Ciao Tony Bennett

Washington State Cougars lose their men's basketball coach Tony Bennett. After only 3 short years with the Cougs, Bennett signs a contract with the University of Virginia. Bennett informed the team yesterday at a 2 p.m. meeting at Beasly Coliseum. It was last Thursday when Virginia asked permission to speak with Bennett and he was on a plane Friday to visit the campus. Bennett took the offer of head coach at UVA. Bennett will be receiving 1.7 million for the next 5 years, and received a 500k singing bonus. This makes Tony the 5th highest paid coach in college basketball.

There are some very upset Coug fans.

How far will our neighbors go? Is Gonzaga a final four team in your bracket?

Gonzaga faces a tough battle against North Carolina, who’s projected to win the tournament by many opinions. North Carolina wiped out Radford in the first round 101-58. The first round for Gonzaga was a success but a little bit of a struggle. The Zags were trailing by three at half time, and had to work out the first 12 minutes of the second half before they were able to come out on top.
If the Zags stand a chance at the elite 8, they’re going to need to get some strong defense against Lawson and Wayne Ellington who have sizzling hands. Lawson scored 23 points with six assists, no turnovers, and Ellington made 9 of his 16 shots, and had four assists against the Tigers. North Carolina continues to be a standard of the sport, and making it to yet another Sweet 16 is a perfect example of their intensity. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a tough game ahead against the Zags.
The Zags have Goodson, Matt Bouldin, and Jeremy Pargo. The starting backcourt made 13 of 26 shots and 6-of-11 at 3 totaling 38 points against Western Kentucky. To challenge Carolina they’re going to need those players to make perimeter shots.
The Zags have their best shot at making it to the final four since 2006. Even though that was only three seasons ago, the team is more intense and more balanced. Getting to the Sweet 16 is another justification of their position as a national program.

Who will come out on top???

Story of an old WSU Baseball Player

http://tjobb1276.webng.com/slideshow/

Women's BBall - WSU v UW - 3/6/2009

All work by Dax Dentler and Brittney Bishop
Copyright 2009

A Senior departing

By the one, the only, Tom Brooks

Pac-10 Cinderella is... Arizona?

Many people, including myself, were upset that Arizona made it into the NCAA tournament this year. Without even winning 20 games or even a game in the Pac-10 tournament they somehow managed to sneak into the big dance.

But with everyone doubting them, they have managed to win 2 games already in the tournament as a 12 seed and are the only Pac-10 team left out of the 6 that made it. Already making a very good cinderella story against all odds, the Wildcats are up next against Louisville Friday at 4:07 on CBS, can they pull off the upset? If they want to beat the top ranked seed in the entire tournament they are going to need to play the best they have played all year.

Louisville plays incredible defense and has some of the best athletes in the nation in Terrence Williams and Earl Clark. Arizona will need big games out of their 3 stars, Budinger, Hill and Nic Wise. All I know is that it should be a good game to watch.

James Harden ~ ASU

Will James Harden, Sophomore, be drafted to the NBA? He's a crafty player with great offensive skills. For a college player, his skills are superior while he leads his teammates with great vision and is far from selfish. He does well breaking down his opponents and taking what the defense gives him. Harden could improve on his outside shots and becoming more vocal. His résumé is definitely one that has caught the eye of many teams, and according to draftexpress.com he is the top shooting guard prospect in this draft. At only 19, Harden will only continue to improve his skills as he gains more experience and learns how to utilize his versatile talent.

2008-09 STATS
PPG -20.1

APG - 4.2

3P% - .356

RPG - 5.6

BPG - 0.3

SPG - 1.7

Congradulations Taylor Rochestie

Washington State's leading scorer Taylor Rochestie was awarded the Pontiac Game Changing Performance Sunday. The Senior took a 3 point shot over Arizona State's PG Derek GLasser with 2.3 seconds remaining on the clock in overtime at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman on February 28 beating the then 14 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils 51-49.

The nationwide contest had 8 nominees: Xavier, UNC, Kentucky, Maryland, Texas A & M, Washington St., Cleveland St., and MArshall. The contest ran March 5th through the 14th and was voted on by fans like yourself nationwide.

With the award Washington State University earns a contribution to its general scholarship fund from Pontiac.

For more information on the contest and the nominees visit www.pontiac.com/ncaa.

Taylor Rochestie not only lead the Cougars in scoring he lead the PAC 10 conference in academics being selected Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, presented by Toyo Tires. League officials announced the academic first team Wednesday during the opening round of the Pac-10 Tournament. Rochestie held a 3.37 GPA and is set to graduate in may from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State.

Rochestie also made the All-Academic first team last year while former Washington State Center Robbie Cowgill received the honor only a year ago.

All Academics aside the Cougars were selected Sunday to the NIT. They will face national-tournament-snubbed St. Marys on Tuesday at 8:00 PM on ESPN 2.

For more information on Taylor Rochestie's career and stats visit:
The WSU Mens Basketball Site

Selection Sunday: PAC 10 Suprizes

Washington, California, UCLA, USC,Arizona State, oh and of course Arizona?

Many are probably a little shocked to see Arizona make their 25th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament as the 12 seed in the Midwest bracket. The 9-9 conference record may spark several discussions and probably many raging arguments among basketball fans. However, many can't forget that Arizona had some good wins against ranked teams.

They beat the (4)Gonzaga 69-64 at home in December. They then beat the then non ranked Kansas Jayhawks 84-67 again at home. Fast Forward to late January the Wildcats went to overtime topping the Washington Huskies 106-97 (and you guessed it at home). Jump forward again to February 14th, the Hallmark day of love, and the Wildcats beat UCLA 84-72 at home.

