Hey, Cougs! New CougCenter writer here, and I’m super excited to bring some more quality crimson and gray content your way!
First off, a little about me: I am a transplant Coug graduate originally from Chicago, who made the spontaneous decision to attend the greatest college on earth after visiting campus during a lengthy family road trip. You know, a very typical decision for people to make: move 1,844 miles and across two time zones to an isolated town! But it worked out, and I made some of the best relationships with people I love. My favorite WSU sport to watch is basketball, which I’m sure some of you have seen me tweet about on my personal account, usually about the men’s team. And since so much has happened to Washington State MBB lately, I wanted to do a little deep dive on my favorite players under the suddenly less meme-able (but still great) Kyle Smith before we begin the next chapter here in 2024.
For those who don’t know, post-game Modelo drinker and Costco enjoyer Kyle Smith was the head coach for MBB for 5 years, beginning in the 2019, which happened exactly when I was added to the WSU student roster of semi-casual ball watchers and knowers! The 2019 – 2020 roster (17-17) had my first favorite player in CJ Elleby, who averaged a blistering 18 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 1.7 steals per game. He led the Cougs to wins over both #8 Oregon (which is one of my favorite men’s basketball victories to this day) and UW, where he went nuclear and dropped 34 points on them in an extremely satisfying win. But that’s not all, as the Cougs also scored their first Pac-12 tournament win in 11 seasons (Which also happened to be the last postseason game of the 2019 – 2020 season, so we basically won the national championship, in my mind). CJ Elleby was a Portland Trailblazer for 2 years, as well!
My next favorite is a controversial one lately, but I have to mention DJ Rodman, who was an absolute pest on defense and the glass, as well as a deadeye from deep. I’m pretty sure he’d hold the WSU record for offensive charges taken, if they kept that stat somewhere.
The 2020 – 2021 roster (14-13) had Efe Abogidi, a 6’10” big from Nigeria and the NBA Global Academy, who would play for the Cougs for 2 years before going to the NBA’s G League Ignite team. Efe was one of the most explosive bigs we’ve ever had, and was a joy to watch with his ridiculous pogo stick blocks and dunks.
Next is Andrej Jakimovski (Jaki), who was a three-and-D specialist and played 4 seasons for Washington State. He didn’t shy away from letting it fly, which made fans happy who love to see a splash from downtown. He had his best season in 2023 – 2024, where he averaged 9.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 36.1% from deep. He’s one of the toughest players we had under Kyle Smith, even getting a tooth knocked out in the 2022 – 2023 Pac-12 tournament during a game against Cal, as well as enduring a nagging shoulder injury during the 2023 – 2024 season!
The 2021 – 2022 (22-15) roster had Michael Flowers, a 6’1” point guard who boasted 1st in 3pt% in the Pac-12, and made 100 threes in a single season! He now plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the highest-level professional basketball league in Germany.
Then we had Mouhamed (Mo) Gueye, a 6’11” big who has since gone on to the NBA after two years as a Coug. Mo gave us great memories, such as the dagger three against Arizona for an upset in Tuscon, as well as that massive dunk against the Huskies, which very well could have been the moment he fractured his back, actually.
The 2022 – 2023 (17-17) season roster had Jabe Mullins, the league’s best 3pt shooter of that season, with a buzzer beater as well as a game with 8/9 made threes! Jack Wilson was also a fan favorite, who also played for the WSU football team that fall. He basically had the role of toughening up the starting bigs in practice, which he may have done a little too well!
Finally, we have the 2023 – 2024 (25-10) roster, which had Jaylen Wells, Isaiah Watts, (Dr.) Rueben Chinyelu, Isaac Jones, Myles (Chef) Rice, and Oscar (Aussie) Cluff, who were all fantastic new additions and inspiring people who got us to the Big Dance. Hard to name my favorite there, but Isaiah Watts probably gets the award for the best vibes on the team and staying home to dominate as a Coug next year.
Next, I’ll take a deep dive into the new 2024 – 2025 roster, so you can get to know my preseason favorites, and learn a little bit about Coach Riley!
Hope you enjoyed this hoops nostalgia trip, and GO COUGS.