37°Quick links: Boys ranch moves assets • GU basketball • WSU basketball • Kendall Yards plan • Swine flu
A quick post to update you on some basketball matters. We were out at spring football, so we couldn’t post this unedited version of our Friday story until now. Read on.
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• Here’s the short story for tomorrow’s S-R …
PULLMAN – New Washington State University men’s basketball coach Ken Bone has enticed a member of former coach Tony Bennett’s staff to stay but lost another and a recruit Thursday.
Ben Johnson, who has been at WSU since 2004, will stay in Pullman and join Bone’s revamped staff, Bone said on a Seattle radio show.
Johnson, who grew up in Wisconsin with Bennett and played with him in college, has been the Cougars lead recruiter in Australia, where he played and coached.
Ron Sanchez, who interviewed with Bone this week, told The Spokesman-Review he decided to take a position with Bennett in Virginia. The third assistant, Matt Woodley, said earlier this week he would seek a position elsewhere.
WSU also announced Thursday it was releasing David Chadwick, a 6-foot-8 power forward from North Carolina, from his letter of intent.
Chadwick’s father was a long-time friend of Tony and Laurel Bennett and officiated at their wedding.
“The situation with David Chadwick is unique,” WSU athletic director Jim Sterk said in a press release. “Considering this special circumstance, I have allowed David to be released from his commitment to Washington State.”
The other three recruits are still bound by their letter of intent. Spokane’s Anthony Brown (Shadle Park High) said this week is still committed to WSU. Bone said he will visit guard Xavier Thames (Elk Grove, Calif.) this weekend and hopes to get to Australia soon to visit with forward Brock Motum.
The late letter-of-intent signing period opens Wednesday.
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• We’ll be back soon with our football story. Until then …
Steve Bergum covers EWU football and men's basketball, college baseball, and writes weekly golf column during the summer.
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Vince Grippi covers WSU sports and invites readers to share their thoughts on the sports news of the day.
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Greg Lee covers North Idaho high school sports and North Idaho College sports.
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Jim Meehan covers Gonzaga basketball, Whitworth football, Spokane Shock football and college volleyball.
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Dave Trimmer covers a variety of high school, college and professional sports and is the primary writer on the weekly Then & Now series.
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Mike Vlahovich covers high school sports, manages the weekly Prep Page and writes a column. Also writes the Washington Preps blog.
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CougMish on April 09 at 7:35 p.m.
Thanks Vince, you're the best ;)
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lbrush on April 09 at 7:50 p.m.
The release of Chadwick isn't a shock considering the ties to TB. Thanks for the update Vince!
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Grady on April 09 at 8:32 p.m.
“The situation with David Chadwick is unique,” WSU athletic director Jim Sterk said in a press release. “Considering this special circumstance, I have allowed David to be released from his commitment to Washington State.”
What an odd thing to say. The only unique thing about Chadwick's situation is the fact his parents are so close with the Bennetts. But in a basketball sense, he committed to the same coach and school that the other three did. In this case, does a family friendship warrant speical treatment?
Bone has also talked about flying out to visit Chadwick. Strange to give him a release before that has a chance to happen.
I understand why Chadwick was released, but I don't understand how it's fundamentally different from the other commits.
Now having said that - it could be a win/win, giving Chadwick some options and giving us another scholarship to work with for 2010.
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gocougs05 on April 10 at 12:39 a.m.
Chadwick signed the same letter that the other players signed, but the primary reason he signed it is due to the family relationship. So, Sterk's comment that it is a special circumstance is not an odd thing to say, it is the truth. The other players did not have the family bonds to Bennett like the Chadwicks did. If there were not any of those bonds, Chadwick probably would not have signed the letter. All Sterk is saying is that in this one special situation, the family relationship is a determining factor in his decision to release Chadwick from the Lof I.
Also, I just ran across this on CougFan.com:
“WSU's other signed recruit is David Chadwick, an all-state forward from North Carolina whose father is a close friend of Bennett's. Bone said he may fly out to North Carolina to meet with Chadwick as well but Chadwick today confirmed he has received his release from WSU.
Chadwick said he sought his release because coaches could not contact him directly without the release.“I’m still very interested in Washington State,” Chadwick said Thursday night in a telephone interview from Charlotte”
I copied that directly from CougFan.com and did not write it. Here is the link to the full story:
http://washingtonstate.scout.com/2/85…
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Xcaptain on April 10 at 8:38 p.m.
Not too worried about Chadwick. I agree with Sterk in letting him off the hook. But I'm really excited about our best recruiting comittment… Ben Johnson! I see more Aussie talent in our future and a great holdover coach for current players and recruits. Plus, I remember an SR article on him last year discussing how he leads most defensive drills in practice. Solid win for the Cougs.
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