- Grippi has his piece up on the transfers of Thames and Brown. It's important to note that the S-R hasn't yet confirmed the news reported by Howie Stalwick on Cougfan that Harthun is transferring. Now, that could mean Mike Harthun hasn't made a final decision yet, or it could mean that Grippi couldn't get confirmation yet. However, Stalwick does a lot of freelance writing about the Cougs, and reportedly confirmed the Harthun transfer with Mike's father. So it's still very likely Harthun is gone, but nothing is official as of the moment.
- An important thing to note on Thames' transfer is that while by all accounts it is "basketball related", it does not have to do with playing time, and it does not have to do with sitting behind Moore at the point. This is important. A lot of people have been quick to cite playing time when discussing X's departure, and some people are blaming Reggie, even though the two are friends. What Thames' words say to me, though, is that perhaps there's simply a philosophical divide between Ken Bone's style and Thames. Think back to Josh Akognon's transfer, or Mac Hopson's. Those had to do with a dislike of the Bennett system (although with Hopson it was mixed in with playing time as well). Sometimes coaches and players don't mesh, or their idea of how they want to play the game don't mesh - it's all part of the business. You may also remember the Akognon and Hopson transfers didn't really hurt the program either. I would, however, expect X to end up at a high or upper-mid major school. He's pretty good.
- Try to keep a positive outlook on this. Like I said earlier, Josh Akognon and Mac Hopson were great players who could have contributed on great WSU teams. But their departures didn't ruin WSU basketball; in fact they had relatively little impact. Guys like Stephen Sauls and Chris Matthews had great potential, but ultimately it was just that - potential. The Cougs will bring in new guys, and you should cheer for them instead of lamenting what we lost.
- I would be surprised at this point if Charlie Enquist isn't on scholarship next season. The Cougs are in need of depth at the 4 and 5, and Enquist provides that. Remember, he is a decent defensive rebounder and has shown flashes of solid offensive play (especially free throw rate). If he can cut down on his turnovers he'll earn some more minutes.
- No word on John Allen's future yet, which is key, because he would theoretically be the one to fill the Thames/Harthun role if one or both leave.
- A lot of attention will now turn to recruiting, as it should. The Cougs actually will have a decent sized recruiting class for 2010, and it takes on greater importance. We already have a guard - Aden, and a forward - Simon. Now, in theory, we'll be looking for another guard and a big man. If Bone can't find what he's looking for don't be surprised if he postpones using one of the open scholarships; remember we have no players graduating this upcoming season. Some names to watch out for, though: SF Lonnie Pearson at Rainier Beach; PG Thomas Feeney out of Anchorage; C Guy-Marc Michel out of North Idaho College and SG Emerson Murray out of Vancouver, B.C. Hat tip to Cougfan for a few of those names. I'll try to bring you more on the recruiting prospects later in the week.
- Thanks for keeping the discussion civil and intelligent here. It hasn't been like that this weekend on other forums for Coug fans on the web (no, I'm not just talking about Cougfan). Now let's send it into overtime!
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