (Arizona) product Gunner Cruz in December,
placing another highly coveted prep pocket passer on the Pullman campus. Cammon
Cooper was the nation’s 11th-ranked pro style QB in 2018 and Cruz checked in at
No. 16 on the same list this year. Neither may be an immediate solution, but
for anyone decrying WSU’s stability at the QB position – or lack thereof – it’s
entirely plausible that the Cougars will introduce an eventual three- or
four-year starter in 2020, be it the left-handed Cooper or the right-handed Cruz.
2.
Offensive line haul – The offensive line didn’t seem like a position of high
priority for a team that returns four starters and gave up just 13 sacks in
2018. But the Cougars stocked up for the future, signing three high school
prospects in December before adding a junior college standout on Wednesday.
Jimmy Price, an offensive tackle who played one year at Stephen F. Austin
before transferring to Tyler Junior College, looks like a viable replacement
for Andre Dillard and all three of the prep signees bring tall frames to
Pullman similar to Dillard and Abraham Lucas.
3. Early
birds – Why wait until February to do what you can do in December? Unlike many
of their Pac-12 peers, the Cougars weren’t waiting on pins and needles for any
of their commits to make a decision on Wednesday. WSU finished with a another
workmanlike recruiting class that ranked just 11th in the Pac-12 according to
247Sports.com, but the Cougars accomplished most of what they needed to in
December, signing 20 of their 22 prospects before they traveled to the Alamo
Bowl. The early period is favorable for programs like WSU, which locate and
secure diamonds in the rough before higher-profile schools try to pilfer them.
“The early
period is so good for us,” WSU Chief of Staff Dave Emerick said Wednesday on
the NSD19 Radio Show. “When it used to just be the February signing period,
there’s all kind of schools that would just come after our guys. You see if
someone has success – let’s say if a big school, USC or whoever, misses out on
one of their guys, let’s see who Washington State’s recruiting and go after
those guys.”
The
negatives
1.
Quarterback (for the present) – As we mentioned, the long-term future of the QB
position looks bright, but the Cougars, who are well-stocked at just about
every position on offense, still need to address the short term. Leach has
stated confidence in the signal-callers he has on campus, but for the time
being, it’s still a QB room that has just 10 pass completions under its belt.
The Cougars have browsed the NCAA transfer portal already, expressing interest
in Gubrud, but now it seems unlikely the former EWU QB will obtain a medical
redshirt. The grad transfer search could be far from over and fans might recall
Gardner Minshew didn’t announce his decision until March of last year. So,
there’s still time left and scholarships available, but now with four of the
most important days of the recruiting year behind them, the Cougars still have
quite a bit of uncertainty at the most important position on the field.
2. RB2? –
James Williams threw a wrench in WSU’s plans when the running back declared for
the NFL draft less than a week after the Alamo Bowl. It was never guaranteed
the Cougars’ primary back would stick around for his senior season, but by most
accounts, the coaching staff had been betting on another year of Williams and
perhaps it reflected in the early signing class. WSU added two high school
running backs in December and only one of them – Jamir Thomas – looks like he’d
be suited to back up Max Borghi this fall. Neither Thomas or Jouvensly Bazile
will be on campus until July. The Cougars could still spend one of their
remaining scholarships on a junior college running back, but given the
diminished depth of the position in the wake of Williams’ exit, it’s a little
surprising they haven’t done so already.
3. Win
some, lose some – There weren’t many surprises during the early period – good
or bad – but the Cougars lost a battle for prized offensive lineman Liam Dick,
who had WSU as a finalist before choosing Pitt. In 2018, the Cougars beat out a
handful of Pac-12 schools for Borghi and defensive back Halid Djibril, but they
didn’t win any big recruiting duels this year and lost a defensive tackle
commit – Dejon Benton – to USC on day one of the early period. While the
Cougars felt good about the group they signed, it didn’t have the flourish it
had in 2018.
#
