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Washington State’s Jake Dickert, Cameron Ward and Ron Stone Jr. to attend Pac-12 media day

Washington State Cougars head coach Jake Dickert gets pumped with linebacker Travion Brown during the Crimson and Gray game on April 23 in Pullman. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Colton Clark The Spokesman-Review

Quarterback Cameron Ward and edge-rusher Ron Stone Jr. will join first-year coach Jake Dickert as Washington State’s representatives at the Pac-12’s annual media day, which is shaping up to be a memorable event.

The Pac-12 on Monday announced attendees and revealed its schedule of speakers for Friday’s all-day interview-fest at the Novo Theater in Los Angeles.

The Cougs take the stage at 1:30 p.m. WSU’s portion of the news conference won’t be short on material.

Dickert is entering his first true season at the helm. He earned the job after steering the Cougs to a bowl berth and an Apple Cup win last season while serving as interim coach in the wake of Nick Rolovich’s midseason dismissal.

Rolovich started a saga of national headlines when he announced he would not appear at last year’s media day due to a COVID-19 vaccine requirement.

Dickert, named head coach in late November, spent the offseason reshaping WSU’s staff, reworking the roster and introducing a new Air Raid offense.

Piloting the system will be Ward, a sophomore transfer who college football pundits are calling a potential superstar. Ward was recently placed on the watch list for the prestigious Maxwell Award, which recognizes college football’s top offensive player.

Stone solidified himself as one of the Pac-12’s most disruptive defenders last year and landed on the all-conference first team. Known for his exuberant character and charisma on camera, the senior is a fan-favorite and the face of the Cougs’ defense.

The media day will begin at 8 a.m. with an address from second-year commissioner George Kliavkoff, who will probably discuss little else than the one subject on everyone’s minds: conference realignment. More specifically – the state of the Pac-12 with USC and UCLA on the way out.

The Los Angeles schools both announced June 30 that they’ll be leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big Ten in 2024. Throughout the month, Pac-12 officials have been working to stabilize the conference.

Members of the UCLA and USC football teams are scheduled to speak last on Friday, at 3 p.m. and 3:30, respectively.