WSU's
spring football game once pitted Cougs vs. alums, including NFLers
By COUGFAN.com
4/19/2019
BACK IN
THE 1960s, when he was a Pro Bowl receiver for the Detroit Lions, former Cougar
star Gail Cogdill came home to play in a Crimson & Gray Game.
Back in
the day, you see, Washington State's annual spring finale pitted current Cougar
players against former players, including those playing pro ball.
The Lions
had no objections, Cogdill remembered in an interview with Cougfan.com's Howie
Stalwick in 2012. "The only thing they were worried about was
skiing," said Cogdill, who passed away in 2016. "That was a no-no. I
didn't worry about getting hurt. I played a lot – maybe 10, 15 plays. I
remember I scored."
On
Saturday, the Crimson & Gray Game will kickoff in Martin Stadium at 1 p.m.
Pacific time and the closest former players will come to the action will be
Ryan Leaf on the broadcast crew for the Pac-12 Network and various luminaries
like Gardner Minshew, Connor Halliday, Matt Kegel and Drew Bledsoe -- all in
town for the CougsFirst! Quarterback Classic on Friday -- hanging out on the
sidelines.
Years ago,
the players vs. alums approach to the spring game didn't happen every year but
it continued periodically into the early Mike Price years.
All-time
Cougars and San Diego Chargers great Keith Lincoln held up signs on the
sidelines with plays written on them when he coached the alums one year.
"If you call it coaching," Lincoln chuckled in 2012. "It was
more like herding cats or something. But we had a lot of fun."
Paul
Sorensen, a 1981 WSU All-American who spent two seasons on NFL practice squads,
played in the 1990 game with NFL veterans like Jack Thompson, Ken Greene, Dan
Doornink and Don Schwartz.
"It
was probably not a smart thing to do, but I'm sure glad I did it ... we had a
blast," Sorensen recalled. "Oh, I was sore at halftime. I'm not
kidding!"
The
pregame "inspiration" provided by alumni coaches Tom Perry and Pink
Erickson was straight forward: "They said, ‘Guys, this is all we want you
to do. We don't want you to smoke or drink on the sidelines, and try not to get
hurt.' That was our motivational speech."
Sorensen
remembers putting a major league hit on a future Apple Cup Snow Bowl receiving
icon.
"I
crushed Phillip Bobo. Hit him in the ear. He didn't like that very much. He
never knew who I was until halfway through the next year when one of the
players came up to him and said, ‘Hey, that's the guy that freakin' ear-holed
you in the spring game.' He looked at me and he goes, ‘You're kidding me.'
‘Yep, that was me.' He goes, ‘Holy (blank)! You're old!'"
Alumni who
had not played or practiced in years often had trouble keeping up with active
college players. And the idea of an
alumni vs. varsity game seems fairly ludicrous today, but back in the day such
games were fairly common at many colleges.
:::::::::::::::::::
WSU
football
Five to
watch: Keep an eye on these players during Washington State’s Crimson and Gray
Game
UPDATED:
Fri., April 19, 2019, 7:08 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson S-R of Spokane
Crimson
and Gray Game makes long-awaited return to Martin Stadium
Every
year, spring scrimmages across the country have the ability to unearth future
stars. Previously unheralded players are given a chance to demonstrate why
they’re deserving of a more prominent role in the fall and depth-chart
decisions are often made based on who shows up in intrasquad scrimmages
designed to test players in a game-like setting.
Here are
five Washington State players for fans to keep an eye on during Saturday’s
Crimson and Gray Game (1 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) at Martin Stadium.
Anthony
Gordon/Trey Tinsley, quarterbacks:
If either
of these two is going to truly separate from the other, now is as good a time
as any. Gordon was better in the first scrimmage, but Tinsley was better in the
second. Both need to be better than graduate transfer Gage Gubrud in August,
but the Crimson and Gray game is an important step.
Lamonte
McDougle, nose tackle:
Unless
you’ve taken in a spring practice, you still haven’t seen the powerhouse nose
tackle who redshirted in 2018 after transferring from West Virginia, where he
was an ESPN Freshman All-American.
Brandon
Arconado, wide receiver:
A crisp
route runner who’s tougher than he looks, Arconado has been as steady as any
receiver this spring and seems to thrive in scrimmage scenario. With a rotation
spot open at “Y” receiver, a good Crimson and Gray game could go a long way for
the former walk-on.
