‘Once a Coug, always a Coug’: Playing alongside Jaylen Wells, Cedric Coward is relishing his NBA brethren

DALLAS – For Cedric Coward, the Memphis Grizzlies’ game on Nov. 15 was the start of something special. That night in Cleveland, he earned his first NBA start alongside fellow Washington State product Jaylen Wells.

They’ve been starting together ever since, a move that has paid off for the red-hot Grizzlies, who since that night have won seven of their last 10 games after beginning the season 4-10.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. The fact we’re both from WSU says something,” said Coward, who began his collegiate career at Willamette before spending two seasons with coach David Riley at Eastern Washington. When Riley took the WSU job in 2024, Coward followed.

“WSU’s got some talent,” Coward said, “and us being in the starting five … that means we’re making an impact on the court.”

Wells, who declared for the NBA draft shortly after Riley’s arrival as head coach, says the on-court chemistry between he and Coward is evident despite the fact they were never actually teammates in college.

“Yeah, very cool,” Wells said, “especially going through this process with someone who went to the same school and through the same experiences in Pullman as me …

“It just shows the product that Washington State’s putting out with draft picks in back-to-back-to-back years,” said Wells, referencing former WSU big man Mouhamed Gueye, who was drafted in the second round of the 2023 draft and has been solid this season for the Atlanta Hawks.

Among the biggest highlights for the Grizzlies’ duo came Nov. 22 when Coward (the 11th pick of the 2025 draft) and Wells (the 39th pick in 2024) got to square off against WSU royalty – guard Klay Thompson – during Memphis’ 102-96 win over the Mavericks.

Thompson, the five-time all-star who is in his second season with Dallas after a wildly successful run with Golden State, mentioned the pair during a postgame interview that night.

“Good for Cedric and Jaylen,” Thompson said. “Once a Coug, always a Coug. I’ll follow them throughout the rest of their careers.”

Understandably, both young Grizzlies said they were thrilled to share the court with Thompson.

“He lit us up … (for a season-high 22 points) and me in particular,” Coward said. “It’s special to know that guy is probably the most legendary Coug, and then me and Jaylen as (fellow) Cougs, that’s pretty dope.”

With a handful of matchups between them, Wells says it’s always exciting to play against Thompson.

“Yeah, one of the greats,” Wells said. “I’m glad that (we’ve) finally got some people to back his history at Washington State. Definitely cool for the path he laid in putting Washington State on the map. Now it’s time for us to do the same.”

The two young Grizzlies are doing their part. Coward is averaging 13.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, with Wells averaging 12.2 points, including 17 per game over his last four.

A Fresno, California, native, Coward grabbed headlines early this season and was mentioned as an early NBA Rookie of the Year candidate.

It’s not the first time Coward has made a big splash.

He earned Northwest Conference freshman of the year honors at Division III Willamette before transferring to Eastern Washington, where he was an All-Big Sky first-team performer in his junior season and had helped the Eagles to back-to-back regular-season conference titles.

That led to his transfer to Pullman. After playing just six games for the Cougars last season (averaging nearly 18 points and seven rebounds), Coward’s NBA path looked like it might require another stop – and he announced a transfer to Duke for his final year of eligibility in late April. But then the NBA combine arrived, and Coward immediately dazzled scouts.

“Yeah, it’s been awesome,” Coward said of his NBA journey so far. “A lot of stuff to learn and a lot of stuff that has helped me and just building me up as an individual not only on the court but also off the court.”

Coward says he’s leaned on teammates for most of that support.

“Guys like John (Konchar), Ja (Morant), Ty (Jerome), Jaren (Jackson Jr) and Santi (Aldama) have helped me a lot,” he said. “Everybody has something that they say to me every game and I take. Whether I’m in a good mood or a bad mood, it always helps me out some way.”

Coward says Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo has also been instrumental in these first few months. In turn, Iisalo says Coward arrived with the right attitude from day one.

“Just his overall approach (is what stands out most),” he said. “Not even the development, but the process with which he goes about it. He’s done a great job from the first day of every day coming in with great energy, great focus. He also wants to be coached.

“When he sees something on video, he always explains his thinking and then says, ‘I’ll do it better,’ and looks to find ways of getting better on a daily basis. The second thing you don’t see in a young player very often is his leadership. It comes from this quiet confidence in himself. He’s never been given anything and that shows in his confidence.”

It’s not surprising that Coward and Memphis seem to be a perfect fit – he says the city feels just like home.

“It kind of reminds me a lot of Fresno. It’s different because it’s the South, but it reminds me a lot of Fresno in terms of being a smaller city,” he said. “The people there are always hospitable and obviously, it’s great to know that I have good teammates that live really close.”

Still, he’s an NBA rookie and that means having some duties to pay his dues to his veteran teammates, even if his rookie rites of passage don’t include lugging around the often-dreaded pink backpack, a staple across the league.

“I’ve got to pick up food before flights, but that’s about it. Yeah, the team orders it, I just go and pick it up,” he said. “It’s the same thing (every time), we get South Main Sushi. Even if there was one (a backpack), I’d rock it. I’d rock the pink backpack, ain’t no thing.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.