Post by mhbruin on Jul 25, 2021 13:20:16 GMT -8
Next are the 10th Place Washington State Cougars, a team that seems to be on the rise. They may have lost a lot of games last season, but they were EXTREMELY young, and lost quite a few close games. They had wins over Oregon, UCLA, and NCAA tournament team Eastern Washington.
At times they looked REALLY good.
I think they are a tournament team next season. That's not the Pac-12 tournament. Not the NIT. The NCAA tournament.
GRADUATING
- None -
IN THE DRAFT
TRANSFERRING OUT
Jakimovski started 19 games last season and was their second-leading rebounder. He had a solid freshman season, and was one of those glue guys who did everything pretty well. He was the #6 rated WSU recruit of all time. He is the biggest loss to the portal.
Kunc showed some nice potential last season, but with all the guys returning, he may not be missed.
Fortunately, this will be the last time I have to spell Markovetskyy. He was BIG. He probably didn't fit in with Coach Smith's style. Smith seems to prefer quicker, more athletic players and Markovetskyy was slow. I am sure a 7-1 guy will find a home.
Warren and Chatfield were walkons.
RETURNING
Coach Smith played A LOT of players last season, going 12 deep, so he returns a bunch of experience. And this is a surprisingly talented group, particularly when you look at the recruiting ranks. These guys aren't just hidden gems. The seem like they were buried under tons of gravel.
If there is a weakness in this roster it is the youth. Other than Bonton, they are virtually all sophomores and juniors. But they are still older than last season.
Their other problem is the lack of a true PG.
Noah Williams may be the best player ever ranked #300 out of high school. He should lead the team in scoring and could be All-Pac-12. He might be called on to play some PG, but he is really at his best off the ball.
They may have a Rodman on the roster, but the real rebounding monster is Efe Abogidi, pulling down 7 boards in 24 minutes per game. He had 12 in a game against SC, and they were a BIG, BIG team. And he is a great athlete with some skills. He led the team in blocks.
DJ Rodman is not a disc jockey or record producer. He is not the next DJ Kahlid. He is not the rebounder his dad was, but he can do something his father could never do. He shoots 41% on his 3-point shots. And he's not bad on the boards.
Not to be outdone, Bamba is shooting 60% on 3's. That's 12 for 20.
Jackson was playing more as the season went on. He is a good athlete and can block shots. He and Abogidi give the Cougs a solid pair of shot-blockers.
Jefferson Koulibaly was on the roster last year, but did not play due to injury.
That's 9 returning scholarship players.
(#59 class, #7 in Pac-12)
This group of players doesn't look very good on paper. However, very few of Kyle Smith's other recruits looked like much on paper either, and a bunch of them have turned out to be very good. What does paper know, anyway?
Tyrell Roberts is a PG. Is he the answer? He was one of the top 3-point shooters in Division 2, averaging 19 points and shooting 46% from the arc in his sophomore year. Last season UCSD started playing Division 1 basketball, but Roberts chose to sit out the season. So he has never played Division 1 basketball and he is coming off a year out of basketball. The kid can shoot, but can he compete in the Pac-12? I guess when you are Washington State, you have to take some gambles.
Michael Flowers provides another option at PG. He averaged 21.0 points for South Alabama last season, the 15th best scoring average in the country. He was the highest scoring player in the transfer portal. Flowers said he picked Washington State from a list of schools that included Arkansas, USC, Miami, Texas A&M, Florida, Colorado and Marquette. He sounds like he could be the perfect replacement for Bonton. He shot 44% from the field and 39% from the arc, and both those shooting averages are better than Bonton's. However, the competition should be tougher than the Sun Belt conference.
I am skeptical about Flowers for one reason. He had a poor 1.2 A/TO ratio last season. For a senior playing in the Sun Belt, I don't think that is impressive.
Kim Aiken committed to Sean Miller and Arizona around 2 hours before Miller was fired. Instead of moving to Tucson, he is only moving 68 miles down US 195 to Pullman. I am sure the lower moving cost was the deciding factor. Have you seen the cost of a U-Haul these days?
Aiken played in the NCAA tournament for EWU. He scored 2 points on 1 of 9 shooting against Kansas in the NCAA tournament, but he did get 6 boards. On the season, he shot 44% from the field. I'm not convinced he will contribute much. I believe he puts WSU over the scholarship limit.
DeWolf was only a part-time starter on an Ivy League team. He will be walking on.
If you have been counting along at home, you realized that WSU has 14 scholarship players. 14 is greater than 13.
What's a coach going to do? What's a coach going to do? I imagine a couple of these guys will decide to leave WSU. Of course, they will decide this on their own, with absolutely no pressure from the coaching staff. Kids always magically make these decisions, and everything works out.
At times they looked REALLY good.
