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FROM PULLMAN — The NCAA released the most recent Academic Progress Rate numbers on Tuesday. Here's a story we put together on how area schools fared, including Washington State.

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Washington State added a member to its basketball coaching staff on Wednesday, announcing the hire of veteran coach Rod Jensen as the team’s new director of player development.

Jensen, a former head coach at Boise State and most recently at the College of Idaho, replaces Jeff Hironaka, who left WSU to become an assistant coach at Portland State.

“We are excited about the addition of Rod Jensen to our staff and want to wish Jeff Hironaka the best at Portland State,” WSU coach Ken Bone said in a statement. “I’ve known Rod for many years and he is an outstanding basketball coach. I love the passion and energy he brings to the game.”

Jensen is known as a defensive-minded coach, and began his career in 1980 as an assistant at University of Redlands. He went on to spend 12 seasons as an assistant at Boise State before taking over as head coach in 1995, a position he held until 2002.

After that, Jensen moved on to an assistant job at Virginia, then was an assistant at UNC-Greensboro before becoming the head coach at NAIA school College of Idaho in 2010.

The school chose not to retain him at the end of the 2013 season despite COI’s 15-14 record, its first winning mark since 2009.

As director of player development, Jensen, like Hironaka before him, won’t be allowed to have on-court contact with players during practices. But he will be allowed to help devise game plans, and can sit on the bench during games.

…

And here's the full release from the school:

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Jeff Hironaka is leaving Washington State to become an assistant coach again.

Hironaka, who was reassigned prior to last season from an assistant coaching position to the role of director of player development, is headed to Portland State to work as an assistant coach, the Spokesman-Review has confirmed.

Neither WSU or PSU have officially announced the move, though Hironaka tweeted earlier Monday that he will miss WSU, and others — including former WSU basketball operations coordinator Tim Marrion — have congratulated him on his new position with Portland State.

Hironaka spent three years as an assistant under coach Ken Bone at WSU before his reassignment last season. Prior to his stint in Pullman, Hironaka was the head coach of Seattle Pacific from 2002-2009, and was an assistant there from 1991-2002.

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There are a few WSU stories out there worth passing along today. Read along with us.

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FROM PULLMAN — Practice No. 13 commences this afternoon for Washington State, but basketball news dominated the headlines yesterday. Well, our headlines, anyway. Continue reading.

UPDATE: Here's an updated story we filed with quotes from Ken Bone.

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FROM PULLMAN — The addition of Washington State’s new point guard is official.

Danny Lawhorn, a 5-foot-10 transfer from San Jacinto (Junior) College in Pasadena, Texas, signed a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday to play basketball at WSU.

Lawhorn figures to compete immediately for the Cougars’ starting point guard job. He led the NJCAA in assists per game with 9.5 two seasons ago, and finished second in the nation last season with 8.43 per game.

His signing is also the result of the national junior-college connections possessed by assistant coach Ray Lopes, who joined WSU’s staff last summer and was instrumental in helping the Cougars connect with Lawhorn.

After watching him play, WSU coach Ken Bone liked what he saw.

“What I really, really liked was the fact that not only was he a good passer, but he’s got a real desire to hook guys up with passes,” Bone said via telephone from Portland. “That, along with his quickness and his ball handling – I think he could contribute to our program right away.”

Lawhorn fills WSU’s 13^th and last available scholarship after former signee Tanner Lancona and WSU reached a “mutual agreement” last week that Lancona will not be coming to Pullman.

Bone said “it’s a possibility” that WSU could sign another player before the late signing period ends.

Bone isn’t ready to declare Lawhorn a likely starter for the Cougars, because another incoming player, freshman Ikenne Iroegbu, could also compete for that spot. And Royce Woolridge, who will be a junior, could still play at the 1, too.

“What I do like is we’re not as limited as we were last year, going into next year,” Bone said. “I think we’re pretty well covered at that position. I think Danny will be right in the mix.”

