basketball
8 stories filed under basketball on Wazzu. The newest of them: “No drama, no letup: Cougs handle business in exhibition win”, “WSU hoops heads to Everett for a November neutral-court game”, and “Cougs get their tip times for Pac-12 women's hoops slate”. The Cougs walked into Beasley Coliseum on Saturday, handled the exhibition opponent, and walked out with a win. Everett is getting a real November treat. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every basketball story on Wazzu, newest first.
No drama, no letup: Cougs handle business in exhibition win
The Cougs walked into Beasley Coliseum on Saturday, handled the exhibition opponent, and walked out with a win. No drama, no letup. That's the kind of night you want to see from this squad. It wasn't a game that will end up on a highlight reel, but it didn't need to be. The effort was there. The focus was there. Against a team that came to play, Washington State did exactly what it was supposed to do: take care of business and keep building. We've been watching this team figure itself out all season. The defense has had its moments. The offense has had its questions. Nights like this one don't answer everything, but they do show a team that's putting in the work. That matters. If you missed the trip to Fort Collins, go back and read "Wazzu's effort was there in Fort Collins, even if the win wasn't." It puts this performance in the right context. The Cougs didn't get the result they wanted that night, but they didn't fold. They came home, got back in the gym, and showed up ready. That's the stuff you want to see. That's how you build a team that can handle a Pac-12 road trip north or a showdown with a tough opponent. One game at a time. No shortcuts. Go Cougs.
WSU hoops heads to Everett for a November neutral-court game
Everett is getting a real November treat. WSU hoops is bringing a neutral-court game to the city, and it's exactly the kind of matchup that makes you want to clear a Tuesday night. No home-court advantage, no familiar rafters, just basketball, plain and simple. Cougs in the stands will have to bring their own noise. This is a smart move. Pullman is home, but the program has alumni scattered everywhere. Everett is a good halfway point, a place where the Palouse feels close enough and the city feels far enough. Neutral-court games have a different energy. It's not hostile, but it's not cozy either. You have to earn every call. If you've been following the team through the early season, you already know the kind of intensity that's showing up. The roster is taking shape, and if you want to see how that work translates away from Beasley, this is the game to watch. For more on how the Cougs are building that identity, check out our coverage of fall ball and the early roster talk in "Riley and the roster speak, fall ball is next." It's good context for what you'll see in Everett. Mark the calendar. Bring a friend who forgot what Pullman feels like. And remember, when the ball goes up, it's just you, the Coug next to you, and the game. Go Cougs.
Cougs get their tip times for Pac-12 women's hoops slate
Tip times are out. That means we can finally start planning our February weekends around the Beasley Coliseum instead of pretending we'll get anything done on a Saturday afternoon. The Pac-12 women's hoops slate is here, and the Cougs have actual times to circle. No more guessing. No more refreshing the conference site like it's a job. We know when to show up. The schedule itself is what it is. Conference play is always a grind, and the Pac-12 is not going to hand anyone an easy path. But there's something about having the tip times locked in that makes it real. You can look at a Tuesday night in January and know exactly where you'll be. That's the stuff. That's the rhythm of a season. And sure, we've been through a lot lately. The Beavers and Cougs made their rivalry official, which still feels like the right kind of weird. There's also been plenty of talk about the new Pac-12 and who's rising while others slide. That's all fair. But for now, this is about the women's team and the road ahead. They've got a slate. We've got a calendar. The rest will sort itself out on the court. So mark the dates. Set the reminders. Grab the crew. Cougar basketball is coming back, and we know exactly when to be there. Go Cougs.
Cougs Rack Up Four More Wins at the Duck Invitational
Four more wins. That's a good weekend, no matter how you slice it, and the Cougs came back from the Duck Invitational with a full wallet. You don't always get that in early-season golf, where the weather and the course can turn on you faster than a Pullman wind gust. But Wazzu went out there, put together a steady stretch, and handled business. It's the kind of result that builds a little momentum before the big stuff. You win four in a tournament and you start believing the next one is there for the taking. We like the sound of that. We also like the way this team has been trending, and it's worth remembering the Cougs were already smiling in the desert earlier this month. If you missed that one, go check out "Three Cougs went low in Arizona and left the desert smiling." It pairs nicely with this. Golf is a lonely sport, but the scoreboard is a team thing. Four wins means somebody stepped up every round, and that's the kind of depth that travels well. Spring is still young, but this is exactly the start you want. Keep it rolling, Cougs. Go Cougs.
