WSU men’s basketball about to tip off

The Washington State men’s basketball team holds its first practice of the season today. It’s not open to the public, but fans will have a chance to get an early look at the team on Saturday, Oct. 11 when the team is holding the inaugural (and subtly-named” PREseason FUNKtion . The event will be a dance party, giveaway and of course a scrimmage. There will also be prizes and $3,000 donated to charity, courtesy of new head coach Ernie Kent.

From the school’s release:

A red carpet entrance and photo area will greet the fans, as those that arrive early will experience the VIP area with pizza and beverages provided. The 2014-15 men’s basketball poster will be revealed, as it, t-shirts and noisemaker thunderstix will be given away.

First-year head coach Ernie Kent will provide some of the prizes for the evening, including a 42” television, an Xbox 360, a Playstation 4, Beats by Dre, an Apple iPad Mini and $500 for textbooks.

The event will also feature a half-court shot worth $10,000, a Greek dance-off worth $1,000 in prizes to Chapter Philanthropy, donated by Kent, and a WSU Greek Philanthropy Challenge worth $2,000, donated by Kent.

We’ll get back to football after the jump with our Pac-12 links.

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— For our story today we look at the vastly-improved Cal Golden Bears .

— But California’s facing an improved team too, especially on defense.

— John Blanchette wrote about an old Coug who is getting inducted into Eastern’s athletic hall of fame .

— Bud Withers makes his Pac-12 picks .

— Arizona stunned Oregon for the second year in a row last night.

— Arizona State won’t have Taylor Kelly back in time for USC.

— Colorado’s kicker is eager to atone for some critical misses.

— The Ducks might have cost themselves a playoff spot with last night’s loss.

— Oregon State’s Victor Bolden returned to practice .

— Stanford faces an elite quarterback in South Bend.

— The Bruins are happy to be risk-takers on defense.

— USC’s Su’a Cravens is making plays all over the USC defense .

— Utah needs to get out of its recent rut on offense .