- Another big body joins the Cougs as Ladji Dembele signs on
PULLMAN – The picture of Washington State’s next roster is starting to come together.
On Thursday, the Cougars earned a commitment from UNLV transfer forward Ladji Dembele, whose decision was announced by his agency on social media. Listed at 6-foot-8 and 255 pounds, Dembele spent one year with the Runnin’ Rebels, appearing in only five games due to an injury.
A native of Newark, New Jersey, by way of Mali, Dembele played the first two years of his career at Iowa, where he played in 55 total games, including 21 starts in his second season. Dembele averaged 5.2 points at UNLV and 4.5 points in his final season with the Hawkeyes, when he played an average of 17 minutes per game.
Dembele was originally a three-star prospect out of St. Benedict’s Prep, where he fielded offers from Pittsburgh, DePaul, Wake Forest, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Xavier. He moved to Spain at the age of 13 and the United States at 17. Dembele also played for Mali’s U-19 team at the 2021 World Cup.
Dembele’s addition makes eight offseason commitments for WSU coach David Riley, whose staff has also signed Northwestern forward Tyler Kropp, former Wake Forest guard Sebastian Akins, Providence transfer guard Jaylen Harrell, TCU transfer guard RJ Jones, Central Missouri transfer guard Lazerek Houston, Manhattan transfer forward Fraser Roxburgh and East Texas A&M transfer wing Ronnie Harrison.
But Dembele appears to be the first true big man the Cougars have landed. Kropp is listed at 6-foot-9, but his frame is a bit thinner, indicating he might play the power forward spot for WSU. What Riley and coaches hadn’t secured was a center, which is the position Dembele played most in his last season at Iowa.
Dembele will help WSU offset the departures of 12 players, including 10 to the transfer portal: key players Ace Glass (signed with Vanderbilt), Tomas Thrastarson, Eemeli Yalaho (committed to NC State), ND Okafor (committed to Ole Miss), Jerone Morton and Ri Vavers (signed with Memphis); reserve guards Parker Gerrits (signed with Wyoming), Brunel Madzoum and Kase Wynott (signed with Idaho); and forward Emmanuel Ugbo. Ugbo was suspended for the final nine games of the season because of a protection order against him.
The Cougars also lost point guard Adria Rodriguez, who headed back to his home country of Spain on a professional contract, as well as Simon Hildebrandt, who exhausted his college eligibility. In all, that’s 12 departures for the Cougars, who are set to return only two players from last season’s team: Robinson, who redshirted his true freshman season, and Blakely.
- WSU dips back into Australia for a 6-7 wing named Stathis
PULLMAN – To earn their latest signing, Washington State coaches returned to the international pipeline.
The Cougars are signing Australian wing Roman Stathis, the program announced Friday, their 10th addition this spring. Listed at 6-foot-7, Stathis hails from Sydney, Australia.
Stathis spent last year at Golden State Prep in Napa, California, a postgraduate academy for players to hone their skills. Beyond that, there is little public information available about Stathis, whose best attributes seem to center around hitting catch-and-shoot 3s and attacking closeouts on offense.
Because of the depth the Cougs have established with recent signings, it’s possible that Stathis takes a redshirt year in his first season at WSU, whose 2026-27 roster nearly complete. In a Zoom news conference earlier this week, coach David Riley indicated that the team has only one more new addition to announce, which is expected to come next week.
With Stathis joining the Cougars, their 2026-27 team now includes 12 players: Stathis, Oregon transfer guard Jamari Phillips, UNLV transfer Ladji Dembele, Northwestern transfer Tyler Kropp, Providence guard Jaylen Harrell, Wake Forest guard Sebastian Akins, Central Missouri (DII) transfer Lazerek Houston, Manhattan transfer Fraser Roxburgh, TCU transfer RJ Jones, Eastern Washington transfer Casey Jones. They also have signed incoming freshman Brayden Kyman and returners Dominik Robinson and walk-on guard Dio Blakely.
Phillips will help WSU offset the departures of 12 players, including 10 to the transfer portal: Ace Glass (signed with Vanderbilt), Tomas Thrastarson, Eemeli Yalaho (committed to NC State), ND Okafor (committed to Ole Miss), Jerone Morton and Ri Vavers (signed with Memphis); reserve guards Parker Gerrits (signed with Wyoming), Brunel Madzoum and Kase Wynott (signed with Idaho); and forward Emmanuel Ugbo. Ugbo was suspended for the final nine games of the season because of a protection order against him.
The Cougars also lost point guard Adria Rodriguez, who headed back to his home country of Spain on a professional contract, as well as Simon Hildebrandt, who exhausted his college eligibility. In all, that’s 12 departures for the Cougars, who are set to return only two players from last season’s team: Robinson, who redshirted his true freshman season, and Blakely.
- Another Duck lands in Pullman as Cougs snag Jamari Phillips
PULLMAN – The Washington State men are adding another transfer from the Power 4 ranks.
The Cougars have signed Oregon transfer guard Jamari Phillips, a source confirmed to The Spokesman-Review on Monday, good for their ninth addition of the spring. Phillips spent two years with the Ducks.
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, Phillips appeared in 40 games at Oregon, including 26 in his second and final season there. Last season, he averaged 2.7 points in 11 minutes per game, his best game coming in a nine-point outing in 31 minutes against UCLA.
247 Sports was the first to report the news about Phillips, who joins several players to transfer to WSU this spring, including UNLV forward Ladji Dembele, Northwestern forward Tyler Kropp, former Wake Forest guard Sebastian Akins, Providence transfer guard Jaylen Harrell, TCU transfer guard RJ Jones, Central Missouri transfer guard Lazerek Houston, Manhattan transfer forward Fraser Roxburgh and East Texas A&M transfer wing Ronnie Harrison.
Phillips, who also played in 14 games off the bench as a true freshman at Oregon, was once a four-star prospect in the class of 2024 out of Dream City Christian in the Phoenix area. He earned offers from Kansas, Arizona, ASU, UCLA, USC, Louisville and others – including WSU and its former staff.
Phillips started his high school career at Modesto Christian in California, where he was named the Sacramento Bee’s Player of the Year.
With Phillips joining the Cougars, their 2026-27 team now includes 11 players: Phillips, Dembele, Kropp, Harrell, Akins, Houston, Roxburgh, Jones, Eastern Washington transfer Casey Jones (who spent the last two years on a church mission), incoming freshman Brayden Kyman and returners Dominik Robinson and walk-on guard Dio Blakely.
Phillips will help WSU offset the departures of 12 players, including 10 to the transfer portal: key players Ace Glass (signed with Vanderbilt), Tomas Thrastarson, Eemeli Yalaho (committed to NC State), ND Okafor (committed to Ole Miss), Jerone Morton and Ri Vavers (signed with Memphis); reserve guards Parker Gerrits (signed with Wyoming), Brunel Madzoum and Kase Wynott (signed with Idaho); and forward Emmanuel Ugbo. Ugbo was suspended for the final nine games of the season because of a protection order against him.
The Cougars also lost point guard Adria Rodriguez, who headed back to his home country of Spain on a professional contract, as well as Simon Hildebrandt, who exhausted his college eligibility. In all, that’s 12 departures for the Cougars, who are set to return only two players from last season’s team: Robinson, who redshirted his true freshman season, and Blakely.