Bryce
Beekman, free safety:
Skyler
Thomas’ move to nickel made room for the former junior college star and
Louisiana native. Each of the three early enrollee defensive backs has been
impressive this spring, but Beekman seems to have the best chance at earning a
starting spot.
Clay
Markoff, fullback:
A fullback
is about as common as a tight end in the Air Raid, but Markoff dropped 25
pounds in the offseason and WSU’s thin backfield could lead to some meaningful
reps for the redshirt junior from Olympia.
……………………
WSU Cougar
Men Basketball
Kyle
Smith’s plan to rebuild WSU basketball? Start by finding some nerds
The new
WSU coach will use a blend of traditional scouting and analytics to construct
the next winner in Pullman.
By Jeff
Nusser Coug Center Apr 18, 2019
PULLMAN —
Someday soon, Kyle Smith’s office will look like any other office. It’ll have
pictures of favorite memories adorning the walls, mementos from years gone by
lining the shelves, furniture positioned just so in order to make guests feel
comfortable.
Right now,
though? Conspicuously bare crimson-colored walls surround a large and austere
desk, some bags are strewn about the floor, and a couple of decorative chairs
(of questionable comfort) haphazardly face the coach’s work space.
With the
late signing period opening up yesterday and at least a handful of scholarships
to fill, Smith doesn’t have the time to worry about decorations; he’s busy
evaluating, working the phones, trying to find players who not only possess the
talent to help the Washington State Cougars compete in the Pac-12 for the first
time in a decade, but also to find players who will buy into Nerdball — Smith’s
unique, numbers-based system for evaluating his roster.
So much
still seems up in the air, at least to fans: It’s unknown whether Isaiah Wade
and Ahmed Ali are transferring (although Ali seems set on leaving); it’s
unclear if previously signed players Daron Henson and Nigel John are still
planning on coming to WSU; and CJ Elleby is still in the NBA Draft — for now.
If everything goes sideways, Smith will be turning over more than half the
roster.
But one of
the things athletics director Pat Chun was looking for in a coach was a man who
has a clearly defined sense of how he’s going to do things and the kinds of
players he can win with. Sitting behind that desk, carving out a few minutes
between phone calls, Smith is unwaveringly resolute in his conviction of how
his staff is approaching the late push to add quality players — which, in fact,
doesn’t differ from adding players at any other time.
It’s a
three-pronged approach that incorporates the elements of traditional scouting —
the eye test and character evaluation — with data-driven analysis. It’s what
allowed both Columbia and San Francisco to not only immediately improve upon
Smith’s hire, but also improve year-over-year during his tenure.
“When the
eyes, stats, and your gut all match up?” Smith says.
He claps,
and then he smiles, his eyes lighting up as he leaves the thought unfinished.
Smith
doesn’t have to say any more. It’s clear that’s when he knows he’s found his
guy.
Who
they’re looking for
In terms
of on-court ability, Smith’s looking for “six-tool guys”: Players who can
dribble, pass, drive, shoot, defend and rebound. If that sounds like
“everything on a basketball court,” and thus, oddly general ... well, it kind
of is. Obviously, not every player is going to be good at everything. But the
emphasis is on finding players who can do multiple things — guys who are, as
Smith says, “interchangeable.”
One prime
example is already on WSU’s roster — CJ Elleby. Smith actually recruited Elleby
to San Francisco, identifying him in high school as someone who checks all the
boxes. And if you watched Elleby at all last year, you saw why: The breakout
freshman star proved himself to be WSU’s best all around player, truly a
“six-tool guy.”
“They’re
rare,” Smith said. “(But) they always work for us — they do well for us. Sometimes
they’re under recruited because they might be leaner — you know, the Kyle
Weavers, the Robbie Cowgills — they’re a little different.”
Yeah, you
heard that right: He just name dropped two WSU heroes who famously were under
recruited in high school before helping to lead the Cougars to 52 wins and a
pair of NCAA tournament appearances in their junior and senior seasons.
Having
recruited to successful midmajors against Tony Bennett for the better part of
15 years — first while an assistant at Saint Mary’s, later as the head coach at
Columbia* — he’s intimately familiar with how WSU has used body bias to its
favor in the past ... and how it can again today. Like the protagonist says in
one of Smith’s favorite books: “We’re not selling jeans here.”