Lawhorn, who will be a junior, attended Hartford Public High School in Connecticut before transferring to South Kent School.

After Lawhorn finished the 2009-10 season at South Kent – and after reportedly committing to and decommitting from Boston College in 2009 and Fordham in 2010 – he spent time at the Robinson School in New Jersey before heading to San Jacinto for the 2011-12 season.

He was named second-team all-conference last season and helped lead San Jacinto to a 24-6 record. Scout.com reported that Lawhorn also had offers from Georgia and Kansas State, among others.

Here's the full release from WSU:

PULLMAN, Wash. – Danny Lawhorn (Hartford, Conn./ San Jacinto College-Texas) has signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Washington State University men’s basketball team beginning with the 2013-14 season, head coach Ken Bone announced Wednesday.

“Danny comes from a very successful program and we look forward to him being an integral part of our program next year,” Bone said. “I love his quickness and his ball handling. Maybe his best attributes, though, are his unselfishness and passing ability, which made him one of the top assist leaders nationwide the past two seasons.”

Lawhorn (5-foot-10, Guard) played two seasons at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas. As a sophomore in 2012-13, Lawhorn appeared in 30 games for the Coyotes, averaging 9.9 points and 8.43 assists in 33.3 minutes per game, ranking second in the NJCAA. Lawhorn helped lead San Jacinto College to a 24-6 overall mark and 14-5 record in Region XIV play, as the Coyotes advanced to the semifinals of the Region XIV tournament. At the conclusion of the season, Lawhorn was named third team all-Region and second team all-conference, as well as to the Region XIV all-tournament team.

As a freshman at San Jacinto College, Lawhorn averaged 9.2 points and 9.5 assists per game in 30 contests for the 23-7 Coyotes, leading the nation in assists. He earned second team all-Region and second team all-conference honors.

For his career, Lawhorn averaged 9.6 points and 9.0 assists per game while playing in 60 contests. His 538 total career assists rank him second all-time at San Jacinto College. Prior to attending San Jacinto College, Lawhorn attended Hartford Public High School and South Kent School, both in Connecticut, where he graduated in 2010.

Lawhorn joins an incoming class that includes incoming freshmen Josh Hawkinson (6-9, 220, PF, Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood HS) and Ikenna ‘Ike’ Iroegbu (6-2, 190, G, Elk Grove, Calif./Oak Hill Academy).

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple

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FROM PULLMAN — Practice No. 11 for WSU will be a scrimmage (10 a.m.), with an open house in the club level of Martin Stadium for anyone who wants to stop by. We have links after the jump.

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FROM PULLMAN — Tanner Lancona, a 6-foot-8 forward who signed with the Washington State basketball team in November, tweeted today that he has decommitted from the school and will pursue other options.

Lancona wrote that it is a mutual agreement between he and WSU.

Per mutual agreement I have de committed from WSU today and am pursuing other offers as of today.Sorry to all my WSU supporters.

— tanner lancona (@tjlancona) April 11, 2013

We are seeking comment from coach Ken Bone. If Lancona is no longer coming to WSU, that would solve the scholarship numbers problem created by the commitment of junior-college transfer Danny Lawhorn, who has yet to officially be announced as a member of the team.

WSU lost seniors Mike Ladd and Brock Motum, and also had a scholarship available after Reggie Moore was dismissed from the team prior to last season. The Cougars signed Lancona, Josh Hawkinson and Ikenna Iroegbu in November, so if they intend to add Lawhorn, they had to take a player off scholarship to do so.

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple

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FROM PULLMAN — Monday was a busy day in terms of Pac-12 news. Some of it was good. And some of it involved Ed Rush. Read on for links and such.

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FROM PULLMAN — It's another day off for the Washington State football team, though the Cougars return to the practice field tomorrow afternoon for the sixth time this spring. It's also a busy week for the WSU baseball team, which has a game tomorrow against Gonzaga before taking off for four games in Utah — three against the Utes, one at BYU — from Friday through next Monday. For now, we link.

