Inactive WSU Recruits Appear Worth The Wait

Two of Washington State’s newest basketball recruits have yet to score a single basket this season, but there’s no need to panic.

Mike Bush, a senior at Kent-Meridian High School, and Ventura (Calif.) College sophomore Eddie Miller are sitting out this season.

The 6-foot-6, 190-pound Bush averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds as a junior at Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy, but he cannot play this season because this is his fifth year in high school.

The 6-8, 225-pound Miller played one season at Ventura before the program was discontinued. He’ll have three years of eligibility at WSU.

“The sad thing about it is no one is seeing Eddie play, no one is seeing Mike Bush play,” said WSU assistant Warren Riley, who serves as coach Kevin Eastman’s recruiting coordinator. “Over the summer, Mike shut down some big-time players (in national camps). And Eddie was a big-time player out of high school. He can really score.”

Bush, Miller and Jan-Michael Thomas, a 6-3, 185-pound guard from San Joaquin (Calif.) Delta College, are expected to contribute immediately.

“The main thing we have to get is speed and quickness,” Riley said. “Those three have quickness, good defensive pressure (and) they can score and penetrate.”

The Cougars’ fourth recruit, Compton (Calif.) High forward Milton Riley, needs more time to develop. The 6-6, 190-pounder is still growing and could top out around 6-10, WSU’s Riley said.

“When I started recruiting him about the middle of the year, he said, ‘You know, I just started growing hair under my arm, my voice is changing. No one used to pick me for pickup ball. Now everyone wants to be on my team,”’ the assistant said.

The Cougars have one additional scholarship to offer during the late signing period, which runs April 8-May 15.

Around the conference

Washington probably played itself out of the NCAA tournament with last week’s losses to Stanford and Cal. The Huskies are 1-7 against teams ranked in the top 50 by the Ratings Percentage Index, which is used to determine NCAA seeding.

Duke fans made the most of Sunday’s 120-86 pounding of UCLA, which was the last meeting between the teams for the time being. One fan held up a sign showing a Chevy Blazer with the words, “Jim Harrick’s Used Cars: You shoot, I’ll sell,” mocking the scandal involving the excoach’s recruitment of Baron Davis. Fans also lit into exBruins center Jelani McCoy by alternating chants of “Where’s Jelani?” and “Smoking pot!”

Arizona and ASU shared the same hotel for three days during their Oregon road trips, a common practice. But things got out of hand when the rivals wound up at the same restaurant Friday night. At one point, ASU’s Eddie House reportedly hit Arizona center A.J. Bramlett. “There were a few words and a scuffle took place,” Arizona forward Gene Edgerson said. “(House) shouldn’t have done that. He’s lucky A.J. didn’t kill him. … “

Jeremy Veal became ASU’s career scoring leader during last week’s loss to Oregon. With 1,872 points, he passed Ron Riley…. Former Oregon prep star guard Dennis Nathan, who has signed two letters of intent with Oregon, has given up on qualifying academically to play for the Ducks next year. Nathan, who attends Renton High School near Seattle, plans to go to a community college for one season, then play three at Oregon.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: AREA LEADERS

Scoring Player, school FG-FGA FT-FTA 3pt Avg. Bakari Hendrix, GU 199-372 144-189 6 19.6 Avery Curry, UI 160-360 110-151 37 19.5 JoVann Johnson, NIC 105-224 121-160 5 18.7 Karim Scott, EWU 168-316 61-94 12 17.0 Matt Santangelo, GU 161-355 86-113 63 16.2 Carlos Daniel, WSU 143-303 116-170 1 16.1 Johnny Goodman, NIC 145-315 43-59 66 15.3 Ben Heimerman, Whwth 76-119 70-81 6 14.3 Modesto Spencer, CCS 136-304 58-70 37 14.7 Jeff Mix, Whwth 134-243 56-83 2 14.2 Nathaniel Bailey, NIC 136-342 90-135 33 14.1 Shannon Taylor, EWU 105-265 47-72 60 13.2 Richie Frahm, GU 116-243 50-62 65 65 Deon Williams, EWU 97-245 61-96 29 11.8 Chris Crosby, WSU 109-260 44-64 45 11.8

Rebounding Daniel, WSU, 9.8 (246); Cedrick Day, CCS, 8.1 (218); Johnson, NIC, 7.1 (127); Scott, EWU, 6.9 (165); Mix, Whwth, 6.8 (157).

Assists Williams, EWU, 6.0 (145); Tyler Jordan, Whwth, 4.3 (104); Bailey, NIC, 4.2 (117); Blake Pengelly, WSU, 4.2 (109); Santangelo, GU, 4.0 (116). Steals Bailey, NIC, 3.4 (95); Johnson, NIC, 2.9 (52); Goodman, NIC, 2.2 (58); Scott, EWU, 2.1 (51); Curry, UI, 1.7 (41).

Schedule Thursday: UCLA at WSU, 7 p.m.; Idaho at Long Beach, 7:35 p.m. Friday: Portland State at EWU, 7:35 p.m. (Fox Sports Northwest). Saturday: USC at WSU, 2 p.m. (ABC-TV); Gonzaga vs. Loyola-Marymount in WCC Tournament at Santa Clara, Calif., 2:30 p.m.; NIC at Ricks, 6:30 p.m.; Idaho at Boise State, 6:35 p.m.; NCIC Tournament at home of highest remaining seed, 7 p.m. Sunday: WCC Tournament semifinals at Santa Clara, Calif., 6 p.m. Monday: WCC Tournament finals at Santa Clara, 9 p.m.

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