I think they are a tournament team next season. That's not the Pac-12 tournament. Not the NIT. The NCAA tournament.
GRADUATING
- None -
IN THE DRAFT
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Might Return? |
| Isaac Bonton | 35 | 18 | 4 | 4 | No |
TRANSFERRING OUT
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Destination |
| Aljaž Kunc | 20 | 6 | 4 | 1 | Iowa State |
| Andrej Jakimovski | 25 | 6 | 4 | 2 | Loyola (MD) |
| Volodymyr Markovetskyy | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Brandton Chatfield | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Seattle U |
| Myles Warren | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Westmont College |
Jakimovski started 19 games last season and was their second-leading rebounder. He had a solid freshman season, and was one of those glue guys who did everything pretty well. He was the #6 rated WSU recruit of all time. He is the biggest loss to the portal.
Kunc showed some nice potential last season, but with all the guys returning, he may not be missed.
Fortunately, this will be the last time I have to spell Markovetskyy. He was BIG. He probably didn't fit in with Coach Smith's style. Smith seems to prefer quicker, more athletic players and Markovetskyy was slow. I am sure a 7-1 guy will find a home.
Warren and Chatfield were walkons.
RETURNING
Coach Smith played A LOT of players last season, going 12 deep, so he returns a bunch of experience. And this is a surprisingly talented group, particularly when you look at the recruiting ranks. These guys aren't just hidden gems. The seem like they were buried under tons of gravel.
If there is a weakness in this roster it is the youth. Other than Bonton, they are virtually all sophomores and juniors. But they are still older than last season.
Their other problem is the lack of a true PG.
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Noah Williams | 30 | 14 | 4 | 3 | Jr | 3 | 300 |
| Efe Abogidi | 24 | 9 | 7 | 0 | So | Unranked | |
| DJ Rodman | 23 | 6 | 4 | 1 | Jr | 1 | 511 |
| Ryan Rapp | 21 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Jr | Unranked | |
| Dishon Jackson | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | So | 3 | 188 |
| T.J. Bamba | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | So | Unranked | |
| Carlos Rosario | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | So | Unranked | |
| Jefferson Koulibaly | Fr | 3 | 420 | ||||
| Tony Miller | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | Sr 5 | Unranked |
Noah Williams may be the best player ever ranked #300 out of high school. He should lead the team in scoring and could be All-Pac-12. He might be called on to play some PG, but he is really at his best off the ball.
They may have a Rodman on the roster, but the real rebounding monster is Efe Abogidi, pulling down 7 boards in 24 minutes per game. He had 12 in a game against SC, and they were a BIG, BIG team. And he is a great athlete with some skills. He led the team in blocks.
DJ Rodman is not a disc jockey or record producer. He is not the next DJ Kahlid. He is not the rebounder his dad was, but he can do something his father could never do. He shoots 41% on his 3-point shots. And he's not bad on the boards.
Not to be outdone, Bamba is shooting 60% on 3's. That's 12 for 20.
Jackson was playing more as the season went on. He is a good athlete and can block shots. He and Abogidi give the Cougs a solid pair of shot-blockers.
Jefferson Koulibaly was on the roster last year, but did not play due to injury.
That's 9 returning scholarship players.
RECRUITS
(#59 class, #7 in Pac-12)
| Player | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Mouhamed Gueye | PF | 4 | 49 | Kansas, Rutgers, UCLA |
| Myles Rice | PG | 3 | 222 | Belmont, Bucknell, East Carolina, Georgia State |
6-11 Gueye is the second highest-rated recruit in WSU history, behind only Klay Thompson. NBAdraftscout forecasts him as a top 10 selection in 2023 NBA draft.
Perhaps Rice is the solution to the PG problem. However, he doesn't look like an immediate contributor,.
That makes 11 scholarship players.
Perhaps Rice is the solution to the PG problem. However, he doesn't look like an immediate contributor,.
That makes 11 scholarship players.
TRANSFERRING IN
This group of players doesn't look very good on paper. However, very few of Kyle Smith's other recruits looked like much on paper either, and a bunch of them have turned out to be very good. What does paper know, anyway?
| Player | Size | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | From | Class | Transfer Ranking | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Matt DeWolf | 6-9 230 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 1 | Brown | Sr | Unranked | ||
| Tyrell Roberts | 5-11 170 | 19 | 2 | 2 | UC San Diego | Jr | Unranked | |||
| Michael Flowers | 6-1 189 | 38 | 21 | 5 | 4 | South Alabama | Sr 5 | 68 | Unranked | |
| Kim Aiken, Jr. | 6-7 215 | 31 | 11 | 8 | 2 | Eastern Washington | Sr | Unranked |
Tyrell Roberts is a PG. Is he the answer? He was one of the top 3-point shooters in Division 2, averaging 19 points and shooting 46% from the arc in his sophomore year. Last season UCSD started playing Division 1 basketball, but Roberts chose to sit out the season. So he has never played Division 1 basketball and he is coming off a year out of basketball. The kid can shoot, but can he compete in the Pac-12? I guess when you are Washington State, you have to take some gambles.
