COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN — Wonder if Mike Leach felt the same way when he locked up his latest recruit as Blake Griffin did when he destroyed Kendrick Perkins last night. Regardless, your morning links are always a slam dunk. So read on.
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See what I did there? … Anyway, the Cougars picked up a commitment yesterday from a top 50 linebacker — their fifth linebacker in this class — and now have 24 players verbally committed, according to Scout.com. (That's the same number as was listed yesterday, because safety Taylor Taliulu has reportedly changed his mind and will attend Hawaii instead of WSU.) … As we detailed in this blog post yesterday, Lakes receiver Cedric Dozier is set to decide between WSU and California today at 2:30 p.m. … The Cougars are also in the mix for receiver Kenny Lawler (that story also makes mention of WSU recruit Robert Lewis). And there are indications that WSU has a good shot at landing both of the aforementioned players. … Bud Withers stole what little thunder I had with this profile of WSU commit Austin Apodaca, the lone quarterback in Leach's first recruiting class. I'll have more on Apodaca in Thursday's paper as our main story from signing day. … CougCenter grades WSU's class so far.
Around the Pac-12: … Oregon's hoops team still isn't consistent enough for its coach's liking. … Oregon State football coach Mike Riley talks recruiting. The Beavers' poor 2011 season didn't impact their recruiting class. … Howie Long's son has taken a long road to becoming an Oregon offensive tackle recruit. … Bob Clark says Washington and Cal will be hard to unseat from the top of the conference basketball standings. … Arizona's Kevin Parrom still has some trials to take care of off the court. … A flip-flopped commitment heard 'round the desert. … UCLA's Jim Mora gets aggressive with recruiting. The Bruins found a quarterback — a really good one. … Barry Sanders (the son of that other Barry Sanders) likes the anonymity offered at Stanford. … Lots of local recruits chose to go to school out of state this season, but Steve Kelley says they had reason for going elsewhere. Zach Banner did just that on Monday, though the Huskies also gained a commit from a high-profile safety.
All for now. We'll be back with some basketball news later, after Ken Bone's two press conferences. Then we're writing our profile on linebackers coach Jeff Choate, which you can read in Wednesday's newspaper.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple
7:55 a.m. Jan 31
what is the status of Faisal?
8:56 a.m. Jan 31
I heard that former Wazzu assistant Chris Tormey (G-Prep ‘73) landed a job as defensive coordinator at Wyoming. Laramie is not the ends of the earth, but you can see it from there.
9:29 a.m. Jan 31
rufus - the status of cougar hoops is DOA..
It’s time for a coaching change. I say Ben Johnson to replace Bone.
Bone’s “UW” basketball is not working in the Palouse and won’t work. As he said last week AZ was “quicker” than WSU. Well when you recruit the same run and gun guys that UW, AZ etc are trying to get and they get the cream and you are stuck with the rest you will always be a step behind. That was the true beauty of Bennett ball was a different style that needed a different type of player other coaches weren’t after… and it proved successful.
9:51 a.m. Jan 31
Yes! More Bennett talk! That’s not tired at all.
10:09 a.m. Jan 31
The article is on football recruiting and we are talking basketball. Bennett used WSU as a stepping stone. He played to the hearts and minds of Coug fans and bolted for more money and the ACC. Bone lost two dominate players last season to the pro’s and has a pretty good recruiting class coming in. He will get one more year.
10:10 a.m. Jan 31
It’s less tiring than watching Bone run this program down and underachieve and not get his teams to play hard everynight. Obviously bennett has left but the style was successful and I think its a good blueprint to success. Better than watching no one play D and make one pass then jack up a 3 pointer. My point being get Bone out of there its time for a change.
10:22 a.m. Jan 31
gotta love future cougs like apodaca.. already have the once a coug always a coug mentality.
10:50 a.m. Jan 31
rufus-Ladd too. That thumb injury has to heal sometime, doesn’t it?
Go Cougs!
12:25 p.m. Jan 31
Some posters want Bone canned already? Seriously?
Did you live through the Eastman, Graham or Len Stevens eras? Or even Sampson’s early years?
Bone is light years ahead of those truly pitiful seasons (witness their 17-game losing streaks).
As noted above, Bone lost two of WSU’s best-ever players. An injury just derailed the conference’s hottest scorer in Aden. Let’s not get too crazy in calling for Coach’s head just yet.
Yes, I hate the fact that this team can’t win on the road, even against bad teams. But their play at home gives us hope for a winning record…and who, realistically, would’ve asked for anything more than that this year?
USC got their win, so they’re no longer desperate for that first victory. The Cougs should dispatch them easily. UCLA is always up for a game with the Cougs, but Wazzu could win that one, too. The season’s not a total loss.
Bone has earned a chance to see what next year’s recruits can do. We should have a decent team next year.
Go Cougs!
2:52 p.m. Jan 31
Dozier goes Cal…
8:21 p.m. Jan 31
Anyone who has been a Cougar Fan longer than 5 minutes saw that coming.