Theo Lawson

In addition to the issues the group encountered on the field, Washington State’s defensive secondary took a few sizable hits off the field last season, diminishing in numbers when two players – most notably starting defensive back Daniel Isom – were dismissed from the team for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

Most devoted baseball fans in the state of Washington know John Olerud for his five-year stint with the Seattle Mariners – a stretch during which the helmeted first baseman won three MLB Gold Glove awards and contributed to one of the most successful regular season teams in the history of the game.

Most of the high school prospects who've committed to Washington State in the current recruiting cycle won't arrive on campus until next summer, and not until January at the earliest.

Washington State continues to build its secondary of the future, adding a defensive back to the 2021 recruiting class for the second time in eight days. 

Kyle Smith and Eran Ganot have five years of experience sitting on the same bench, but for the first time the former Saint Mary’s assistants will sit opposite one another, when Washington State and Hawaii meet in an early nonconference game this fall.

When Andrej Jakimovski signed with Washington State on Sunday, giving the Cougars their sixth recruit in the 2020 class, the Macedonian prospect had yet to register on 247Sports.com’s database.

More than a year ago, Andrej Jakimovski was the top scorer and third-leading rebounder while representing his country, North Macedonia, at the 2019 FIBA U-18 European Championship B in Oradea, Romania.

Nick Rolovich and Washington State hit a variety of different position groups with the first eight members of their 2021 recruiting class: quarterback, wide receiver, offensive guard, offensive tackle, linebacker, defensive end and punter.

Washington State fans and recruiting enthusiasts were waiting on pins and needles for a basketball recruit Wednesday afternoon. They got the good news they hoped for, just not from the player they were expecting.

Mike Leach hasn’t coached a game at Mississippi State yet, but already his new school and his former school have agreed on a future home-and-home series that could conceivably reunite Washington State and the third-winningest coach in program history.

A.J. Block wasn’t selected in the shortened Major League Baseball draft, but a professional career is still on the horizon for the left-handed pitcher from Washington State.

Lamonte McDougle had grown frustrated with the written statements flooding his social media timeline – many of them packed with overused catchphrases, Martin Luther King Jr. quotes and unfulfilled promises from college football coaches who’d crafted well-meaning responses to the social issues engulfing America, but without initiating any real change.

Certain student-athletes at Washington State will be allowed to start participating in voluntary workouts on Monday as the school initiates a phased-in return to college athletics since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the sports world in March.

Nick Rolovich and the Cougars will spend a good portion of the next eight months piecing together the rest of their 2021 recruiting class, all the way through the early signing period in December leading up to the traditional signing day in February.

Since Armani Marsh was a freshman, Blackboard Learn has been a staple of the academic curriculum at WSU and something that’s as much of everyday life in Pullman as the sloping, concrete hills that turn routine walks to class into grueling, sweaty hikes. But just like those hills, Marsh has grown more comfortable with the popular virtual educational tool, and recently has found a more unconventional way of using it.

The regional foes will renew their series this season in a nonconference game at Spokane Arena, EWU coach Shantay Legans told Larry Weir in a Thursday edition of The Spokesman-Review’s Press Box podcast.

Late Thursday afternoon, more than one week after George Floyd died while in police custody in Minnesota, Shead shared the reasonining behind his transfer, citing disturbing racially-charged remarks – and other instances of racism – from coach Danny Kaspar while the point guard was playing for the Bobcats.

The four local underclassmen who’ve dipped their toes into the NBA draft could have up to 60 days to decide whether to forgo their college eligibility and turn professional or return to school next season.

The death of George Floyd and the nationwide protests that ensued as a result have prompted millions to voice their concerns and speak out about the ramifications of racial inequality and police brutality. Dozens of Washington State, Gonzaga and Eastern Washington student-athletes and coaches have used, and continue to use, social media to express their thoughts about Floyd’s death and the conversations that have resulted from it. WSU Director of Athletics Pat Chun: “Fifty years ago, my parents immigrated to the United States from South Korea, filled with promises and ideals of the American Dream. Unbeknownst to them, the hope of the American Dream that brought them to a new land was filled with historical systemic inequities, injustices and gross social disparities. Unfortunately for our country, there are countless examples of oppression that still exist today, specifically against our African-American communities, and this is unacceptable.”

Nearly one week after the Pac-12 Conference gave student-athletes the green light to return to their respective campuses for voluntary workouts on June 15, its commissioner spoke for the first time about what type of testing procedures would be required over the next two months in order to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

Dozens of Washington State, Gonzaga and Eastern Washington student-athletes and coaches have used, and continue to use, social media to express their thoughts about Floyd’s death and the conversations that have resulted from it.

It took nearly two years for Noah Williams to open up, but three days after a video of a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeling on the neck of an African American man, George Floyd, circulated throughout the internet, the Washington State guard felt the time was finally appropriate.

It’ll be both familiar and unfamiliar territory for Gardner Minshew as the Jacksonville Jaguars starter approaches his second season in the NFL, coming off an eye-opening rookie year that saw the former WSU QB throw 21 TDs and 6 int. while breaking a number of franchise rookie records.

Student-athletes in the Pac-12 Conference will be allowed to return to their respective campuses as early as June 15 for voluntary in-person workouts, the league announced Tuesday, but it’ll be up to the discretion of each member institution – and local government entities – to determine when workouts should commence.