*Smith
actually tells a story about how Bennett swooped in to flip a local player who
had been verbally committed to him at Columbia since his sophomore year. That
player? Ty Jerome. Yeah, Smith’s got a good eye.
It doesn’t
mean the Cougars won’t go after recruits that other people are after. If you
look at this list of guys WSU is pursuing at the moment, most are drawing
attention from a host of suitors — that includes David Jenkins, Noah Williams,
and Ronnie DeGray. There’s obviously a minimum threshold of talent necessary to
be successful; not even Bennett took five guys off the street and turned them
into a powerhouse, despite the way some fans remember it. Many of the players
he recruited went on to stellar professional careers either at home (Klay
Thompson, Aron Baynes) or abroad (Taylor Rochestie, Weaver, Derrick Low, Brock
Motum).
However,
the targets generally aren’t top 100 guys, the players thought of as “program
changers”; these are guys ranked in the 200-300 range, players who could become
very good in the right environment and system — and should be imminently
recruitable by a WSU coach, despite all the evidence to the contrary over the
past five years.
And then
you see they’re also in on South Korean Hyunjung Lee, who is 6-foot-7 but only
180 pounds, and you see where this can lead.
Eventually,
the program matures to a point where Smith lands enough of those
“interchangeable” guys that they’re able to be flexible with their sets on
offense. That’s when the fun really begins.
Analytics
are a tool — an important tool, but just a tool
Smith’s
affinity for data is well known, but when it comes to evaluating recruits, even
he realizes it has its limits.
“I always
say, it’s a tool for sure, but it’s not foolproof,” Smith said before
explaining how he has to caution his assistants about allowing numbers to
define players. “I always gotta lecture our guys: (You) can’t be so fixed
mindset — like, ‘that’s who that is.’ ”
The
example he points to is that of his former point guard, Frankie Ferrari, whose
journey to San Francisco, then junior college, then San Francisco again showed
how numbers aren’t everything.
Ferrari
was recruited by former USF coach Rex Walters, one of two point guards in his
class. Devin Watson, the other guy, played OK for a freshman, while Ferrari had
one of the more atrocious statistical seasons you’ll ever see. His offensive
rating was 64 on 16% usage, and while those numbers might be gibberish to you,
to statheads, they mean one thing: The guy simply cannot play at that level.
After that
forgettable season, Ferrari transferred to a junior college, where he
redshirted. Smith, who had recruited Ferrari to Columbia but was now the new
coach at San Francisco, remembered the player he had seen in high school. And
he re-recruited him.
“We sat
down and (one of my coaches) said, ‘No one’s ever made it (with those
numbers),’ ” Smith said, meaning no player that they could find had ever rebounded
to have a productive career after that kind of season. “And I’m like — I get
it, but it’s just a tool.”
Ferrari
turned out to be an all-WCC player. Twice.
“You know,
I always say: Eye test still is ok,” Smith said.
Smith and
his staff also sometimes will use the player’s stats at their level to try and
project how they’ll translate to Division I, even though the stats can be
somewhat unreliable in certain contexts — the summer AAU circuit is
particularly notorious. That said, sometimes the numbers can still reveal
outliers, guys who are overlooked. Souley Boum, whom Smith recruited to USF,
hit some statistical markers but didn’t pass the eye test — he stood 6-3 but
was skinny as a rail at just 145 pounds. After having been ranked in the 400s
by 247Sports.com, Boum went on to average 11 points as a true freshman — second
on the team.
Another
player Smith recruited to USF? Dzmitry Ryuny, who represented Belarus in the
2017 FIBA U18 B Championships. The stats he produced were comparable to what
Jonas Jerebko had produced at that level. Jerebko, by the way, is in the midst
of a a decade-long career in the NBA.
“Is he
going to be Jonas? Probably not,” Smith said. “But that’s a check mark that’s
like — wait a second, we’re worried, we’re stressing (about whether he’s good
enough) … again, (data) leads you there. Now, let’s find out what’s making this
guy tick, let’s look at his skill set.”
