24-9; 14-6, Second in the Pac-12 Conference
It feels like a long time since Washington State lost its top four players (each with eligibility still remaining) from last season. And that probably feels absolutely fantastic to hoops fans on the Palouse. The revamped Cougars didn’t take long to start gelling, even while breaking in a freshman lead guard.
Head coach Kyle Smith quickly established a deep, multi-skilled rotation up front to be this squad’s backbone – and upon the strength of that unit, Wazzu began to win. By the end of the regular season, the Cougars had 23 wins, had closely challenged Arizona for the Pac-12 title, and landed two all new names in the league’s all-conference team. The headliners are Isaac Jones, a Washington native who earned his way to high major success by doing it the hard way; and Myles Rice, a redshirt freshman who beat cancer last year before becoming an instant star for the Cougars.
After starting out in junior college and then having a great year at Idaho last season, Jones proved plenty ready for a jump up to the Pac-12 for his final year of eligibility. A smooth offensive player who is truly comfortable in the post, Jones has a full repertoire. He can create shots for himself or others while establishing position with his back to the rim, and Jones has coolly splashed hook shots and turnaround jumpers in defenders’ faces no matter how physical they get with him. He’s provided stalwart effort at both ends of the floor, and Jones has been a huge part of Wazzu’s excellence on the glass. He racked up nine double-doubles, and Jones finished fifth in the league in offensive, fifth in defensive, and fourth in total rebounds this winter.
Though he had been around the program for a couple of years already, it was hard to gauge exactly what the Cougars could expect from Rice coming off of his defeat of cancer. Turns out, the Pac-12’s Rookie of the Year was ready to do it all for this group like he’d been leading them for years. In the very first game of his career, Rice played 29 minutes and scored 13 points. Less than a month later, he went for 28 against Big Sky champion Eastern Washington; in mid-January, he went off for 35 with eight assists and four steals at Stanford. Without a true point guard coming back from last season and transfer addition Joseph Yesufu hurt for most of the season, Rice became the guy to get Wazzu into their offense, protect the ball, and create for his buddies – and he’s done so to rave reviews. The Pac-12 saw a half dozen different 5-star recruits sign with member institutions this past spring, and Rice was not among them. It’s alright, though, because Rice went out and impressed as much as any of them.
Washington State has been a top ten outfit nationally in defensive rebound percentage almost all year, and the Cougars rank top 40 in virtually all of the most important defensive metrics. That’s in large part because of the quality Wazzu has gotten from Oscar Cluff, Ruben Chinyelu, and the smooth-shooting Andrej Jakimovski. From North Macedonia, Jakomovski is a career Coug, and has enjoyed a breakout season in Smith’s three-forward sets. The team’s leader in made triples on the year, Jakimovski is often a tough matchup and has shown more than ever before defensively in his fourth year. Cluff is from Australia, and came to Pullman from junior college. All he’s done this year is make 55% of his shots, finish just off of Jones’ pace on the offensive glass, and give Smith a scoring pivot to pair with his versatile forwards. Chinyelu, from Nigeria, is the other half of Wazzu’s equation at center, and isn’t your typical freshman. With a chiseled 6’11” frame, Chinyelu has made an immediate and powerful impact for the Cougars. Chinyelu led Washington in blocked shots (they’ve rejected five per contest as a team, top 20 nationally) and the rookie snagged more than 25% of available defensive boards whenever he’s been on the floor. He hasn’t been featured much offensively, but Chinyelu is more than just a dunker and gives Smith a rock-solid rotation which won’t be out-sized by anyone they meet in the tournament.
Down the stretch in particular, Jaylen Wells has stepped up to give the Cougars another vital scoring threat. The former Division II star has proven to be a dangerous outside shooter, and at a long 6’8″, there aren’t many defenders who can adequately disrupt his shots. In a season-defining win at Arizona, Wells went wild, scoring 27 points with six huge triples. Over Wazzu’s final 18 games, Wells has averaged 15.5 points on 61.9% true shooting. Without Yesufu and given the rotations of bigs working well together, Wells has added even more functional length defensively, and can eat up certain matchups on the perimeter. Adding even more of that good reach on defense is French wing Kymany Houinsou. The team’s #2 playmaker, Houinsou rarely scores much, but he does everything else on the floor well. One of the only things that Wazzu hasn’t done at a particularly high level this year is defend the three. Following a loss to Oregon early in Pac-12 play in which the Ducks hit 14 triples, the Cougars began to play more matchup zone, taking advantage of their length- and it has made a difference. Youngster Isaiah Watts and veteran Jabe Mullins round out the perimeter rotation. At times, each has tossed in some timely three-point shooting – and Smith & Co will need more of it in the Big Dance.
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