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July 2009
Categories
| Cougars: March 2009Viriginia released Tony Bennett's financial package. The former Cougars coach will receive $1.7 million per year for 5 seasons. Plus, he gets a $500,000 signing bonus and $500,000 if he stays five seasons. So he'll get $2.2 million in his first year, including the bonus. He was making a million at WSU. Anyways, Virginia's official news release is after the jump. ...The Oregonian is reporting that the Cougars have asked permission from Portland State to talk to men's basketball coach Ken Bone about their recent opening. Bone seems like a logical choice. He knows the landscape of the Northwest. He's from Seattle. Plus, he already has head coaching experience. And he loves the Northwest. Here's a quote from Bone just weeks ago. "I really want to coach basketball in the Northwest where we can be successful. When you start looking around, there are a lot of schools like that in the Northwest, but I don't foresee those coaches going anywhere real soon." --- from the Oregonian's website 3/30/09 I guess things have changed now that Tony Bennett has accepted a job with Virginia. The Oregonian is also speculating that SDSU's Bill Grier, St. Mary's Randy Bennett, and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin could be candidates for the job. ...The body barely cold, but I guess there's no time like the present to think of who'll be the next coach. Who should replace Tony Bennett? Here are a few contenders:
The Cougars sent out a news release on Tony Bennett's departure to Virginia. Here's Athletic Director Jim Sterk's response: "Dick and Tony Bennett have elevated the men's basketball program at Washington State to an unprecedented level of success. We will begin a national search for a coach immediately with the goal of finding someone with the integrity, experience, and values that Dick and Tony brought to the program." According to the release, Virginia asked Sterk for permission to talk to Bennett last Friday. Today, Bennett told Sterk, then the players about his decision to leave. The whole news release is after the jump. ...Our NBC affiliate in Spokane, KHQ, has confirmed that Tony Bennett is taking the Virginia job. They spoke with a source close to Bennett.
Say it isn't so Tony? Rumors and reports say Cougars coach Tony Bennett is going to Virginia. The Daily Progress out of Charlottesville, Virginia write they have a confirmed sources at U of Va that Bennett will be the Cavaliers next head coach. For what it's worth, all of this is news to WSU. Our NBC affiliate in Spokane called them in Pullman and they didn't know about it yet. Seattle Times UW beat writer Bob Condotta is already speculating that Portland State coach Ken Bone could be an early candidate.
Maybe I should have used 4 really's. The PAC-10 rattled off it's All-Academic team today. Four Cougars made the 1st team. Of course, the All-Academic team is smarter than the All-PAC-10 team. The AA team has five players. The AP team has 10. Here's the list:
First Team Name, School, Year, GPA, Major Aron Baynes, WSU, Sr., 3.24, Movement Studies Derek Glasser, ASU, Jr., 3.14, Communication Daven Harmeling, WSU, RS-Sr., 3.54, Heath and Fitness Nikola Koprivica, WSU, Jr., 3.39, International Business Taylor Rochestie, WSU, RS-Sr., 3.37, Communication
Nikola Knezevic, CAL, Jr., 3.03, Interdisciplinary Studies Rihards, Kuksiks, ASU, So., 3.07, Business Communication Roeland Schaftenaar, OSU, Jr., 3.17, Pre-Business Drew Shiller, STAN, Jr., 3.08, Communication Jordan Wilkes, CAL, Sr., 3.13, Social Welfare
I'm actually all for the extra post-season basketball tournaments such as the NIT, CBI, and CIT. That is until about an hour ago. Wazzu sent out a news release today to confirm the men's basketball team's opponant in the 2009 Cougars Hardwood Classic. The Cougs will face the LSU Tigers. Former Stanford coach Trent Johnson led the Tigers to an SEC championship in his first year there. This game should be a good one. Ticket information won't be made until this summer. The official news release is after the jump. ...President Obama filled out his bracket, and he doesn't have much love for the Pac-10, even though is brother coaches at Oregon State.
I just watched President Barack Obama make his NCAA picks on ESPN. He had the Huskies losing in the round of 32 to Purdue. Obama moved Gonzaga to the Sweet 16, but picked North Carolina over the Zags in the Sweet 16. The President declared it an off-year for the PAC-10. Do you agree? How far do you have the Huskies and Zags going in your bracket? ...The Seahawks and Lions have essentially traded tight ends over the past few weeks. Free agent tight end Will Heller signed a one-year deal with the Lions. Just last week, the Hawks inked Lions free agent TE John Owens to a deal.
Gary Rogers (6-6 3/8, 224 pounds), who ran 4.74 and 4.78 seconds in the 40-yard dash and posted a 35-inch vertical, a 9-foot, 2-inch broad jump, a 4.23-second short shuttle and a 6.99-second three-cone drill. Pretty good numbers. The only thing is, being a good athlete doesn't neccessarily translate into being a good pro football player. Ask the Eagles about Mike Mamula. ...The Washington Huskies are back in the Big Dance! UW is headed to Portland as a #4 seed in the West Region. On Thursday 3/19, UW will take on 13 seed Mississippi State, a team that's hot right now after winning the SEC tourney. The winner of this moves on to play the winner of #5 Purdue and #12 Northern Iowa. I think the Huskies will win, but this is a tough draw against a hot team.
Mike Bellotti is calling it quits...at least on the football field. The former Oregon Ducks head football coach is moving up into the Athletic Director position July 1st. Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly takes over for Bellotti. Kelly was named "head coach in waiting" last December. So the move comes as no surprise, except for Bellotti stepping down so soon. ...The Wooden Award finalists were announced today. Huskies forward Jon Brockman and former Rainier Beach star and current Louisville Cardinal Terrence Williams are on the list. Voting continues through March 30th. The winner will be announced April 10th. Here's the list for the other finalists. ...Cougars point guard Taylor Rochestie wins the PAC-10 Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. He averaged 13.6 points per game, 4.7 assists per game and scored 3.37 grade points average in the classroom. He's the second straight Coug to win the award. Robbie Cowgill won it last season. You can read the press release after the jump. ...Cougars women hoops earned a few accolades today. Freshman Jazmine Perkins makes the PAC-10 All Freshman team. She's also honorable mention All PAC-10. April Cook joins Perkins on the honorable mention list for All PAC-10. Cook is also honorable mention for the All Freshman team.
The PAC-10 handed out its awards today. Three Huskies take three of the top 5 awards. Isaiah Thomas wins the "Freshman of the Year" award. Justin Dentmon wins "Most Improved Player of the Year". Head coach Lorenzo Romar earns the "Coach of the Year" honors. Dentmon and Jon Brockman made the 1st Team All PAC-10 list. Thomas made the second team and the All PAC-10 Freshman team. Venoy Overton was voted honorable mention for the All-Defensive team.
As you can see two blogs below, former Husky and former Fone Zone host Brock Huard has a new gig with 710 ESPN Seattle. It's the new sports radio station starting April 1st. So what does that mean for the competition, 950 KJR Sports Radio? Do you listen to Softy/Ian Furness or Brock Huard? Do you tune in for Groz with Gas or Kevin Calabro? I'm sure there's room enough for 2 stations, but it has the potential to provide some good competition. Who do you listen to? ...Wazzu will induct seven people into their Athletic Hall of Fame this fall. Olympic athlete Bernard Lagat, former football coach Jim Walden, and former NBA star Craig Ehlo are probably the most recognizable names. You can see the list and description of the WSU career after the jump. ... |
