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Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
WSU men enter season in revamped conference with a revamped roster
- Story byLewiston Tribune, Idaho
- WSU men enter season in revamped conference with a revamped roster
Oct. 30—There may be no team whipped by the winds of modern college basketball more than coach David Riley's Washington State Cougars.
The WSU men's hoops headman has had to almost completely overhaul his roster each of the past three seasons with would-be returning players finding more lucrative name, image and likeness earnings elsewhere and the Cougars' NIL budget ranking far below the likes of more competitive mid-majors.
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The result? Fourteen new faces and a completely revamped starting lineup this season as the Cougars begin play in the reconstructed Pac-12, a conference which promises to be one of the more intriguing watches in college basketball with the likes of Gonzaga and San Diego State.
The Cougars' new roster features a point guard who lit up the NCAA Division II ranks, several former Power Four role players and a familiar face from Riley's Eastern Washington coaching days.
After a 19-win debut year in 2024-25 and a 12-20 stepback last season, will Riley's new-look Cougs have what it takes to take the next step?
"We have more aggression, a little more confidence than last year, and that can bite you a little bit too if you overdo that," Riley said during his Oct. 15 preseason news conference. "So we're trying to learn how to use that within the concepts of our offense and defense and I think that's something that's a work in progress right now.
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"We're a talented team that's still learning how to come together right now."
They could be learning fast. In exhibition play, WSU beat the Washington Huskies 84-80 last Sunday in Seattle.
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Will that success carry over to the regular season? The Cougs open their campaign against Davidson (N.C.) at 6 p.m. Monday at Beasley Coliseum.
New faces, same culture
To replace a roster that lost star freshman Ace Glass to Vanderbilt and tenured Coug ND Okafor to Cal, the Cougs assembled a roster headlined by 6-foot-8 senior forward Ronnie Harrison and 5-10 sophomore point guard Lazerek Houston.
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Harrison, an East Texas A&M transfer, is a do-it-all player who could lead WSU in scoring most nights. He posted 23 points in 26 minutes of exhibition play at UW.
Houston captured freshman and player of the year honors for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association while playing for NCAA Division II Central Missouri last season.
There, Houston posted 20.8 points per game, including double-digit scoring totals in 33-of-34 games and 30 points-or-more in seven games.
His shot-creation skills could be key for the Cougs as well. During the first offensive possession of WSU's exhibition victory at UW, Houston found Northwestern transfer Tyler Kropp underneath the basket and Kropp kicked it to the left corner to Harrison, who hit a 3-pointer.
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That kind of ball movement could be critical for a WSU team that may lack automatic scoring threats that the program has enjoyed in recent years in guys like Glass, Isaiah Watts or Jaylen Wells.
Kropp, a 6-10, 230-pound forward, represents the kind of physical threat that could help WSU play the kind of gritty defense that it will need against some of the more offensively fluent opponents on its schedule.
He isn't the only former Big Ten player on the roster.
Junior Ladji Dembele spent two years at Iowa before transferring to UNLV last season. The 6-9, 260 forward from Newark, N.J., made 15 steals during his true freshman season with the Hawkeyes and shot 46.7% from the floor in 16.7 minutes per game en route to 4.5 points per game as a sophomore.
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He played just six games last year for UNLV because of an injury.
The Cougars lack a true 7-foot center, but could turn to Dembele to fill that role as WSU's last-ditch interior defender.
Junior Oregon transfer Jamari Phillips and redshirt freshman Jaylen Harrell, a Providence transfer, come to WSU as guards who could see major minutes.
Riley runs a concept offense in which the emphasis is on players creating shots for their teammates, rather than drawing up a particular set play.
To this end, the Cougs need selfless players who share the ball, rather than take the first shot available.
It was an emphasis in recruitment, though, to get his guys accustomed to his system. In four short months, Riley said he put the team through challenging situations against each other in practice and other teams through preseason play. WSU lost at New Mexico 92-64 in an exhibition earlier this month.
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"We've got to get these guys playing (to) understand what makes each guy tick, and you got to put them in pressure situations because if the first time you really hit adversity is November, when that first game hits, that's a problem," Riley said. "So I think that we've tried to embrace that, whether it's tough practices (or challenging) ourselves this preseason with some tough games, and I think just trying to put the guys through adversity and make them realize how much they need to rely on each other."
A majority mid-major gauntlet
The Cougs will, of course, meet Gonzaga, the mid-major darling from Spokane and immediate Pac-12 favorite.
WSU will also have to contend with reigning Mountain West Conference champion Utah State, recent tournament mainstay San Diego State and a slew of decent teams like Boise State, Oregon State and Colorado State.
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WSU will play at High Point (N.C.), a trendy Cinderella pick in last year's NCAA Tournament next Saturday at 2 p.m. Twelve of WSU's 16 nonconference games will be away from Pullman.
WSU will also host Idaho, which upset the Cougs in last year's Battle of the Palouse en route to the Vandals' first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990.
This year's Battle of the Palouse will take place at 5 p.m. Nov. 27 at Beasley Coliseum.
They'll play national-title contender Duke at 8 p.m. Nov. 21 in Greater Palm Springs, Calif., as part of the Acrisure Series and play at LSU on Dec. 28.
In regional showcases, WSU will meet Seattle U in the Seattle Holiday Classic at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 19 at Climate Pledge Arena and play Eastern Washington in the 509 Classic on Dec. 22 at Numerica Veterans Arena in Spokane.
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Wazzu's floor vs. ceiling
Riley's first two seasons perhaps provide a view of how well or poorly this year could go.
The former Eastern Washington coach began his WSU tenure with a hot 13-3 start in 2024-25. That team tapered off in West Coast Conference play after injuries, namely the college career-ending shoulder injury that future NBA player Cedric Coward suffered, ground momentum to a halt. That team lost 12 of its last 18 games.
The Cougs were disjointed and uninspiring last season, never truly getting hot en route to a 20-loss year. The players who had spent several years in Riley's system at EWU, such as LeJuan Watts and Coward, transferred, graduated, or, in Coward's case, were drafted to the NBA.
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This year, however, Riley has a veteran player who has spent multiple years in his system.
Senior Casey Jones is fresh off a two-year church mission. Thanks to the NCAA's "five-for-five" rule, Jones could play immediately as he gets back in basketball shape this season and still play next year as well.
Everyone chose Wazzu with a chip on their shoulder, newcomer Harrison said. That doesn't mean they are just playing for themselves.
"Our main focus is just taking it day by day, and it starts with practice before we even get to the game," Harrison said. "We're just coming in every day with a mindset of 'We over me.' We're just gonna see how it translates in the game."
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, staylor@lmtribune.com , or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
