WSU BASEBALL: Cougars Fall to California in Series-Finale
BERKELEY, Calif. (April 7, 2019) – Washington State dropped its series-finale at California 9-5 Sunday afternoon.
The Cougars received two-hits from Tyson Guerrero and a solo home run from sophomore Collin Montez. Guerrero also pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out a pair along the way. Cal collected 13 hits including a pair of homers.
In the first, Hayden Rosenkrantz worked around a leadoff single and stranded a runner at third after a strikeout, a pop out and groundout to Kodie Kolden at third base. In the second, Montez led off the inning a long solo homer to right field for his third of the season and a 1-0 Cougar lead.
In the bottom of the second, Cal answered with four runs, using a solo homer and three more hits in the inning to take a 4-1 advantage. The Bears added a run in the fourth and hit a two-run homer in the fifth and added runs in the sixth and seventh for a 9-2 lead.
In the eight, WSU pushed three runs across after an RBI-double from Anthony Notaro and a RBI-single from Tyson Guerrero and another run scored on a Cal throwing error. The Cougars put runners on second and third in the inning but saw the threat turned away with a fly out to centerfield for the third out.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Jack Smith had a pinch-hit single to centerfield in the 7th
Trent Sellers retired the only 2 batters he faced to end the 7th
Anthony Notaro’s RBI-double in the 8th was his 1st career RBI
NEXT UP
WSU returns to Pullman to play host to Seattle U Tuesday at 3:05 p.m.
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WSU student redefines, expands idea of studying abroad
UPDATED: Sat., April 6, 2019, 5:30 p.m.
By Latisha Jensen for Spokane Spokesman-Review
As a child in Vietnam, the closest Nam Nguyen could get to traveling was through a television screen.
Today, the 22-year-old college student has studied on seven continents with the help of dozens of scholarships worth $150,000. He studied ecotourism in Antarctica, visited the border of North and South Korea, and took language classes in Germany while living with a host family.
“At first, I just decided to do just one program to see how this … will impact me,” said Nguyen, a fourth-year student at Washington State University, “but then I just got addicted to it, I fell in love with it and then never could stop.”
Nguyen came to the U.S. with his family and began attending Kentridge High School in Seattle starting his junior year.
This year, Nguyen received the 2019 Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion in International Education Award. As part of the university’s McNair Scholars program, he conducts research on what factors lead students to choose a particular study abroad and will help institutions and organizations in program design, he said.
“He’s a really nice human being. One wouldn’t know how accomplished he is,” said Christine Oakley, director of Global Learning International Programs at WSU. “I think it’s that humility piece that makes him really special.”
Nguyen and Oakley are collaborating with the director of Gender Identity/Expression and Sexual Orientation Resource Center to design a study abroad program for the LGBTQ+ community.
If it becomes reality, it will be the first such program at WSU.
“There are not many gifts involved,” Oakley said. “He’s worked hard for everything, and those have opened up opportunities for him.”
From Ireland to Antarctica
Nguyen has been to about 30 different countries, but this isn’t what he imagined himself doing when he first came to WSU in the fall of 2015.
“I started my journey here as a chemistry student — expectations of being a part of an Asian family,” Nguyen said. “I just then realized I did that to please my family and I never enjoyed it.”
He switched to business, not quite sure where it would take him, but he said he loves the international aspect of this major. His study abroad experience began in Ireland through a faculty-led program in summer 2016. He has completed 11 programs and is currently in his 12th one living in the Netherlands. He was recently accepted into another program that will again take him back to Antarctica.
In preparation for his first trip there, he took an online course to learn about the birds, whales and icebergs and then finished off the term by spending two weeks there.
Nguyen said they had to take a ship from the town Ushuaia at the tip of Argentina through the Drake Passage. He studied ecotourism while there and wrote a 37-page report.
“After coming back, I felt (more) awareness about the environment around me,” Nguyen said.
He learned how important it is to be educated about Antarctica before going on the trip and the potential harm to wildlife that will occur if certain rules are not followed carefully.
