Jacob Thorpe

Even as Washington State begins adds commitments for 2016, the Cougars are still wrapping up their 2015 recruiting class. Sort of.

LACEY, Wash. – The North Central softball team’s season ended where the Indians hoped it would, if perhaps not when. The Indians (13-13) won six of their last eight games entering this weekend’s State 3A championships at the Regional Athletic Complex. They kept that mojo flowing during their first game on Friday, a 5-1 win over the West Seattle Wildcats, before losing twice and being eliminated.

The NCAA rowing championships are becoming just part of the yearly routine for the rowers at Gonzaga and Washington State. Both schools are represented in the 22-team field – the fifth time in six years for the Cougars, the second in three for the Bulldogs – which will compete for three days beginning today to determine a champion.

In the early afternoon on Thursday, Renard Bell of Cathedral HS in Las Angeles called WSU assistant Roy Manning.

The first thing Ernie Kent did when he and his staff arrived at Washington State wasn’t call recruits or install his scheme. Instead, he made sure the departing players that he would never coach – D.J. Shelton, James Hunter, Royce Woolridge, Will Dilorio – got their degrees and that the remaining players were in good academic standing. The academic emphasis paid off for Kent today, as the Cougars narrowly avoided penalties in the NCAA’s just-released Academic Progress Rate (APR). The NCAA gives each team a yearly APR score out of 1,000 that measures its academic performance and retention. If a team’s average score over a four-year period dips below 930 it faces penalties, including potential postseason ineligibility.

Spokane and Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday ended his prolific career, retiring from football just before Washington started its rookie minicamp.

Connor Halliday has been rehabbing since November to prepare himself for professional football, but now appears to be finished with the sport.

The NCAA men's basketball rules committee has proposed some changes with the goals of reducing physicality in the sport (to increase scoring) and speed games up.

Gonzaga coach Mark Machtolf thinks third baseman Mitchell Gunsolus is a bit of an oddball. Usually college juniors need a bit more convincing to turn down six-figure signing bonuses, but when the two met at the end of last year’s season, Gunsolus quickly came to the conclusion that he wanted to remain in Spokane for his senior year.

PULLMAN – There aren’t many legitimate Pac-12 aces that end their careers with a uniform and a graduation gown in their closets – most trade the pomp for a major league paycheck and leave school a year early. But just a few hours after finishing his graduation ceremony, Joe Pistorese was back on the mound, teaching a talented freshman a few tricks.

Here is what WSU's two-deep looks like after 15 spring practices

The Cincinnati Bengals will hold their opening meeting of rookie minicamp tonight and Kalafitoni Polè will be in the room.