Mouhamed Gueye figured out what most of us learned the hard way: Pullman prepares you for things you didn't know you'd need. The second-round pick went from being the guy at WSU to being a guy who guards everybody in Atlanta, and that's the kind of story that makes you proud to be a Coug. It also makes you wonder about the guys still in Pullman trying to figure out their own next move, especially as the roster keeps turning over.
Gueye averaged 14.3 and 8.4 his final season at Washington State, then showed up to the NBA and realized every team has five guys who could do that. So he did what Cougs do. He adapted. He stopped worrying about his own shot and started making everyone else's life miserable. At 6-11 with a 7-3 wingspan, he says he can guard one through five, and the numbers back it up: 77 games played this season, a rotation spot on a playoff team, and a fifth seed in the East that finally didn't require a play-in. The Hawks open Saturday against the Knicks, and Gueye will be out there because he stopped trying to be the scorer he was at WSU and became the defender nobody wanted to deal with.
He also keeps an eye on the Coug pipeline. Klay Thompson is still the model, and Gueye says every time they see each other it's "Go Cougs" and a reminder of what resilience looks like. Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward are in Memphis. Isaac Jones is in Detroit. The fraternity is small, but it's growing, and Gueye wants more. That's the part that hits home for anyone who spent a winter in Pullman: we don't send a lot of guys to the league, but the ones who make it tend to stay because they figure out how to fit in without losing themselves.
Meanwhile, back in Pullman, the Cougs are rebuilding through the portal again. Ace Glass trades Crimson for Gold as fourth Coug exits Pullman after being the team's best player last season. Cougs add Providence guard Harrell, book nonconference date with High Point as reinforcements arrive. WSU hoops lands a big body from Northwestern, its seventh portal pickup in a frontcourt that needed one. The roster churn is real, and it's hard to watch guys leave. But Gueye's path is a reminder that the goal isn't to stay comfortable. It's to get to the league and then figure out what you have to become to stay there. The specific thing to watch now is whether any of these new Cougs can do what Gueye did: get drafted, get humble, and get to the playoffs. That's the bar. Go Cougs.