A Saturday without WSU hoops
COUGARS
This is one of two Saturdays during basketball season in which there is no Washington State men's basketball game. But that doesn't mean there isn't news. Read on.
••••••••••
• Washington State: The other Saturday is, of course, the weekend of the rematch in Seattle, which is four weeks down the road. ... We had our story concerning the Martin Stadium remodel on the blog yesterday afternoon and in the S-R this morning. Someone had a question about what this really meant. Simply, the Regents had three choices. They could have nixed the whole project, which they didn't do. They could have said go ahead, spend your money, get it done, which they didn't do. Or they could have looked at it, asked for more answers and gave Bill Moos the permission to spend whatever money's needed to get those answers. That's what they've done. Reading between the lines, it looks to me ultimately they will approve the project. Moos wants it done, the money is coming from private funds through athletics, either with user fees or donations, and you don't spend $5 million on something these days just to scrap it. The outrage would be unbearable. So lets just see Friday's action as the first step on the long road to a new Martin Stadium. ... A letter appeared in Friday's Evergreen over Ken Bone's name. It originated with the WSU marketing department and it urges students to show class and dignity on Sunday when the Huskies are in town. Call it a preemptive strike. Considering the legal problems one unnamed basketball player is facing, it's obvious WSU authorities are trying to nip in the bud any signs like those the Stanford students displayed. Wonder if UW will do the same thing prior to the rematch?
•••
• Around the Pac-10: There are probably not many folks reading this who can remember the last time Oregon swept the Bay Area trip. I can. ... Cal has a chance to solidify a spot in the conference's upper echelon with a win today and two more home games next week. The play of point guard Brandon Smith has helped immensely. ... There are probably not many folks reading this who remember USC once had Derrick Williams and a couple other Arizona Wildcats committed as part of its 2009 class. I do. Just another example why commitments mean absolutely nothing. ... Speaking of Williams, he hurt a finger against the Bruins, but seems to be OK for today. ... So is Ben Howland saying his players have rabbit ears? ... ASU's free-throw shooting woes played a big part in its defeat Thursday. ... There are few colleges that do a better job recruiting than Oregon State. And the Beavers rarely have a four- or five-star guy in a class. ... UCLA has one in school right now. And he might be the Bruins starting QB next fall. ... Finally, we offer a link to the mailbag of ESPN.com's Ted Miller.
•••
• That's all there is this morning. We have a basketball story for tomorrow we'll post later today along with a look at WSU's football recruiting. Until then ...
