NCAA basketball

The players that Washington State coach David Riley and his assistants brought in don’t just look talented and versatile. They also have global experience, bringing knowledge from their years of basketball in their home countries to Pullman, where the Cougars will try to build on last year’s 19-15 season. The good news for the Cougars: Their international players don’t just know about local foods. They’ve also spent years battling their contemporaries back home.

Following an offseason of early departures and graduation losses, WSU coach David Riley and the Cougs have landed a team with nine newcomers: Four from the transfer portal, four true freshmen and one veteran international import. That group will join three key returners – guard Tomas Thrastarson, wing Rihards Vavers and forward ND Okafor – in taking on the Cougars’ second and final season as affiliate members of the WCC before the rebuilt Pac-12 launches next year.

As teammates around her departed this past offseason, Eleonora Villa chose to stay in Pullman, and her leadership and vast skillset should have a huge impact for Cougars.

Forgive Washington State women’s basketball coach Kamie Ethridge if it seems like she was in the same position at the start of the season a year ago.

Last year’s Eastern Washington men’s basketball team was young, with four first- or second-year players shouldering significant minutes. It wasn’t ideal.

Entering its fifth year under head coach Joddie Gleason and associate head coach Skip Gleason, the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team is decidedly a Gleason-recruited team.

In season three of his tenure as Idaho’s basketball coach, Alex Pribble’s plan for the Vandals is to put it all together.

A year ago, the Idaho team Arthur Moreira hoped he would have did not quite fit his picture for the team he did have. Nonetheless, the Vandals adjusted on the fly. With 13 new players, they figured out their strengths and posted an 18-12 record before losing to Montana in the Big Sky Conference tournament. This year, Moreira sees the picture coming into sharp focus.

During the first few scrimmages, the mix of new guys along with the returning players has affirmed what Spokane men’s basketball coach Jeremy Groth expected when his roster was constructed over the past few months: the Sasquatch will be ready to compete right away.

From Archbishop Carroll High in northwest Philadelphia, it’s almost a straight shot – so close in proximity, locals might measure the distance in terms of city blocks rather than miles.

It was a double watch list day for Gonzaga’s Graham Ike.

Big-time nonconference tests usually come with big-time individual matchups.

Gonzaga closed out a busy October on the recruiting trail with another high-profile commitment.

Gonzaga’s career scoring leader is on the move again as he prepares to begin his third professional basketball season.

On one of the more unique days Gonzaga’s basketball program has had in recent years, the Zags also had one of the top players in the 2027 recruiting class in town for an official visit.

Wearing a powder blue dress shirt, navy tie and white heart-shaped earrings, Tyon Grant-Foster leaned forward and placed two palms over his forehead. Moments later, he stood up to wipe tears from his left eye. On the way out of the courtroom, he walked by Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few, who offered a congratulatory pat on the back.

Grant-Foster, who averaged nearly 18 points in two seasons at Grand Canyon and was the 2024 Western Athletic Conference player of the year, was the 11th Zag to take the floor. By that time, the Zags had built a 20-point lead against Western Oregon. No. 21 Gonzaga showed off its depth and power in the paint, cruising past the undersized Wolves 111-53.

Ryan Orton’s stories about Mark Few can be traced back to a time when Gonzaga’s coach was hardly recognized outside of his sparsely populated hometown in west central Oregon.

PULLMAN – Facing a respected program in an exhibition game to usher in the new season, the Washington State men’s basketball team gave its fans an encouraging early glimpse.