Pac-12 lays out 2026-27 women's hoops schedule for our Cougs
The Pac-12 finally dropped the full 2026-27 women's hoops schedule for our Cougs, and it's worth a look before you start planning your watch parties. Conference play kicks off in December, with the regular season wrapping up in early March before the tournament heads to Las Vegas. That's right, Vegas in March, same as the men, and it's about time the women get that treatment too. The schedule mixes in the usual home-and-home grind against familiar rivals like Oregon State and Washington, but the real test comes from the newer blood in the league. You'll want to circle the home opener at Beasley. That place gets loud for good reason, and these Cougs are hungry to prove last season wasn't a fluke. If you missed the volleyball slate dropping earlier this week, go back and read "Bohler's Back in Business" for a sense of how the whole athletic department is building momentum. Pullman is buzzing, and not just because the wheat is turning. This team has the pieces to make some noise. Charisma Osborne's leadership alone is worth the price of admission, but the young guards are going to surprise some folks. Get your calendar out. Mark the dates that matter. Go Cougs.
Cougs get Duke in Palm Springs for a November showdown
Washington State basketball is going to get a crack at Duke in Palm Springs this November, and that is not a sentence Coug fans get to read every year. In fact, it's the first time the program has ever scheduled the Blue Devils. David Riley's squad will tip off against Jon Scheyer's loaded roster on Nov. 21 at Acrisure Arena, and the Cougars will be the clear underdog. That's fine. That's when this program has always been most dangerous. Riley is basically building a new team again, 12 newcomers on the roster, and Duke is Duke. They lost Cameron Boozer to the NBA draft, but they return Cayden Boozer and Cameron Foster and added John Blackwell from Wisconsin and Drew Scharnowski from Belmont. They're a national title favorite. The Cougars are still figuring out who they are. This is the kind of game that gets your attention in November. Win or lose, it's a measuring stick. And if you want to remember what it felt like when the Cougs finally broke through after decades of waiting, go read our piece on Jim Walden, who died at 88. He brought the program to its first bowl in 50 years. That same stubborn, underdog pride is what Riley is banking on in Palm Springs. Go Cougs.
Another Duck lands in Pullman as Cougs snag Jamari Phillips
Another Duck lands in Pullman. That's three now, if you're counting, and the Cougs just added Oregon transfer guard Jamari Phillips. He's a 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard who saw the floor in 40 games across two seasons with the Ducks. Last year he averaged 2.7 points in 11 minutes a night. His best night? A nine-point showing against UCLA in 31 minutes. Not eye-popping, but the kid was a four-star prospect out of high school. Kansas, Arizona, UCLA, Louisville all wanted him. WSU's former staff offered him too. Now he's a Coug. Phillips is the ninth addition this spring for David Riley's rebuild. The roster is essentially a new team. Eleven players are on board for 2026-27, including the Eastern Washington transfer Casey Jones who just got back from a church mission. That's the kind of detail you only get in Pullman. They needed bodies. Twelve players left, including ten to the portal. Ace Glass is at Vanderbilt. Eemeli Yalaho committed to NC State. ND Okafor to Ole Miss. That's a lot of production walking out the door. But Riley keeps saying the incoming talent is stronger than last year's. We wrote about that in "David Riley says next year's roster has more talent walking in than last year's." Worth a read if you want the full picture on how he's thinking about this. Phillips won't carry the offense by himself. But he's another Power 4 body with upside. And for a program that lost basically everyone, that's a start.
WSU hoops lands a big body from Northwestern, its seventh portal pickup
Tyler Kropp started 10 games for Northwestern as a true freshman, scored 11 points and grabbed nine boards in a win at USC, and now he's a Coug. That's the kind of frontcourt depth WSU needed, and it's the seventh portal pickup for David Riley's overhauled roster. Kropp is listed at 6-9, 230 pounds, and played mostly center for the Wildcats. That didn't give him tons of scoring chances, but he showed what he could do in high school: Ohio's No. 2 player, 1,095 career points, and the school rebounding record. He also played for Argentina's U19 team in the FIBA World Cup last summer and put up 21.7 points and 9.7 boards a game. That's real production. The Cougars have now added ten players for next season, which is good because 12 guys left. Ten of them hit the portal. One went pro in Spain. Another ran out of eligibility. That's a lot of turnover, but Riley is stacking bodies with purpose. Kropp is a big body who already proved he can hang in a Power 4 league. He'll get more chances to show what he can do on offense here. If you want the full picture of how this roster is coming together, our story on Ladji Dembele signing on gives you another look at the frontcourt plan. Go Cougs.