Michael Flowers provides another option at PG. He averaged 21.0 points for South Alabama last season, the 15th best scoring average in the country. He was the highest scoring player in the transfer portal. Flowers said he picked Washington State from a list of schools that included Arkansas, USC, Miami, Texas A&M, Florida, Colorado and Marquette. He sounds like he could be the perfect replacement for Bonton. He shot 44% from the field and 39% from the arc, and both those shooting averages are better than Bonton's. However, the competition should be tougher than the Sun Belt conference.
I am skeptical about Flowers for one reason. He had a poor 1.2 A/TO ratio last season. For a senior playing in the Sun Belt, I don't think that is impressive.
Kim Aiken committed to Sean Miller and Arizona around 2 hours before Miller was fired. Instead of moving to Tucson, he is only moving 68 miles down US 195 to Pullman. I am sure the lower moving cost was the deciding factor. Have you seen the cost of a U-Haul these days?
Aiken played in the NCAA tournament for EWU. He scored 2 points on 1 of 9 shooting against Kansas in the NCAA tournament, but he did get 6 boards. On the season, he shot 44% from the field. I'm not convinced he will contribute much. I believe he puts WSU over the scholarship limit.
DeWolf was only a part-time starter on an Ivy League team. He will be walking on.
If you have been counting along at home, you realized that WSU has 14 scholarship players. 14 is greater than 13.
What's a coach going to do? What's a coach going to do? I imagine a couple of these guys will decide to leave WSU. Of course, they will decide this on their own, with absolutely no pressure from the coaching staff. Kids always magically make these decisions, and everything works out.
CONCLUSION
Washington State is a whole lot better than the sum of the many, many parts, but with two big questions.
I am a member of a small minority who thinks they will be better without Bonton. He takes too many wild shots. Also, with him and Noah Williams starting, they are essentially playing two shooting guards. I think that with a quality PG, Noah Williams will be a star. Then again, maybe they will start Flowers and still have two shooting guards.
They have three possible answers to the PG question, a lightly recruited freshman and two transfers who have never faced this level of competition. If all else fail, Coach Smith can go to Ryan Rapp. The fact that Smith brought in three PG candidates indicates that he doesn't have a ton of confidence in Ryan.
As mentioned, there are no seniors among the returning players. OTOH, I remember a team from last season that had no seniors. A Pac-12 team from down south with 4 letters on their jerseys. How did those guys do?
And, although I don't expect too much from the incoming transfers, two of them are seniors. Michael Flowers is a fifth-year senior, and he might end up starting, giving them a senior in the lineup.
I predict they will finish 3rd in the league. Less1Brain picks 4th. Wilner and Torvick say 5th. They should be a bubble team come March. I expect them to be on the right side of the bubble.
That's pretty damned impressive for a team with no 5-star players and only one 4-star. Of course, those are only predictions. So far WSU has never finished higher than 10th in the Pac-12. Maybe we are all on drugs.
The trip to Pullman isn't going to get any easier for the Pac-12. Fortunately, UCLA won't be making that trip next season.
Washington State is a whole lot better than the sum of the many, many parts, but with two big questions.
- Who will play point guard?
- Are they too young?
I am a member of a small minority who thinks they will be better without Bonton. He takes too many wild shots. Also, with him and Noah Williams starting, they are essentially playing two shooting guards. I think that with a quality PG, Noah Williams will be a star. Then again, maybe they will start Flowers and still have two shooting guards.
They have three possible answers to the PG question, a lightly recruited freshman and two transfers who have never faced this level of competition. If all else fail, Coach Smith can go to Ryan Rapp. The fact that Smith brought in three PG candidates indicates that he doesn't have a ton of confidence in Ryan.
As mentioned, there are no seniors among the returning players. OTOH, I remember a team from last season that had no seniors. A Pac-12 team from down south with 4 letters on their jerseys. How did those guys do?
And, although I don't expect too much from the incoming transfers, two of them are seniors. Michael Flowers is a fifth-year senior, and he might end up starting, giving them a senior in the lineup.
I predict they will finish 3rd in the league. Less1Brain picks 4th. Wilner and Torvick say 5th. They should be a bubble team come March. I expect them to be on the right side of the bubble.
That's pretty damned impressive for a team with no 5-star players and only one 4-star. Of course, those are only predictions. So far WSU has never finished higher than 10th in the Pac-12. Maybe we are all on drugs.
The trip to Pullman isn't going to get any easier for the Pac-12. Fortunately, UCLA won't be making that trip next season.