Plenty of success for recent Coug grads in 2015

2015 was a great year for our current WSU athletes, as Gavin recapped yesterday, but the success wasn't limited to the people still in school. The NFL, and NBA in particular saw players from Pullman record standout performances.

The headliner of 2015 was clearly Klay Thompson. The former WSU basketball player is the current shooting guard for the world champion Golden State Warriors. He was named a NBA All-Star and helped the Warriors win their first championship in 40 years in 2015.

After Thompson and his lights out shooting assisted Golden State to a win in the Finals, he brought the Larry O'Brien trophy to Pullman for a football weekend.

Also in the NBA, former Coug Aron Baynes transferred his success with the San Antonio Spurs into a payday with the Detroit Pistons. Baynes has played in 31 games for Detroit this year, averaging 13.3 minutes and 4.4 points a game.

In a similar vein, Davonte Lacy had his fair share of success playing basketball in Austria in 2015. The former Coug guard is averaging 10.9 points a game while starting for UBC Magnofit Guessing of the Austria-A Bundeslinga.

On the gridiron, a pair of WSU football players from 2014 find themselves on NFL rosters in 2016. Xavier Cooper was drafted in the 3rd round by Cleveland, and has been in the Browns defensive line rotation this season. He has 19 tackles and 1.5 sacks on the year.

Vince Mayle spent most of this season on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad before getting called up to the active roster this week. Hopefully the former Coug receiver will see the field Sunday and make his debut in the last week of the season.

All in all, 2015 brought plenty of success for these six promising athletes. Their futures are bright and 2016 could well be more prosperous than 2015.

*****

Year in Review:

Top Ten of 2015! - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
A highlight reel of the top moments of the year for WSU sports.

The best and worst sports moments of 2015 | Crosscut
Cougars football coach Mike Leach: Be happy he chose football for a career, not medicine.

Men's Basketball:

Cougars Open Pac-12 Season at Home Friday - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
WSU hosts USC at 6 p.m. New Year's Day at Beasley Coliseum.

Women's Basketball:

WSU Travels to Utah to Ring in the New Year - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT (4 p.m. PT) on the Pac-12 Networks.