Attitude
matters — a lot
The vast
majority of college coaches are looking to stockpile the most elite talent they
can, any way they can — just add bodies to the pile and then figure out how
they fit together. As the saying goes, “It’s not the Xs and Os, it’s the Jimmys
and Joes,” which is just another way to say that even a bad coach can look good
with enough talent ... and vice versa.
But Smith
is looking for guys with a particular kind of mindset to help him build a very
particular culture. Smith is up front about his data-driven system of
accountability, in which more than 50 categories of actions are scored and
totaled from both practices and games to produce a truckload of statistics that
drive playing time. It’s not for everyone, and as it turned out, it wasn’t for
Boum, who ended up transferring to UTEP after that excellent first season.
Players
have to be willing to be held accountable to play for Smith. WSU Athletics
Nerdball
isn’t for the faint of heart.
“Some
players (are) scared because they want assurances,” Smith said. “The guys who
like it? Risk takers. Growth mindset. Want to improve. That’s the recruiting
thing — that’s where Washington State (has to go). I’m sure that’s the same
thing (Mike) Leach does — the five-star guys, when they’re recruited, they get
assurances. So, it’s a different animal.”
Something
that goes hand-in-hand with that? Smith wants players where his scholarship
offer is the one the player really desires; he wants to be the school of choice
rather than the fall back. Those kinds of players are hungry to prove they
belong.
“They’re
gonna spin me out as being some kind of analytics savant,” Smith said. “I said,
‘I’m just a coach,’ (and) it’s more the attitude and work ethic — if anything,
that’s the secret sauce. Not everyone is selling that. They don’t understand
when you’re recruiting and begging, you’re devaluing your product. This is
Pac-12 basketball. What an honor to be able to play in the Power 5. It’s gotta
be up here, with our guys trying to grab that brass ring, versus, ‘We need
you!’ ...
“I think
we’ve got the resources here to maximize the guys,” Smith said, “and the
attraction is guys who want to play against the best.”
Finally, a
word about transfers
Building a
program is a tricky business. Sometimes coaches elect to bottom out — or, at
least, embark on a strategy that is likely to result in bottoming out, such as
stocking the roster with very young, marginal recruits. The players battle it
out, and the guys who can play, do; the guys who can’t, leave; and the program
gets better, little by little.
At least,
that’s how you hope it works out. There’s a big risk in that, one that we’re
all too familiar with. Smith isn’t interested in bottoming out, which is good,
because his boss made it clear that he paid a hefty sum (by WSU standards) to
fire the previous coach because he believed the team underachieved, and that
there was enough talent on the roster to improve immediately.
Still,
when you’re taking over the 207th team in the Pomeroy Rankings ... clearly, the
talent needs to be supplemented.
“We’re
going to need to add some (players), for sure,” Smith said.
An
increasingly popular way to do that is through grad transfers — players who
earned their degree at their previous stop and now can transfer with immediate
eligibility. We’re familiar with that, too. But that can be fraught with
problems; you don’t want to rely too much on guys who are only going to be
around for a year.
“I don’t
think you can build a culture off the grad transfers,” Smith said, “but I think
it’s also important that we get older, get stronger — I want to make sure that
we’re being competitive, doing what we’re doing.”
And that
likely will mean adding a grad transfer or two to a roster that is in a pretty
massive state of flux. One guy they’re reportedly looking at is big man Matt
Freeman, a New Zealander who’s played sparing minutes at Oklahoma; he would
fill a direct need in a perilously thin frontcourt. Smith certainly is looking
at others.
He won’t
sell the farm to add a bunch of one-year players, but Smith recognizes the
value of improving the level of competitiveness in the program immediately
while transitioning to his way of doing things.
But will
it work?
That, of
course, is the $12.6 million question — the amount Smith will receive over the
six years of his contract to coach the Cougars, plus the amount Ernie Kent will
receive for the next three years to not coach the Cougars. For a school of
limited financial means, it’s a big bet on an unconventional way of doing
things.
But WSU
has never succeeded by being conventional. The history is abundantly clear on
that. It was maddening to watch Kent meander between recruiting strategies
before finally deciding that jucos were the new market inefficiency. (They
weren’t.)
Maybe this
won’t turn out any better. Trying to do things differently involves risk, and
Smith’s strategy could blow up in everyone’s faces, exposed as something that’s
fine for a midmajor but just can’t make a dent in the a world populated by high
major athletes.
