Gonzaga Prep’s Anton Watson officially signed his National Letter of Intent to join the Gonzaga men’s basketball program next season on Wednesday after orally committing last June.

Eastern Washington men’s basketball has signed a pair of players – including the brother of a current member of the team – to letters of intent to play for the Eagles next year.

The Juco influence on this particular WSU team is heavy and it’ll be even more so in 2019-20 after Kent inked two JC players Wednesday, getting signatures from Daron Henson of Salt Lake Community College and Ryan Murphy of New Mexico Junior College.

Gonzaga bolstered its 2019 recruiting class with a standout forward from Texas. Drew Timme announced his commitment Wednesday morning to the Zags at J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas.

The Vandals fell to 0-2 with the 83-80 loss in their first home game. But the freshman Tyson introduced himself to Idaho’s fans with a flourish.

Saddled by foul trouble in her last game, Zykera Rice had no such issues on Tuesday night.

The Maui Invitational annually serves up stunning scenery, warm ocean breezes and the best holiday tournament college basketball has to offer. That won’t change next week with a loaded field that includes No. 1 Duke, No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 9 Auburn, but several teams, including GU, and their fans might experience some disruptions at the island paradise due to a hotel workers strike.

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer became the fifth Division I women’s basketball coach to win 1,000 games when the Scarlet Knights beat Central Connecticut State 73-44. Stringer joined Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma, Tara VanDerveer and Sylvia Hatchell in the 1,000-victory club.

Gonzaga’s 2019 recruiting class is off to a strong start with commitments from Anton Watson, Brock Ravet and Martynas Arlauskas.

It’s Santa Clara’s answer to comments Gonzaga’s longtime basketball coach made to Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Ed Graney at last month’s West Coast Conference media day at Orleans Arena – a continuation of a Few theme that’s been logged in the Spokesman for, well, years.

When C. Vivian Stringer first started coaching 46 years ago, there weren’t many female African-American basketball coaches to turn to for advice. So she looked elsewhere.

Jaylen Nowell scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, Noah Dickerson added 16 points, and Washington held off a late rally to beat San Diego 66-63 on Monday night.

The Spokesman-Review’s Theo Lawson is one of 65 national media members voting in the Associated Press Top 25 basketball poll this season. Every week throughout the 2018-19 campaign, he’ll break down he voted, offering three thoughts on the latest edition of the poll, an update on the Pac-12’s ranked teams and a look at local Top 25 representative Gonzaga.

Gonzaga forward Rui Hachimura was honored as the WCC player of the week.

First-year Minnesota coach Lindsay Whalen became the 39th person to play and coach a team that was ranked when her alma mater entered the women’s basketball poll Monday at No. 25. Whalen is the 12th to accomplish the feat at the same school.

The top 11 ranked teams – other than No. 3 Gonzaga – reshuffled in the first regular-season AP men’s basketball poll. The Zags (2-0) remained at No. 3, same as their preseason position. Duke’s convincing 118-84 romp over former No. 2 Kentucky vaulted the Blue Devils from fourth to the top spot and prompted movement elsewhere in the top 11.

Washington State’s various zone configurations Sunday forced Nicholls State into 19 turnovers, and a mediocre 24 of 66 shooting from the floor. The result was a decisive 89-72 victory for WSU.

Eastern Washington held Gonzaga’s offense in check for about three quarters on Sunday. But the Eagles’ offense didn’t take advantage of the Bulldogs’ early shooting woes, and eventually Gonzaga pulled away in the fourth quarter of a 63-51 victory at Reese Court.

Everything is a work in progress this early in the college basketball season.