There just so happens to be a lot of Cougar-related stuff out there today, so I figured I'd throw it together in one spot for you.
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The first item is a couple of days old, but you might have missed it if you didn't get into the comments on the Bone contract story. Per Grippi, what we all speculated has finally been confirmed: Fabian Boeke's back problems are too severe for him to continue to play basketball, so he will no longer be using one of the team's 13 scholarships. In his spot slides sophomore-to-be Charlie Enquist, who was on scholarship his first year but a walk-on last year. No word on whether this is a permanent scholarship, or once again a year-to-year agreement.
The move isn't a huge surprise, given the lack of big bodies in the program -- Enquist will join DeAngelo Casto, James Watson and Brock Motum as the only scholarship big men. As excited as we all get for next year, so much of what this team will be able to accomplish hinges on those four, because right now, we're looking at a frontcourt rotation that includes just one player with extensive Pac-10 experience (if you can qualify DeAngelo Casto's 16.1 minutes per game as "extensive"). - In another basketball item, Ken Bone finished his staff today by hiring Jared Barrett as director of basketball operations and Tim Marrion as coordinator of basketball operations. Barrett had been an assistant coach at Utah Valley University, while Marrion comes from San Jose State. If you've heard Marrion's name before, you have to be the most hardcore of hardcore Cougar basketball fans -- he had been a student assistant in Dick Bennett's three years before graduating in 2006.
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Huge weekend for a number of spring sports. First up is baseball's big trip to Corvallis to take on the Beavers. If you want a chance to watch tonight's game at 5 p.m., it's being offered on Channelsurfing.net at this link. But last time I tried to watch an OSU feed, it didn't work. The weekend started off on a great note, as senior catcher Greg Lagreid is one of 13 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award, given to the nation's top catcher.
Next, track travels to the Pac-10 championships, which fires up tomorrow in Eugene, Ore. Defending their conference titles will be Jeshua Anderson (400-meter hurdles) and Sarah Trane (two-time winner of steeplechase). Oregon's Web site will have live results.
Then, there's junior golfer Kevin Tucker, who was in the hunt for a berth to the national championship after a strong first day at the regional tournament yesterday, only to have a tough second day. His +5 today dropped him from 37th to 63rd. Tucker is only the second men's golfer in school history to earn an invite to the regional tournament, but he'll need the round of his life to advance to the national tournament. - More scholarship news. Cougfan.com is reporting that offensive linemen Zach Enyeart and Brian Danaher have each been awarded scholarships by Paul Wulff. No word on how the scholarships are being accounted for (i.e., who's not getting one, who's coming off scholarship, who's grayshirting, etc.).
- Now, for some scholarship speculation. Vince Grippi, who doesn't normally speculate, put up an interesting post today openly wondering if one-time Pullman High School star wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad might be looking to come home after receiving his release from Oregon. Pflugrad's father, Robin, was an assistant at WSU from 2001 to 2006, before he left for Eugene and Aaron followed. New Oregon coach Chip Kelly elected not to retain Robin Pflugrad when he was promoted to coach.
- Last (finally!) a couple of nice stories to pass along. First up is Jim Moore catching up with Jason Gesser at SeattlePI.com. Gesser says he wants to "build a dynasty" at Eastside Catholic, where he was recently named head coach. Also, Howie Stalwick catches up with a 73-year-old former Coug all-American, Bill Steiger. Why do we care about Steiger? Because, like Cory Mackay, he was paralyzed from an accident in the midst of his college career. He came back to play again.