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FROM PULLMAN — A sunny Saturday morning brings basketball news for WSU. Read on.

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FROM PULLMAN — Plenty of happenings on the WSU front yesterday, though today figures to be much quieter. There's a lot to read for now, though. Get your coffee/orange juice/Tang ready, and read on.

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FROM PULLMAN — There were no ultimatums discussed. The coach wasn't made to plead for his job. Nor was he yelled at.

No, Washington State athletic director Bill Moos says his meeting with men's basketball coach Ken Bone on Wednesday was devoid of much drama, Moos deciding a while ago that he was likely to retain Bone for a fifth year as the Cougars' coach.

Moos said his decision about Bone's future was made before the two sat down to recap the season.

“I pretty much decided that I was going to retain him,” Moos said. “I did want to get a sense from him of where we were in regards to the program, the current players, incoming players that we had recruited and also his staff, so we had that discussion and at the end of it I told him I’m going to support him wholeheartedly.”

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FROM PULLMAN — Plenty to get to in Pullman today. Football practice. Ken Bone's teleconference. A baseball notebook to write. Doritos Locos tacos to eat. Eh, might skip the last one. Read on.

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FROM PULLMAN — What many had already assumed was confirmed Wednesday after WSU basketball coach Ken Bone and athletic director Bill Moos held their end-of-season meeting, as the Spokesman-Review has learned that Bone remains the Cougars' coach and is expected to return for his fifth season.

Bone, who is headed back on the road to recruit, is scheduled to hold his annual wrap-up teleconference on Thursday afternoon to recap the season.

After the Cougars finished 13-19 and 4-14 in Pac-12 play in 2012-13, there was speculation that Bone's job might be in jeopardy. But it was considered unlikely that Moos would make a coaching change with three years remaining on Bone's contract. He would have been owed $2.55 million by the school if his contract was terminated this season.

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FROM PULLMAN — Finally back in Eastern Washington, where it's probably about the same temperature it was in Salt Lake City. There isn't a lot of WSU-related news on this March morning, but we found enough stories to make it through our post, so read on.

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FROM SALT LAKE CITY — There isn't much to report on the WSU front today (unless you're talking about Wichita State, but you're not). So what follows is a small dose of Pac-12 links. They aren't happy ones, especially if you're a Ben Howland fan. Read on.

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FROM SALT LAKE CITY — We've got basketball on the brain this week, but are also trying our hand at double-duty as well. So that means a couple of football links for you from the road as WSU gears up for spring practices. Read on.

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FROM PULLMAN — We're headed back on the road this morning to help with the paper's Gonzaga coverage this week in Salt Lake City. But that doesn't mean we're ignoring WSU. Read on.

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FROM PULLMAN — Washington State athletic director Bill Moos said on his weekly radio show Monday that he plans to meet next week with coach Ken Bone to discuss the future of the program.

Moos did not say specifically whether he's decided Bone will be retained or not. He said the two will recap the season, discuss recruiting and “chart the course” for the future of the team when they meet.

That's standard operating procedure for Moos. He meets with each coach at the end of their respective seasons to discuss the future and check in to see how they feel things are going. Those aren't conversations that happen during the season, Moos said, “unless there's a question about recruiting or scheduling. This will give us a chance to have a long visit and chart our course.”

Moos noted that last year's end-of-season meeting wound up yielding a staff shake-up, with assistant coach Jeff Hironaka being reassigned to an operations role and Ray Lopes being hired as a new assistant.

Bone said after WSU's season-ending 64-62 loss to Washington in the Pac-12 tournament that he's not concerned about his job status.

“I think we’ve done a good job and decisions will be made, whether it’s this year or next year or the following year,” said Bone, who has three years remaining on a 7-year contract. “It’s out of my control, so I’m not going to worry about things that are out of my control. Just going to keep doing the best I can.”

Bone would be owed $2.55 million if terminated this season.

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple