Washington State basketball rookie post Mouhamed Gueye picks up second weekly accolade from Pac-12

Mouhamed Gueye is becoming a rookie sensation at Washington State, and the Pac-12 is taking notice.

The high-potential Cougar post totaled 25 points and 19 rebounds in the team’s recent conference split with the Bay Area schools. On Monday, the conference announced Gueye as its freshman of the week for the second time this season.

“He’s been really good,” coach Kyle Smith said Saturday of Gueye, the program’s No. 3-ranked recruit of at least the past two decades – according to 247Sports. “You could see it coming in practice.”

The 6-foot-11 native of Senegal registered his best day as a collegian in WSU’s 62-57 loss to Stanford in Pullman on Thursday. His length and athleticism created matchup problems for the Cardinal underneath, and Gueye finished with career highs of 16 points on 8 of 13 shooting and 11 rebounds – five on the offensive end. He added a pair of blocks.

Two days later, he contributed nine points (3 of 7) and eight rebounds, including another five offensive boards, in the Cougars’ 65-57 defeat of Cal. He battled toe-to-toe with the Bears’ experienced, big-bodied posts and snatched six rebounds over the final seven minutes to help WSU pull away.

“Mouhamed’s an awesome player,” WSU forward Efe Abogidi said Saturday. “I just feel he needs to get more confident. He’s an awesome talent. It’s rare to see a player like that. Just being more consistent and confident in his game will help us a lot.”

Gueye is averaging 7.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season while shooting 50% from the floor. He also took home Pac-12 freshman of the week honors on Nov. 21, after recording a combined 21 points and 15 rebounds in Cougar wins over UC Santa Barbara and Idaho.

WSU (10-7, 3-3) visits Oregon on Thursday and heads to Oregon State on Saturday.