However,
an ambitious, risky plan grounded in data is miles better than no discernible
plan at all. At least there’s a potential upside; one of the great sins of
Kent’s tenure was that it quickly became difficult for even optimists to see
how his revolving door was ever going to translate into anything more than 15
wins and a bottom-third finish in the Pac-12. When half your roster is
populated by jucos, you can’t even talk yourself into, “Well, maybe if you give
them time to develop, they could turn into something special someday.”
For the
first time in a decade, Nerdball gives us something we can all wrap our arms
around — a throwback to the defensive identity we embraced so readily under the
Bennetts. Smith will be the first person to tell you that he’s not Tony Bennett
(he pantomimed “we’re not worthy” while talking about the newly crowned
national champ), but the comparisons are obvious: Believe in what you do, have
foundational principles that are never up for discussion, and understand that
to succeed at WSU, you’ve got to be a little different.
“I say I
want to be (Michigan coach) John Beilein when I grow up. I admire him because
he’s a brilliant coach, but also because, in his conviction to get the right
people, he doesn’t care who’s recruiting them,” Smith said, noting that it
takes courage to do that. “If it’s Idaho State (recruiting a player), and it’s
the right guy, we know what’s right for us. And I think I actually have the
latitude here (to take those risks).”
And to be
sure, any optimism you’re feeling isn’t just rooted in hope or nostalgia.
Nerdball has worked, recently: Smith led San Francisco to a No. 67 Pomeroy
Ranking, which is a height not seen at WSU since Klay Thompson took the Cougs
to the NIT final four in 2011 — and finished ranked No. 60.
For once,
we can allow ourselves to get excited again, if for no other reason than to
simply see if it will work.
:::::::::::::::::::
Stock
report: Utah’s stadium gift, USC’s roster upgrade, UCLA’s rough stretch and the
Big 12’s contrasting dance with ESPN
Whereas
the Pac-12 rejected ESPN’s offer, the Big 12 goes all in
By Jon
Wilner, San Jose Merc News
PUBLISHED:
April 18, 2019 at 9:59 am | UPDATED: April 18, 2019 at 12:36 pm
An
assessment of Pac-12 news, quasi-news and (occasional) non-news …
Rising:
Utah football.
Oregon has
Phil Knight. Stanford has John Arrillaga. UCLA has Casey Wasserman and Mo
Ostin. Arizona has the Davis and Stevens families.
And now
Utah has the family of Ken Garff.
The Utes
have done well to contend in the Pac-12 with a stadium in need of renovation,
but that wasn’t a realistic long-term existence.
Upgrading
Rice-Eccles Stadium was essential. Former athletic director Chris Hill knew it,
current athletic director Mark Harlan knows it, and Kyle Whittingham sure as
heck knows it.
But Utah
being Utah, fiscal sanity was required for the $80 million endeavor to unfold
sooner than later. That took the form of a capital plan by which private
donations had to account for approximately 45 percent of the funding.
In other
words, the Utes needed $35 million in donations to get clearance for the
remaining $45 million, which will come from bonded debt (and other sources).
Garff, who
owed dozens of car dealerships, passed away two decades ago. His family came
forward recently to pledge $17.5 million to the Rice-Eccles project, ensuring
the Utes would hit their private funding goal.
(It’s the
largest gift in the history of Utah athletics.)
The
project will unfold between the 2020-21 seasons and include a small capacity
increase, more premium seats, new lockerrooms, new concourses — everything
required to 1) help recruiting 2) improve the fan experience and 3) generate
new revenue streams (via the premium seats).
The
development in Salt Lake City is critical not only for the Utes but the entire
Pac-12. Each athletic department must pull its weight (relative to resources)
in order for the conference to thrive.
Looking
across the South, we see USC renovating the Coliseum, UCLA opening a slew of
facilities on campus, Arizona State renovating Sun Devil Stadium, Arizona
unveiling an indoor practice facility and Colorado just a few years removed
from opening its new football complex.
It’s all
exactly what the conference needs, and yet the process never ends.
Rising:
USC basketball.
The
Trojans had a resoundingly disappointing season, particularly given their
talent relative to several teams that finished above them in the standings.
But coach
Andy Enfield has an impressive incoming class, and it got even better this week
with the addition of Akron wing Daniel Utomi.