If you begin to see a trend the Arizona Wildcats were big at home this year. However, once they hopped on the buses and planes they were a very different team losing 5 of the last 6 games of the regular season finishing with a win against the Stanford Cardinal. The match ups were tough, that is undeniable taking on Arizona State, the then dangerous Washington State, now Conference champ Washington, and finally a home game against California.

For a team wanting to make the tournament this was hardly a strong showing. Be it as it may they are in and we have to bite our tongues. At the end of the day PAC 10 fans should be happy to have 6 teams punch their ticket in.

USC Takes PAC 10 Championship Game, Gets Bid

The USC Trojans knew they had a lot on the line as they went into the Staples Center Saturday.

Friday was full of upsets as the Sundevils surprised the Huskies while the Trojans outplayed the Bruins to advance to the final round.

If you look across the country at the conference championships there were an unheard losses, many which probably rewarded or put a dent in gamblers wallets. Connecticut and Pittsburgh both potential number 1 seeds for the "Big Dance" lost early allowing for underdogs like West Virginia advance another round to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. No upset can match the 7 overtime win Syracuse had over the top ranked Connecticut team.

The PAC 10 was also full of parody. The 3rd seed California Golden Bears couldn't match Tim Floyd's triangle-two defense that held the top 3 pt shooting team in check for most of the game.

ASU played one of their finest games of the year against the Huskies with big contributions from Derek Glasser and James Harden.

The Trojans recieved tremendous play from freshman and senior players alike in Demar DeRozan and PAC 10 Defensive player of the league Taj Gibson carried the Trojans.

Gibson put that reputation on the line pulling down key rebounds and playing aggressively while putting up a block on the PAC 10 player of the year James Harden in the closing minutes of play Saturday.

With the win the Trojans receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Selection Sunday is only a day away and many teams including Arizona will have to sleep tight and pray they are selected to move on although the USC win may have pushed them a little further off the bubble.

It has been a wild year. Anything can happen

Toto, I don't think we are in Arizona any more!

Not to make too bad of a Wizard of Oz reference but both Arizona schools seemed lost on the yellow brick road to the NCAA Tournament Thursday night. Standford beat ASU which may come as a bit of a shock to the dedicated PAC 10 watchers. I missed this game so I can't speak much of it.
However I had the luxury of watching the Cal Golden Bears take on the Arizona Wildcats. There was a big win in the house that Lute built. Sadly for the Wildcats sake it came at the hands of Jerome Randall who finished with 30 points. Randall hit 8 of 11 shots from beyond the arc, many from other area codes.
Maybe the longer halftime honoring Lute Olsen for his 24 years of coaching what became a PAC 10 powerhouse over the years. It may have been a bit distracting to the Wildcats as they almost fell asleep on defense for parts of the second half keeping the game close down the stretch. It is no knock to the Wildcats because they played a great game having large contributions from the big man, Jordan Hill (24 pts), as well as the guards Chase Budinger(28 pts) and Nic Wise (10 pts) and Jamelle Horne (13 pts) during their 83-77 loss to the Golden Bears.
Though the final score gave California the game the Wildcats had a solid performance and will probably remain on the bubble for the National Tournament unless they have a meltdown at home on Saturday when they take on the Stanford Cardinal.

Will Jon Brockman be drafted into the NBA?

Jon Brockman- The No. 1 Rebounder in the NCAA

Brockman as the returning top rebounder in the NCAA, 14.2 per-40 minutes pace adjusted, and 17th best returning scorer 21.8 per-40 pace adjusted, is projected to be a possible second round draft pick for the NBA according to ESPN. As UW finishes number one in the Pac 10, no. 13 overall by ESPN and USA Today, this helps his campaign with the exposure he needs to help his chances for the NBA. Not to mention, his energy level out on the court is anything but average, playing a physical, scrappy style of basketball, makes him exceptionally effective in collegiate level. Having great timing, fast hands, and good instincts, he never gives up on a play and seems to enjoy throwing his body around and outwork the opposing players which helps him average about 14 rebounds per game.
When it comes to the offensive side and handling the ball, Brockman seems much more comfortable. Brockman is extremely intelligent when it comes to finding creases in the defense and getting into the right spot to catch and quickly finish around the rim, showing excellent hands and slyness using the rim to block his defender on the reverse lay-up. With Brockman’s average size, he shoots an impressive 64% of his shots but only shoots a 52% of his free throws.
When it comes to Brockman’s defensive skills, he lacks a little. His average height and leaping ability allows men taller then him to easily to shoot over him. Brockman is heavily relied on to stay on the floor for the Huskies and is forced to not get into foul trouble, brings his intensity level down.
Brockman is going to have to show scouts better practice and effort to convince them that he is not an accountability on the court in the next level.
Overall Brockman is a considerable prospect for the NBA.

"The Shot", Washington State Senior Night

When all hope seemed lost Saturday night for the Cougars in overtime a miracle happened. Taylor Rochestie pulled the ball up court with 13 seconds on the clock, layed down a huge jab step clearing some space, fired away, cashing in his final and probably most clutch shot of his career as a Cougar.



Games like this have become a staple to senior night at Washington State the last three years beating both The University of Southern California and the University of Washington in double overtime. One overtime was good enough this year.

WSU is getting hot at just the right time beating , at the time, number 20 UCLA, Arizona, and number 14 ranked ASU. The Cougars will take on the top team in the conference, the University of Washington, in Seattle March 7th to finish the regular season before heading to the PAC 10 Conference Tournament at the Staples Center.