Another Duck, another Coug. That's the short version of Jamari Phillips signing with Washington State, and we're not mad about it. The 6-4 guard spent two years in Eugene, played 11 minutes a game last season, and now he's in Pullman as part of David Riley's full-scale roster rebuild. This is the ninth addition of the spring, and it tells you everything about how Riley is operating: aggressively, without sentiment, and with a clear eye on talent.
We liked what we saw when Riley talked about next year's roster having David Riley says next year's roster has more talent walking in than last year's. Phillips was a four-star recruit out of high school with offers from Kansas, Arizona, and UCLA. He didn't pop at Oregon, 2.7 points a game isn't going to get a statue built, but he's a guy who played meaningful minutes in the Big Ten and showed flashes, like that nine-point game against UCLA in 31 minutes. That's the kind of profile Riley is stacking: Power 4 guys who haven't maxed out yet. Combine him with the other transfers like UNLV's Ladji Dembele and TCU's RJ Jones, and you've got a roster that doesn't look like it's starting from scratch. It looks like it's starting from a pile of high-upside parts.
What's striking is the math. The Cougars lost 12 players from last season, including 10 to the portal and one to a pro contract in Spain. That's a full reset. But Riley has also been working the international pipeline, as we saw when WSU picked up a 6-7 wing from Australia. That's WSU dips back into Australia for a 6-7 wing named Stathis, and it shows the staff isn't just shopping the transfer portal clearance rack. They're casting a wide net. Phillips is part of that same philosophy: take swings on guys who were recruited hard out of high school and see if a change of scenery unlocks something. The takeaway here is simple: Riley is betting that the sum of these parts is greater than what each guy did at his last stop. That's a bet we're willing to watch play out.
The one thing to keep an eye on is minutes. Phillips played 11 a game at Oregon. He's coming into a backcourt that now includes Providence transfer Jaylen Harrell, Wake Forest transfer Sebastian Akins, and returner Dominik Robinson, who redshirted last year. That's competition. If Phillips earns the floor time, he could be the kind of guard who makes a jump in a new system. If he doesn't, he's another name on a deep bench. Either way, the Cougars have 11 players for next season, and the roster is essentially done. That means the real work starts now: fitting all these pieces together before the ball goes up in November.