“All of us are aware this is not just a trip to Spain or Italy, it’s not a tourist trip,” Nguyen said. “We come there to learn about the environment and bring awareness about the environment.”
One of the nights in Antarctica, the group slept on the shore. They used regular sleeping bags with a thin blanket and a foam pad inside.
“It got cold at first, but after you got into the sleeping bag, you bury yourself under the snow,” Ngyuen said. “It actually makes you warmer.”
During his next trip to Antarctica, he will do an independent study on how going to Antarctica impacts a student’s mindset and attitude toward the surrounding environment.
Looking forward
In January, Nguyen presented his findings at a TED Talk in Hanoi, Vietnam.
“I’ve seen that growth where I never would’ve imagined him on a public stage and now I can see him on the public stage,” Oakley said. “In many ways, he’s fearless.”
Following college, Nguyen wants to continue his research but keep his options open. Graduate school is a possibility, but he wants to think things through as much as he can to assure it’s the right decision.
This summer, he has an internship lined up with BP oil company in Chicago.
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WSU great Derrick Low still embracing Bennett Ball's 5 pillars
By Dylan Haugh Cougfan.com Sat Apr 06 2019
DERRICK LOW, THE scrappy guard on Washington State’s last two NCAA Tournament teams more than a decade ago, hung up his high tops in 2017 after a long pro career that took him across the globe and is now back home in Honolulu hoping to do for the youngsters of Hawaii what his dad and other mentors like Dick and Tony Bennett did for him: elevate his game and help him grow as a person.
Low is the owner and president of PROformance Hawaii, a basketball training academy whose elite travel team players are put in position to play at the collegiate level. Low's management team includes two other Hawaii-raised products who played collegiately.
“Having a blueprint of what it takes to get to that level, we thought that we could be the ones to guide our (local) players,” Low told CF.C in a phone interview just prior to new Cougar coach Kyle Smith being hired.
“Hawaii may be far away and kind of isolated from the rest of the country, but as long as we work hard, stand on pillars that are non-negotiable, then I think Hawaii kids have just as much of a chance,” he said. "We may not be as big and athletic but we can make it up in toughness and guard skill. That’s my motivation.”
Here are highlights, mildly edited, from our conversation with him:
Cougfan: How connected are you to the program at WSU?
Low: I still watch from afar. I actually came to campus for the Apple Cup (this past season), I was up there and I actually caught a basketball game when they were playing Delaware State. I also have the Pac-12 basketball channels so I catch games here and there … I just think they need to put a few pieces together and find the right identity. It’s not too far off from being successful again with some of the pieces they have.
Cougfan: Which of those pieces stand out to you?
Low: When I was there for the Apple Cup, I was able to watch a few of their practices along with the game … besides Franks, I was watching that kid with the hair, [C.J] Elleby, and I was just like, ‘Aw, this guy’s pretty good, I wonder what grade he’s in?’ And then I saw he was a freshman, I was pretty impressed because I can remember when we were freshmen and we couldn’t contribute and move and do some of the things he was doing … You also have to give Franks his recognition because he’s one of the better players In the league.
Cougfan: What about Elleby impressed you?
Low: He’s a crafty lefty and his mentality, even though he’s a freshman he doesn’t play like a freshman. Usually when freshmen get into the program — at least when I was there — they’re slightly on the timid side, we certainly didn’t have anyone that was as athletic as he was in Year One. He’s out there putting up numbers and playing like an upperclassmen. It was the mental toughness and way he plays: ‘I don’t care if I’m a freshman, I’m going to come right after you and compete.’ That’s something I can relate to back when we were playing. We may have not been the most athletic or as highly recruited but every time we stepped on the court, we had to compete.
Cougfan: Your have five pillars for your program: humility, passion, unity, servanthood and thankfulness. What do those values mean to you and what you’re trying to get across to the younger generation?
