College basketball 2013-2014

1 Wings must step up. Forward Brock Motum is gone and he took his 18.7 points per game with him. That’s nearly 30 percent of last season’s scoring that the Cougars will need to replace, and the burden of filling Motum’s sizable shoes will fall largely on WSU’s wing players. Royce Woolridge and DaVonte Lacey averaged 11.0 and 10.5 points per game last season, respectively, and will need get those numbers up a tick. A dark horse to score more points is 6-foot-7 junior guard Dexter Kernich-Drew. The Australian is a capable shooter and a gifted athlete. If he can put those skills together he could assume some of his departed countryman’s scoring load. 2 Improve rebounding. The Cougars finished dead last in rebounding a season ago and Motum was their leading rebounder. If WSU is to find success this season the team will need to do a much better job of corralling missed shots. The backcourt has size and can contribute to the effort, and sophomore Junior Longrus was active on the boards in WSU’s exhibition game against Central Washington, collecting 10 in 22 minutes.

Conference: Pac-12 Colors: Crimson, gray

Conference: Pac-12 Colors: Purple, gold

1 Wilcox and who else? Where will Washington get its scoring aside from Wilcox? He averaged 16.8 points last season and played most of the year with an injured foot. Even with Wilcox ailing, the Huskies still had enough scoring options to stay competitive. Wilcox is healthy, but who will help score is unknown. Guard Andrew Andrews is the top returning scorer other than Wilcox at 7.8 points per game. Perris Blackwell averaged 12.7 points during his last season at San Francisco and Nigel Williams- Goss averaged 18 points as a high school senior. 2 Relying on Perris. There are a lot of expectations being placed on Blackwell for the one season Washington will have him on the floor. Blackwell was a serviceable scorer at San Francisco, averaging double figures his final two seasons for the Dons. Romar believes Blackwell can be the consistent interior answer the Huskies were missing last season. Blackwell spent all last season learning Washington’s system in the hope he is fluent when he hits the floor.

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (Prev. School)11Anderson, Mike G 6-4 195Jr. Hartford, Conn. (Moberly Area CC)12Andrews, Andrew G 6-2 195So. Portland (Benson Tech)2Blackwell, Perris F 6-9 275Sr. Etiwanda, Calif. (San Francisco)34Dierickx, Gilles C 7-0 235So. Ghent, Belgium (Florida International)33Jarreau, Jernard F 6-10 220So. New Orleans, La. (McDonogh)1Johnson, Darin G 6-5 200Fr. Sacramento, Calif. (Sheldon)40Kemp, Jr., Shawn F 6-9 250Jr. Canton, Ga. (Hargraves Military)30Simmons, Desmond F 6-7 225Jr. Vallejo, Calif. (Salesian)10Smith, Connor F 6-9 200Sr. Wenatchee (Wenatchee)22Sterling, Quinn G 6-5 195Jr. Mercer Island, Wash. (Mercer Island)4Stewart, Hikeem G 6-2 185Jr. Seattle (Rainier Beach)21Taylor, Jahmel G 6-0 175Fr. Los Angeles (Pacific Hills)24Upshaw, Robert C 6-11 255So. Fresno, Calif. (Fresno State)23Wilcox, C.J. G 6-5 195Sr. Pleasant Grove, Utah (Pleasant Grove)5Williams-Goss, Nigel G 6-3 185Fr. Happy Valley, Ore. (Findlay Prep)

No.NamePo.Ht.Wt.Yr.Hometown (Prev. school)0 Gerard Coleman G 6-4 180 Jr. Boston (Providence College)2 Angel Nunez F 6-8 200 So. Washington Heights, NY (Louisville)3 Kyle Dranginis G 6-5 200 So. Nampa, Idaho (Skyview)4 Kevin Pangos G 6-2 182 Jr. Newmarket, Ontario (Denison)5 Gary Bell, Jr. G 6-1 220 Jr. Kent, Wash. (Kentridge)11 David Stockton G 5-11 165 Sr. Spokane, (Gonzaga Prep)14 Connor Griffin F 6-4 205 Fr. Portland (Lake Oswego)15 Rem Bakamus G 6-0 150 So. Longview, Wash. (Mark Morris)21 Luke Meikle F 6-8 200 Fr. Tacoma (Bellarmine Prep)22 Brian Bhaskar G 6-2 185 Sr. Monterey, Calif. (Stevenson)23 Leo Roese G 6-1 184 Fr. Sao Paulo, Brazil (Timpview)24 Przemek Karnowski C 7-1 305 So. Torun, Poland (Nicolaus Copernicus )25 Ryan Edwards C 7-1 300 Fr. Kalispell, Mont. (Glacier)33 Kyle Wiltjer F 6-10 239 Jr. Portland (Kentucky)35 Sam Dower C 6-9 255 Sr. Minneapolis (Osseo)40 Dustin Triano G 6-3 173 Fr. Vancouver, B.C. (New Hampton)43 Drew Barham G 6-6 185 Sr. Memphis, Tenn. ( Memphis)