Add
Utomi’s arrival to those of transfer Quinton Adlesh (Columbia) and the heralded
freshman class — the group includes two 5-star big men — and a case could be
made for USC as a conference title contender.
In fact,
the roster itself makes the Trojans a clear-cut contender.
Whether
the reality matches the potential in 2020 depends on matters not so easily
quantified: consistency of effort, chemistry, and attention to detail,
especially late in games.
If those
issues fall into place … and if the Trojans don’t encounter additional damage
from the federal corruption scandal … then USC should not only compete for the
conference title but qualify for March Madness with a real chance to reach the
Sweet 16.
And that,
as much as anything, is what the Pac-12 desperately needs: More programs
playing on the second weekend of the NCAAs.
Neutral:
Pac-12 leadership.
Last week,
the Big 12 doubled down on its relationship with ESPN, agreeing to a lengthy
partnership that includes more money, more football championship games on ESPN
and a barrage of content on ESPN+, the not-so-new, highly-successful streaming
service. (Basically, the Big 12 is getting its own streaming network.)
In so
doing, the Big 12 veered right where the Pac-12 had veered left.
The
latter, you might recall, rejected an offer from ESPN that would have tied the
conference and the Pac-12 Networks to the Worldwide Leader into the 2030s. (And
it stands to reason that an ESPN+ element would have been included in the
offer.)
The
contrasts couldn’t be more stark: The Big 12 is all in with ESPN; the Pac-12 is
remaining independent, leaving its future to media market forces.
The
Hotline has no idea whether the Pac-12 made the right move; nobody does. Hence,
the neutral rating on this item.
But it was
interesting to read Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby’s comments to CBS Sports:
“ESPN is
the best bet for technology and management for the future.”
Based on
what we know today, a college sports world that doesn’t have ESPN front and
center is difficult to envision.
Falling:
Pac-12 basketball
The
popular explanation for the substandard performance in 2019 was the bevy of
young rosters, which, in theory, would become experienced rosters next season
and power a conference-wide rebound.
But the
crucial spring window has not been kind to the Pac-12. Thus far, the
overwhelming majority of players with NBA Draft-level ability have not
committed to returning to school.
They’re
either halfway into the draft or going-going-gone.
Luguentz
Dort, Kris Wilkes, Jaylen Hands, Kevin Porter, KZ Okpala, Payton Pritchard,
Louis King, Kenny Wooten, Bol Bol, Tres Tinkle, Jaylen Hands and C.J. Elleby —
all 12 have declared.
(All 12
have the option to return, even if they’ve hired an agent, but many are likely
to remain in the draft.)
From this
vantage point, only three key players haven’t revealed their intentions or are
planning to return: Colorado’s Tyler Bey and McKinley Wright, and UCLA’s Moses
Brown.
(Brown is
likely to declare, according to Bruins coach Mick Cronin. The CU sophomores
don’t appear to be going anywhere.)
The end
result … the framework for 2020 … won’t be fixed until late May.
The early
returns, however, are suboptimal.
In this
era of college basketball, every conference is young every year. There’s no
option but to make the best of that existence.
Falling:
UCLA.
The
pay-for-admissions scandal … the subsequent report that UCLA knew of the scam
years ago … the coaching search loaded with leaks, rumors, stumbles and
terrible optics … it’s not what the Bruins need, what the conference needs from
one of its highest-profile institutions or what athletic director Dan Guerrero
needs for his legacy.
Whether
Guerrero remains on the job for nine months (until his contract expires) or a
few more years (via an extension), the longest-tenured AD in the conference is
deep into the legacy-shaping phase of his career.
And it’s a
complicated legacy, with success moving in lockstep with distance.
Fans with
a deep emotional investment in the football and men’s basketball programs have
a lower opinion of Guerrero than those with a more holistic view of UCLA
athletics.
Guerrero
has whiffed on some important hires in the sports where whiffs reverberate for
years.
But over
the sweep of Guerrero’s tenure, UCLA has been a model department on compliance
and budget matters. Guerrero himself has an impressive AD tree and has taken
leadership roles nationally and regionally (to the extent that athletic directors
have been granted policy-making authority in the conference).
All in
all, his reputation is exponentially stronger outside the UCLA fan base than it
is within. These past few weeks, however, have not been kind.
#
