Pullman Grad Cummings Returns Home - As The Enemy Griz Sophomore Has Faced Cougs During Summer, But You Won’T Hear These Rivals Trash-Talking

Trash talking has died.

Or maybe it’s in hibernation due to the single-digit temperatures. Either way, it’s not around. At least in these parts.

You want an example? Here you go. Brent Cummings is headed to Friel Court tonight. The same Brent Cummings who grew up in the shadow of Washington State. The same guy who did not receive a scholarship offer from Washington State. The same guy who has played pick-up ball every day of every summer with players from Washington State.

But ask him or the Cougars players who schooled whom during the summer, or who is going to school whom tonight, and a jocular debate breaks out among the jocks.

On the one side there are the players on Washington State’s basketball team. According to them, their teammate, Eddie Miller, did what a senior is supposed to do to a sophomore when he and Montana’s Cummings went at each other in pick-up games this summer. No, “Eddie dunked on him all day long and he’s going to do it again,” type stuff.

On the other side is Cummings. The former Pullman High standout simply said “I got Eddie on the outside, he usually got me when he went inside.” No, “Eddie had to pick up his shorts at least four times a game when he guarded me,” rants from Cummings.

Oh, well, that’s probably the way the coaches want it. No bulletin board material. You know how it goes.

But at least tonight at Friel there will be a resolution to this debate. (Hint, hint Bush and Gore.) That’s when the current Montana forward makes his way back to Pullman for this first game since he led the Greyhounds to a 25-1 record two years ago. And this time, unlike those summer games in Smith Gym, the score will count for something and be remembered by everyone. Not rubbed in, mind you, just remembered.

“Brent and everybody, we’re all good friends and we respect what he can do because we played with him in the summer,” said WSU forward Milton Riley. “I wish him the best. But when we play, that friendship is out the door. Then after the game, we can be friends again.”

“To win in front of my home town in front of my family and against them, that would be great,” Cummings said.

Many people around here thought they would see Cummings get plenty of wins at Friel Court - as a Cougar. The 6-foot-7 Cummings wanted to attend Washington State — “If I weren’t playing basketball I probably would be there” - and seemed to possess the outside and inside skills WSU was looking for. But the former Washington State coaching staff passed on him. Montana, on the other hand, went after him hard and grabbed him early.

Still, even after he had committed to the Grizzlies, Cummings continued to be committed to watching the Cougars.

“I went to a lot of their home games,” he said. “I always have. When I first got into it, Kelvin (Sampson) was pretty much rolling and I thought the program would go up from there.

“Then they had some heartbreaks, just a combination of a lot of things,” Cummings continued. “Now it looks like Graham (coach Paul) is doing a good job of establishing his own style.”

After being pressed into action his first year with the Grizzlies, Cummings has started to establish his own style as well. He has averaged 13.4 minutes per game and shot 42 percent from behind the arc this season.

“Brent’s a very intelligent player, who can shoot the 3,” said Montana coach Don Holst, whose team is off to a 3-4 start “He has decent penetration skills that make him a more versatile player and more than just a shooter.”

Being decent at getting to the rim isn’t enough, though. Cummings, who watched former WSU shooter Chris Crosby struggle with his penetration to the basket for three years, is the first to admit that.

“I need to slash a little more,” he said. He also needs to become more of a consistent scorer at the Division I level.

In his senior year in high school, Cummings averaged 29.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, and 1.5 steals a game en route to being named the State 2-A Player of the Year. Nobody took him for granted, but still nobody was able to take his shot away that year.

“I remember we played in the Washington-Oregon (high school) game together and the first time I saw him it was like `Wow, who is that? He’s tall. He can handle the ball. And he can shoot,”’ said WSU guard David Adams. At Montana, expectedly, it has been a different story. This year Cummings has averaged 1.3 points and 1.1 rebounds per game.

Part of the reason his production is down is because there is a huge learning curve from 2-A Washington ball to Division I-A. Another reason is that despite playing in every game in his career, Cummings has had established veterans in front of him in the lineup.

Senior Jared Buckmaster, Montana’s leading scorer with 16 per game, is ahead of Cummings at one position. Junior Ryan Slider (6.4 ppg) is ahead of him at the other.

“Hopefully, as my play picks up, I will get in there more,’ said Cummings. “Our coach likes us to get in there and make plays.”

Just make them, not trash-talk about them.