Forrest fires up WSU

PULLMAN – To paraphrase Paul Simon, who sang about one man’s ceiling being another man’s floor, one man’s injury is another man’s opportunity.

Such is the case with Washington State’s Daven Harmeling, out an undetermined time with a broken right thumb, and Caleb Forrest, the lanky 228-pound, 6-foot-8 junior post player charged with filling many of Harmeling’s minutes.

For the second time in three years, Harmeling, a 6-7 junior sharpshooter, will miss extended time with an injury. The Cougars played without Harmeling, who was averaging 22 minutes a game before last week’s break, for the first time last Sunday at Idaho State.

In that one, Forrest came off the bench, played a season-high 28 minutes, scored 11 points and helped the Cougars to a 75-45 victory.

Tonight he’ll get another chance to assume Harmeling’s supporting role, as the 11-0 Cougars host North Carolina A&T in WSU’s last game before Pac-10 Conference play starts Jan. 4 at Washington.

Forrest has played this part before. As a freshman, he expected to redshirt, spending a year improving, getting stronger, learning and getting ready for his Cougars future.

Then Harmeling hurt his shoulder and coach Dick Bennett told Forrest the plans had changed. So much so that Forrest, a skinny 200-pounder, started five games for a Cougars team that would finish 11-17.

So being the man to fill the breach is nothing new for the junior from Pagosa Springs, Colo. It was there in the mountains of Southern Colorado that Forrest learned to be a competitor, a lesson taught by his father, Jon, and his two uncles, including Bayard Forrest, who played college basketball with his two brothers at Grand Canyon College in Phoenix and spent two years with the Suns in the late 1970s.

“Uncle Bay actual quit a couple years ago because he kept getting too mad,” Forrest said of the family’s games at the local rec center. “His temper would get crazy and he would get really competitive, he said he just couldn’t do that anymore. He’s a missionary, so he didn’t want to give people the wrong impression.”

Forrest sees his role tonight – and every night – as adding energy to the Cougars’ attack. As he sits on the bench, watching WSU begin each game, he tries to gauge the speed of the game, whether it’s up and down or at a walk. When he heads to the scoring table, he brings more than a 4.1 scoring average with him. He also brings the fourth-ranked Cougars a charge.

“That’s where I try to bring energy,” he said of his strengths. “I really try to go hard to the offensive board. Even if I don’t get the offensive rebound, my hope is I’ll keep it alive so someone else can.”

“I also try to help (on defense) more, help the guards out. That sometimes gets me in trouble … but the more energized I am, the more I can do that.”

But Forrest brings more than just his hustle, according to WSU coach Tony Bennett. He brings an accurate shot (he’s hitting 56 percent of his efforts from the floor and 77 percent of his free throws) and a will to succeed.

“He’s definitely one of our toughest kids (and) hardest workers,” Bennett said. “You sometimes look at him and he’s not poetry in motion, but he’s tough-minded and gets a lot out of himself. … He’s such an effort guy … Caleb can just outhustle and outwork guys, and … use more of his scrambling ability against bigger or oversized guys (in the post) then just the textbook (defensive posture).”

Notes

North Carolina A&T brings a 5-7 record into tonight’s game, including a 0-1 mark in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play. The Aggies have lost at Pittsburgh, at Tennessee and at Miami, all Top-20 teams. … Steven Rush, a 5-11 senior guard, leads A&T, averaging 16.5 points a game, though he’s only started four games. He’s also taken 112 3-pointers, more than any two Cougar players combined. … Jason Wills, a 6-6 senior post, leads the Aggies in rebounding, averaging 7.8 a game, and is second in scoring at 11.3. Wills has led A&T in rebounds in all but two games this season. … Point guard Austin Ewing is the other Aggie in double figures (10.2 points per game) and leads the team in assists (3.2 per game). … In the most recent NCAA statistics from Dec. 16, A&T was 37th in scoring at 80.3 points per game, but that number has dropped to 76.9 since losing 95-64 at Miami last Sunday. The Cougars were second in scoring defense at 52.4, but that number has also dropped (51.1) after wins over The Citadel and Idaho State.