News of the routine, and unexpected
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- Mondays are usually busy during football season, with press conferences to attend, questions to ask and stories to write. But some breaking news yesterday made things even more interestind. Read on.
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As you've likely heard by now, Washington State point guard Reggie Moore was dismissed from the team yesterday for an undisclosed violation of team rules, the latest chapter in what has been an eventful and strange offseason for the Cougars. It started with the hire of Ray Lopes as an assistant coach and the movement of Jeff Hironaka from assistant coach to more of an operations and player development role. Then it was learned that Richard Peters, an incoming freshman center, didn't qualify and wouldn't be coming to Pullman. The low point seemed to come a couple weeks back when DeMarquise Johnson was ruled a partial qualifier, meaning he'll have to sit out this season while working to become eligible. But from a basketball sense, losing Moore is the biggest blow. Moore is an experienced senior point guard who led the league in assists last season. Behind him, it's hard to say where the Cougars might turn. DaVonte Lacy, Mike Ladd and sophomore Kansas transfer Royce Woolridge are all options, but none are true point guards. Finding -- and developing -- their next primary ball-handler will be one of WSU's primary tasks over the next month.
In football news, we posted an item on the depth chart yesterday and two posts from Mike Leach's media availability, wrote this notebook for the newspaper and filed this first look at Oregon. ... The Seattle Times chips in a notebook leading with Connor Halliday's comments about playing in Seattle, something we'll explore in Thursday's paper. ... The Ducks' very large tight end is adjusting to a new role.
Around the Pac-12 ... Washington has its hands full against Stanford's defensive line this week. ... Arizona needs its quarterback to bounce back from a rough game against Oregon. ... Arizona State's defensive tackle is turning heads. ... California gets a "D" grade for its loss to USC. ... Stanford will face a different challenge this week in Washington quarterback Keith Price. UW's defense might be better than what Stanford saw last year. ... UCLA needs a quick learning process from some young offensive linemen. ... USC will play Fresno State in 2014. ... Utah is still down after a tough loss to Arizona State. ... Perseverance is paying off for some Colorado players.
That's all for now.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple