A Grip on Sports: Dickert’s defection is change’s latest blow to hit Washington State and it is also the worst one

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Change is hard. For everyone, even that guy at the end of the block who tells you all the time he embraces it. Then puts the same lights up every year for the holidays. But change is also eternal. And it hit hard in Pullman on this Wednesday morning.

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• The Cougars have suffered a lot of losses this week. But the biggest one landed about 7 a.m. Pullman time. That’s when reports began to filter out of North Carolina that Wake Forest has settled on Jake Dickert to fill its opening head coaching position.

One word reverberated through Cougar nation. I’ll say it was “damn” and leave it at that. But there would be no one blaming Washington State’s battered fans if it were a much-worse one.

The transfer portal hits recently have hurt. Quarterback John Mateer’s decision Monday fell like a young Mike Tyson body blow. Now this.

Dickert seemed as close to a perfect fit for the Cougars as they could find these days. A young man with a young family with a small-town upbringing. A coach who preached loyalty and embraced Washington State’s never-ending underdog status. Just the right guy to carry the Cougs from college football’s purgatory to the new-world Pac-12.

Now he’s gone. Hopping on a plane to the East, just like a similar basketball coach did more than a decade ago.

The exodus from the Cougars’ football program, already worrisome, became biblical in proportion in a blink of an eye.

Where does WSU go from here? The athletic administration will have to come through with a scramble better than anything Mateer displayed this season. A bowl game looms in a little more than a week and it won’t wait. The portal is still open for players to leave. The immediate outlook is bleak.

Then there is the long-term. But that’s for tomorrow. Today? Another blow. Further pain. More change.

It’s the only constant any of us can count on.

• Change is also in play in the Kennel tonight. The most obvious? Gonzaga’s 13th-ranked men’s team is playing at home after four weeks competing in exotic locales. Oh, and the ranking is no longer in single digits. In a related note, there is also no longer a zero in the loss column.

Another change? The quality of opponent. After watching the Zags play the likes of West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Connecticut in neutral-site games, the Gonzaga faithful are treated to a visit from – checks schedule – Nicholls State. Followed by Bucknell on Friday. Thank goodness it costs more to attend games in McCarthey, considering the highly ranked nature of this week’s opponents.

Wait, high numbers in the NET and KenPom’s ratings – both teams are in the mid-to-high 200s in each – aren’t good? OK, then. If you are headed to GU tonight, or even if you are watching on TV (6, KHQ), the outcome isn’t in much doubt. Hey, that’s another change from the past few weeks.

• When last Washington State and Washington played in men’s basketball, the head coaches were, well, not the guys they are now. The Huskies fired Mike Hopkins, handing him a check as he headed off to an NBA ancillary role. The sneaker was on the other foot for the Cougs, who saw successful coach Kyle Smith cash in by heading south to Stanford.

Their replacements? The two men who will oversee the 300th game in this intrastate rivalry, tonight in Seattle (8, FS1)? They couldn’t be more different. At least in their outlook about basketball’s version of the Apple Cup.

The Cougars’ David Riley in the spring: “I think this is just a heck of a game.”

The Huskies’ Danny Sprinkle this week: “It wasn’t that important to me to keep (the rivalry game) on the schedule. It’s important to a lot of other people.”

The 10,000 or so who will fill Alaska Airlines Arena are in that latter group. But there might be a reason Sprinkle isn’t, and is downplaying the game’s importance. Managing expectations. The 7-4 Huskies opened Big Ten play earlier this month and dropped two games against the L.A. schools.

Besides, these coaches are familiar with each other. The have met four times, all while Sprinkle was earning NCAA berths at Montana State and Riley was rebuilding the Eastern program, resulting in back-to-back Big Sky regular season titles.

They split their four games, each winning once on the opponent’s home floor.

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WSU: We covered the late-breaking Dickert news above. … Greg Woods has a preview of tonight’s basketball game, of course, but is also trying to keep his finger on the pulse of the football program. Besides quarterback John Mateer’s portal entry Monday, two other starters, linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah and right tackle Fa’alili Fa’amoe, placed their name in the database in the past 48 hours. Greg has that story as well. … The NCAA’s calendar is broken, as the portal’s impact shows. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner spent some time yesterday deciding which West Coast schools are doing well in the portal race thus far and those who are not. Yep, Washington State is in the latter category. … There is a national view about quarterbacks as well as one covering all positions. … You like history? Then this bowl story is for you. As a bonus, WSU is mentioned. … Wilner also has his picks in the Mercury News for most of this week’s games. … The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel has a mailbag focused on the CFP games. … Speaking of the portal, Jedd Fisch had a lot to say about its timing. … The Huskies former quarterback is slated to start for the Falcons. … The first of the Pac-12’s bowl tie-ins is tonight, with California facing UNLV in the L.A. Bowl (6, ESPN). Both programs are in flux. … Colorado’s next quarterback may not be all that different than the current one. … USC continues to lose star players – the Branch brothers are the latest – and now has lost its offensive line coach. … Among the future Pac-12 members in the Mountain West, John Canzano delves into how Boise State has been able to navigate a changing landscape. … The Bronco coaches will be getting raises. … San Jose State’s star receiver Nick Nash won’t be playing in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. … The lawsuit from Utah State and Colorado State is reverberating through the Mountain West. … The Aggies are recruiting their state hard. … Fresno State is looking for local kids in the portal. … In basketball news, the Oregon State men dominated Sacramento State in the second half. … Future Pac-12 member Utah State finally lost. … The Oregon women rolled over Air Force at home.

Gonzaga: It is Theo Lawson’s turn to put together the game preview and the key matchup. … Former GU player Jeremy Jones is back in the States, playing in the G League in his home state of Texas. … The Zags will meet UCLA at 1 p.m. Dec. 28. Jim Meehan has that news. … Turnovers are not something coaches want to see from their offense. Assists, on the other hand, are. Greg Lee delves into how the local women’s programs are doing in that regard in his weekly notebook. Spoiler alert: It’s not great.

Idaho: Former Vandal football coach Jason Eck was introduced at New Mexico yesterday, a place where it has been tough to win over the years. If the Lobos don’t, however, at least Eck will have a much fatter bank account. And many former UI players could join him. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, … If Sacramento State really wanted Michael Vick for its coaching vacancy, it failed in the quest.

Preps: Dave Nichols was at the Arena on Tuesday night for the first in the series of three rivalry matchups. Cheney’s boys and girls met their counterparts from Rogers in the “Railroad Rumble.” The games were split. … Dave also passes along a roundup of games with GSL teams as well as one from smaller schools in the area.  

Chiefs: Spokane lost 4-2 at Portland.

Seahawks: Is Seattle better this year than last? … Ryan Grubb has to help Geno Smith.

Kraken: The latest homestand ended in another lackluster performance Tuesday. Seattle lost 3-0 to the Senators. … Matty Beniers has played 200 games for the Kraken.

Mariners: What is behind all the arm injuries for pitchers? An MLB study blames the unending chase for velocity. And may lead to some rule changes.

Reign: A Seattle player plays a key role in a new TV mini-series.

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• No change here, at least for a while. One week until Christmas and we are still in the holiday mood. And we will continue to give until Christmas morning, when we will take the day. It’s a gift to ourselves. And to you. Tomorrow? We will delve into Dickert’s move in greater depth. Until later …