Low: Going to WSU and being under the Bennetts, I’m sure you’ve noticed that those are the same pillars that they instilled in us. I was able to witness first hand of how meaningful those pillars and foundations can be, especially when it’s instilled in a team and everyone buys into it … When I had the opportunity to teach kids basketball, it was a no-brainer for me, which is why I asked Coach Tony ‘do you mind if I use the same pillars?’ I know how powerful it is and how it can bring up the level of play if everyone buys in and I really believes in it.
Cougfan: Any good recruiting stories with Dick or Tony Bennett?
Low: The first time I spoke to anyone on the phone, Coach Dick Bennett called me and I had the chance to speak to him but then he passed the phone to everyone in the office. So at that time I got to speak to Coach [Ben] Johnson, Tony [Bennett], Mike Heideman and Ron Sanchez. I just remember feeling a real general sincerity from all of them and I was just able to make my decision a lot easier. I related to Coach Tony well throughout my entire recruiting process and he’s one of the main reasons why I chose to go to WSU, site unseen. He believed in me, which made it so much easier for me to believe in him, even though it was just a vision. That’s how much I believed in them.
Cougfan: Single favorite memory, basketball wise, at Washington State?
Low: Oh man, I have some many great memories from back in the day. One that really sticks out in my senior year when. Going into the season Coach Tony had a plaque made and the plaque had like a door-knocker on it. And he always used to say we have to keep on knocking. No matter what, we can’t be satisfied, we can’t be content in getting to the NCAA Tournament or getting to the second round. That was really motivating for us, especially when we made it to the second round that senior year because we had fallen out during that second-round game the year before in double overtime against Vanderbilt. It was a defining moment for us, Ronnie Wideman (WSU’s operations assistant) would hold it at the door before we took the floor and we would grab the handle and knock on it, symbolism that we’re going to keep knocking, no matter what happens, we’re going to stick together and get it done. Very powerful memory for me.
Cougfan: With it being March Madness and you being on the last WSU team that made the NCAA Tournament, any good stories from that two-year run?
Low: It was the first season in the NCAA Tournament in the first round when we played Oral Roberts. This is one thing I’ve always remembered. I loved (shot-blocking foward) Ivory Clark — that guy was very intense and had such a passion for the game. I remember in warm-ups before the game he saw one of the players on Oral Roberts smiling at us. He told me he is ‘gonna wipe that smile off of his face’ and he did. He was all over the place in that game and we really did take it to them.
Cougfan: Memories from that Sweet 16 run the following year?
Low: It was before we were leaving for the Sweet 16 game against North Carolina, I just remember that bus ride to the airport because at that time we were chartering flights out of Lewiston. Every town from WSU to the airport, everyone was outside, I mean everyone in the Palouse was outside, Colton, Uniontown … literally from campus to the airport, waving signs and things. That was a moment for us to kind of be like, ‘is this really happening?’ It gave us the sense of how much pride people had in us and the school and what we were able to accomplish.
Cougfan: How can the next head coach come in and succeed at WSU?
Low: I always believed that in order for a place like Washington State to be successful, you have to have a certain identity over there. Mainly because we have to recruit against Arizona, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. What’s going to make our program stand out against those other programs? We have to have a very specific identity, whatever it is. It’s not like, ‘oh, take the best available head coach,’ because you don’t know how it’s going to turn out — WSU is a very unique place. I don’t think you can just hire any coach to come there and expect to turn the program around. It takes a unique coach and scheme to succeed up there. It can’t be like everyone else because then you’re competing against all those other schools who are likely going to attract the better players.
THE FILE ON DERRICK LOW:
--Started 110 games at WSU from 2004-05 to 2007-08 after choosing the Cougars -- without even making a visit -- over Gonzaga.
--Concluded his career ranked No. 2 on WSU’s all-time list for both minutes and made 3-pointers; also No. 6 in career free-throw percentage, No. 8 in steals, 11th in scoring (1,288 points) and 12th in assists.
--Named first-team All-Pac-10 as a junior and third team as a senior.
--Known to spend sunny Palouse weekends cliff diving at The Dunes on the Snake River.
--Played professionally in Australia, France, Lithuania, Israel, Turkey, Romania and Ukraine.
