Blog matters: Zags hoops, Deone Bucannon’s draft prospects, Glen Dean on the mend

A sampling from the past week of entries in The Spokesman-Review blog SportsLink at spokesman.com/ sportslink.

I admit to being distracted while writing up Gonzaga’s 59-56 win over San Diego last night. The end of the Portland-BYU thriller was on TV and it drew a crowd to the media room – GU officials, San Diego coaches, etc. You know it’s a wild game when fan reactions – cheers and groans – from the nearby Herak Room filter into the media room.

• Gerard Coleman is the latest Zag dealing with a nasty flu bug. He played four minutes in the first and had a pair of nice assists, but he wasn’t on the bench for the second half.

“He was really sick, throwing up at halftime,” coach Mark Few said.

Several of his teammates had showered, dressed and exited the locker room when I saw Coleman, still in uniform, seated by his locker stall. He had a towel draped over his head and was cutting tape off his ankle. He barely raised his head and nodded when I asked him if he felt as bad as he looked.

Deone Bucannon’s career as a Washington State football player may be over, but his professional journey is just beginning.

Reports have the Broncos, Chargers and Eagles meeting with the talented safety, and CBS projects him as the No. 1 strong safety in the draft. While scouts have knocked Bucannon for appearing a bit stiff in college, his running has drawn praise so far and NFL Network analysts compared him to Kam Chancellor.

• Washington State men’s basketball coach Ken Bone provided an update on injured player DaVonte Lacy during Tuesday’s teleconference. Lacy, WSU’s leading scorer at 17.7 points per game, has been out since the ASU game Jan. 5 with a rib injury.

“Just last night he went to the doctor’s office and he’s still at least 2-4 weeks out,” Bone said. “But he’s at least going to get in some passing drills today so he’ll be on the floor with a practice jersey and will at least be able to jog up and down the court.”

The Vandals are banged up. Starting point guard Glen Dean missed the Vandals’ last two games with a sprained ankle.

“It’s not looking good,” said coach Don Verlin, adding that Dean is still day-to-day. If Dean’s ankle doesn’t progress, Verlin said he’ll have an MRI exam next week.

As for the Vandals’ prospects for building on their second WAC win after losing six of seven games, Verlin is hopeful:

“No question about it, that’s what I’ve been selling. We’ve got to do a few things better in the games. What I’ve tried to do this week is be real positive but show them the things we need to (improve on).”