Basketball season ends, more troubles for Leaf

COUGARS

FROM PULLMAN — For a Saturday in late March, there sure is a lot of WSU-related news to get to. Read on.

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Not sure where to begin today, so we’ll start with the basketball stuff. WSU came up just short of winning the CBI championship, falling 71-65 to Pittsburgh in the decisive third game yesterday afternoon. Here’s the story that ran in our paper from a correspondent, and here is our usual postgame blog post . Here’s the AP story , and the take from the Pitt side . … The bigger news, however, may be the arrest of former WSU quarterback Ryan Leaf on burglary and drug charges in Great Falls, Mont., on Friday. A short story appeared in our newspaper, but the Great Falls Tribune discusses the arrest in more detail. A police spokesman said last night that more information should be available on Saturday. Leaf also released a statement last night: “I’ve made some mistakes, and have no excuses. I am using the tools I’ve learned to move forward rather than backwards, and will be open to talking about the details in the days to come. I am confident that there will be further understanding when the facts are revealed, and feel very blessed for all of the support, especially from my friends and family.” … There was, in fact, some positive news for WSU yesterday, as well. The Cougars added another linebacker to their 2012 recruiting class, signing JUCO transfer Justin Sagote to a letter of intent . Sagote, who spent the last two seasons at San Mateo College, will arrive in the fall and have three years to play two. Here is his official WSU bio . That makes 29 players in the class of 2012, though four of them signed early, enrolled in January and are already practicing. … We also posted our video interview with freshman receiver Rahmel Dockery. … The WSU baseball team lost 15-10 to USC in the opener of a 3-game series at Bailey-Brayton Field.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12 … An Arizona cornerback will transfer . The Wildcats are using helmet cameras to record practice film. … But a couple of Colorado basketball players will not . … But three Utah basketball players will. … A Utah linebacker tries to fill some big shoes . The Utes have received high marks for their practices thus far. … Looking ahead for Stanford, NIT champs. … Previewing Oregon’s defensive line . … And Oregon State’s defensive line . … Washington will be thin on the offensive line when it begins spring practice on Monday. … A USC receiver awaits his time to shine . Youth might be a concern up the middle. … Ten questions for UCLA this spring. … Bronco Mendenhall enjoys having a hand in BYU’s defense.

All for now. WSU scrimmages later this afternoon, and we’ll be there.

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com . Twitter: @ChristianCaple