Spokesman.com
David Riley's roster vanished again. He rebuilt anyway. That's Pullman
David Riley's roster vanished again. He rebuilt anyway. That's Pullman. For the second straight year, his entire starting five walked out the door. And for the second straight year, he pieced together a new team from the transfer portal. This time, at least, he had a little more warning. Players told him early they were leaving, so he had time to hunt. The result? Fourteen newcomers, nine from the portal, plus a guy who last played for Riley at Eastern Washington before a two-year church mission.
That's a lot of new names. But Riley seems to like the mix. He's got a Texas A&M wing, a Northwestern forward, a Providence wing, and a couple of guys who can really score. Lazerek Houston averaged 20.8 points in Division II. Ronnie Harrison shot 53% inside the arc. Riley says Harrison is bigger than he looks on film, which is the kind of thing you want to hear about a new guy.
The exhibition loss to New Mexico was ugly. But Riley's brother has been telling him his teams are soft, and Riley says he's trying to fix that with chippy practices. We'll see if it works. Season opens Monday at Beasley against Davidson. If you want to read about another Coug trying to turn things around, check out "Kinnard runs wild as Cougs try to snap the skid in San Diego." Go Cougs.
