Renard Suggs, Ny Redding transferring from WSU

WSU has wasted little time in beginning the remake of its basketball roster, as the school announced today that sophomore guard Ny Redding and junior guard Renard Suggs have been granted their releases from the program.

Given the glut of guards on the roster, both were considered prime candidates for transfer after failing to play meaningful minutes this season.

Redding was a part of Kent's first recruiting class, a guy the incoming coach really wanted to land late in the process as he tried to find talented players who were uncommitted. Redding was a scorer at Westwind Prep (29 points per game), but he was asked to play the point at WSU.

After initially showing some ability as a freshman to run a wide-open offense, his lack of strength soon became a liability, and that didn't really change in his sophomore year. He didn't improve in his sophomore year, failing to become a threat to score while still unable to impose any kind of creative will on games; averaging 12 minutes across 29 games, he averaged just 1.2 points and 1.4 assists.

Suggs was one of four junior college transfers Kent added in his second recruiting class, thought to be a pure scorer. He saw solid minutes early on, but his playing time began to dwindle as Pac-12 action got underway. Eventually, his opportunities all but disappeared; he didn't crack double digits in minutes played over the final 14 games and didn't even get into five of them.

Although Suggs tended to run hot and cold, he had flashed an ability to supply instant offense. So his lack of playing time was a little head scratching, considering how poor the Cougars' offense was over that 17-game slide to end the season. Was he in some kind of dog house? We'll probably never know. He ended up averaging 5.4 points and 1.9 rebounds.

Both have redshirt seasons at their disposal, wherever they land.

As WSU had not oversigned in this class -- Milan Acquaah and Jeff Pollard have signed letters of intent -- the departures of Redding and Suggs leave the Cougs with two scholarships available. This would seem to be a good thing, given that they are badly in need of an influx of talent. However, Kent isn't rumored to be in the running for anyone who would provide an immediate impact.

One guy the Cougs offered recently is 6-foot, 165-poind Bellarmine Prep point guard Malachi Flynn. He was committed to Pacific up until December, and was named The (Tacoma) News Tribune's all-area player of the year after averaging better than 29 points per game:

It's also possible that Kent would attempt to pursue a grad transfer who could provide immediate help, although that doesn't seem to be an option he's pursued in the past.

Here's a look at the current scholarship situation: