After bowing out of the WCC Tournament, what does WSU’s future look like?
LAS VEGAS – In a quiet locker room tucked away in the bowels of Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena, where Washington State tumbled out of the WCC tournament with a quarterfinal loss to San Francisco Sunday evening, three Cougars were open about their plans for the future.
Freshman guard Tomas Thrastarson said he plans to stay at WSU. Junior forward ND Okafor said he does too. Junior wing Ri Vavers said the same. Junior guard Nate Calmese, the team’s leading scorer, wasn’t asked in the same point-blank way – but he said he hasn’t thought much about his future.
“No thoughts at all,” Calmese said. “I’ve really been focused on the present, trying to win this WCC tournament, just be here for my guys and be present. That’s all that’s been on my mind.”
In another room adjacent to the arena, after posting 20 points, WSU wing LeJuan Watts said, “I haven’t thought about it yet, but I’m a Coug, for sure.”
On the surface, it registers as promising news for the Cougars, who might not have to rebuild their roster the way they did last spring when all but two players moved on from the program. A couple of the players who might have options elsewhere said they plan to stay. On the main podium, Watts added that he wants to stay with coach David Riley “for the rest of my career.”
“We gotta process this game,” Riley said, putting his hand on Watts’ shoulder, seemingly massaging Watts’ statement and protecting his player. “Tough question for the kid.”
But will the Cougs hold on to their roster the way they’re expecting to at the moment? A season ago, former WSU players like Joseph Yesufu and Oscar Cluff said they planned to stay. Even wing Jaylen Wells, who went on to become a second-round NBA draft pick, said he was considering staying in college.
But in today’s college basketball ecosystem, where NIL dollars play an outsized role in roster construction and transfers, everything is fluid. Players have options in ways they didn’t even five years ago, which gives them more to consider: Proximity to home, pro prospects, relationships with coaches – and that’s all outside of money, especially the type that can change many players’ lives.
It’s also possible the Cougars’ season has not come to an end quite yet. Riley said he would be open to playing in any potential postseason opportunities. It’s unclear if WSU could receive an invitation to the NIT, the highest-profile non-NCAA Tournament event, but there are others too: College Basketball Invitational, Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament and a new event, the College Basketball Crown, which is hosting its inaugural tournament later this month in Las Vegas.
“I think it’s an honor, whatever happens with tournaments, to be able to keep playing basketball,” Riley said. “That’s what I want my team to be built on. I think you see a lot of these programs that don’t wanna go to different deals, or don’t want to play hoops. We get to stay with a bunch of people that we love. We get to play another game and fight for another championship.
“That’s the kind of program that we want to build, and I think our guys are totally bought into that. They would be going, playing on a random Sunday, at the park or at the open gym. Like, let’s go do it together and do it on a stage.”
WSU guard Isaiah Watts was not in the Cougars’ locker room, which was open to the media, after the game. He was the only Coug to not make himself available after the game. In Sunday’s game, Watts recorded his only scoreless outing of the season, missing an open wing triple late in the game.
“He’s just a great human being. He’s a great person,” Riley said of Watts. “He had a tough week. His family’s been … he’s been with his family a lot. I just feel for him. It wasn’t his best offensive game, but he gave us a lot of fight, and he played winning basketball.”
Watts’ future is one to watch as well. A Seattle native, Watts has been open in the past about his love for Pullman and for WSU, where he’s developed into a star. The Cougs likely don’t beat Drake in last season’s NCAA Tournament without the 3-pointer he nailed in crunch time. He’s been erratic, and he missed 10 games this season with a hand injury, but he’s often come through in the biggest spots.
Will he be interested in returning to Washington State? His father, Donald, is a former star at rival Washington, which now competes in the Big Ten. That rivalry has not prevented players from either school transferring to the other, including Calmese, who transferred from UW last spring. Former guard Noah Williams, also a Seattle native, played for the Cougs from 2019-2021 before becoming a Husky for the 2022-23 season.
Other names to watch include freshmen guards Kase Wynott and Marcus Wilson, the latter of whom missed most of the season with a shoulder injury. Both have strong upsides and coaches would see their returns as a success as well.
But for WSU, the biggest fish to retain might be LeJuan Watts, whose coach waxed poetic about Watts’ loyalty and what he gave this team. For the season, the 6-6 wing averaged 13.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists, using his frame to get inside for baskets and his vision to hand out slick assists.
“I just think it’s a really emotional time, and I want these guys to be able to appreciate this team and their teammates,” Riley said. “LeJuan’s a very special person, and he’s showed a ton of loyalty to me, to be able to come from Eastern Washington, where he had a lot of opportunities to go different places for more money last year. Ended up coming to Washington State.
“He’s grown so much as a player, to where he redshirted his first year at Eastern and now he’s putting up triple doubles in the WCC, getting legitimate calls about him as an NBA player. It’s just really special to see someone that cares this much, that’s this great of a person.”