Trio of Cougs still await their NFL draft fate

Day 2 of the NFL Draft came and went without any Cougs hearing their names called. We were teased at Luke Falk possibly being a first round pick (for some reason), but alas, he went undrafted through three rounds.

Hercules Mata’afa and Cole Madision didn’t hear their names either. Those three are the three Cougs that should be drafted.

After five QBs heard their names called on day 1, only one quarterback—Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph—heard his name on day 2, which included rounds two and three. Falk is the top remaining quarterback on the board, so he’s pretty much a given to be drafted today.

Mata’afa is a curious one, and not because he wasn’t drafted on day 2. His size and position are intriguing, and The Spokesman-Review’s Theo Lawson had an interesting take when asked if Mata’afa should have stayed for his senior season:

I still think, and Lawson may as well, that Mata’afa had nothing more to prove. The risk outweighed the reward. We’ll see where he ends up.

No money, mo problems

This isn’t terribly surprising, but WSU Athletics remains in a deep budget hole. The Spokesman-Review reports that the deficit is expected to reach $67 million at the end of FY2018, which ends June 30. That $67 million is a multi-year figure, and the deficit for FY2018 alone is not yet known (there are still two months to go). The deficits have slowly declined in each of the past four years, but there is still a long path to getting out of the red.

The Board of Regents meets next week in Spokane and plans to discuss a possible plan to reduce the deficit.

Washington State athletic department projects $67 million hole, will discuss plans to reduce debt at Board of Regents meeting | The Spokesman-Review
Washington State anticipates its multiyear athletics debt will reach $67 million by the end of the 2018 fiscal year, a school spokesperson confirmed to The Spokesman-Review Friday, and the school’s Board of Regents will convene next week to formulate a plan to reduce the operating deficit.

Football

Washington State has questions at QB after Falk’s departure | HeraldNet.com
Juniors Trey Tinsley and Anthony Gordon are the front-runners to be the next starter for WSU.

Basketball

Milan Acquaah announces transfer from Washington State, becomes fourth guard to leave program | The Spokesman-Review
Acquaah joins starting point guard Malachi Flynn and little-used reserve guard Jamar Ergas as the fourth member of Kent’s backcourt to leave the program this offseason. Walk-on guard TJ Mickelson has also transferred out.

Zags' neighbor to the south needs a so.. - Bud Withers' Blog - Bloguru
"I don’t get why WSU finds itself owing Ernie Kent a ton of money. I don’t get what he’s done to earn it. I don’t get the utter lack of a road map at my alma mater to be competitive in basketball."

Baseball

I’m old and got tired before the baseball game at UW ended and before a write-up was released but this is the last update I got and I think you can assume how it all ended.