Washington State
63 stories filed under Washington State on Wazzu. The newest of them: “Kirby Moore on the mic: what the Coug offense is building”, “Ace Glass trades Crimson for Gold as fourth Coug exits Pullman”, and “Max Dean's migraines make Cougs' punting a game-time call”. Kirby Moore is calling plays that sound different. Ace Glass is gone. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every Washington State story on Wazzu, newest first.
Kirby Moore on the mic: what the Coug offense is building
Kirby Moore is calling plays that sound different. The Coug offense is building something, and it's worth paying attention to. Not because we're about to hang 50 on someone every week, but because there's a plan. Moore has a feel for what this group can do, and he's not forcing square pegs into round holes. The quarterback reps, the route combos, the way the line is setting up, it all points to an identity forming in real time. That's more than you could say for some recent seasons, and it matters. If you want the full breakdown of how Moore talked through Kansas State on the radio, go read "Kirby Moore Breaks Down Kansas State on This Week's Cougar Football Hour." That piece gets into the specifics he laid out himself. This one is about what comes next. The offense isn't finished. It's not supposed to be. But you can see the foundation. Moore is patient without being passive. He's building a system that fits the guys he has, not the ones he wishes he had. That's how you get better in the Palouse. That's how you stay competitive when the roster turns over. It's early, and nobody is handing out trophies for September concepts. But the direction is real. And for a Coug fan who remembers the years when the direction was just spinning tires, that's something to hold onto. Go Cougs.
Ace Glass trades Crimson for Gold as fourth Coug exits Pullman
Ace Glass is gone. The freshman who dropped 40 on Arizona State in Maui, broke WSU's single-season scoring record, and shot 88% from the line is taking his game to Vanderbilt. He announced it Friday. That makes four Cougs out of the ten who hit the portal who have found a new home, and this one stings the most. Glass was the guy last season. 16.4 points per game, All-WCC second team, all-freshman. He scored in double figures in all but five games. He hit a game-winning and-one against LMU at home. He was the reason you kept watching when the season went sideways. Now he's heading to the SEC to play with Tyler Tanner, who just got Vanderbilt back to the Tournament for the first time in nine years. The money part is real. Glass was a four-star who originally signed with Texas A&M. When Buzz Williams left, he reopened things and chose WSU for the family feel. This time, Vanderbilt likely made him an offer the Cougs couldn't match. That's the world now. But the roster isn't empty. The Cougs have added five new guys, including a D-II guard who averaged 20 points as a true freshman. We've got more on that in the piece about the Providence guard who just committed. Go Cougs.
Max Dean's migraines make Cougs' punting a game-time call
Max Dean's migraines are making Saturday a game-time call, and for a Coug punter averaging 45 yards a boot, 18th in the country, that's a problem Washington State doesn't need. Dean emerged from the locker room around 3:15 p.m. for warmups, which is a good sign, but if he can't go, kicker Jack Stevens takes over punting duties. Stevens has never punted in college. Not once. High school was the last time. He's also 1-for-5 on field goals this season, including a missed extra point. So, yeah, that's not ideal. Dean has been a bright spot in a season that already saw the Cougs let a 14-point lead dissolve against Arizona, a game we covered in "Cougs jump Arizona early, then watch a 14-point lead dissolve." His 14 punts for 627 yards, five inside the 20, and a long of 52 are the kind of quiet consistency that wins close games. Coach Kirby Moore said it best: Dean's work in the punt game is getting overshadowed. He's right. If Dean can't go, the Cougs lose more than a leg. He also holds kicks, and that job is suddenly up for grabs too. Against a Wildcats team that just flipped the script on them, special teams can't be a question mark. Go Cougs.
WSU and Gonzaga close league play with a Wednesday night showdown
The Cougs and the Zags will close out the new Pac-12 women's basketball regular season against each other on March 6, and it will be in Spokane at McCarthey Athletic Center. That's a Wednesday night showdown with some history behind it. The full conference schedule dropped Friday, and it's a clean 16-game slate for the eight-team league. Every team plays everyone home and away. Washington State opens league play at home against Texas State on Jan. 9. Gonzaga starts earlier, hosting Oregon State on Jan. 6. Times and TV are still TBD, which is the standard dance this time of year. The head-to-head numbers are what they are. Gonzaga leads the all-time series 14-7, and they swept all four meetings when these two shared the West Coast Conference the last two seasons. That stings. But this is a new league and a new chapter. The Cougs get one more shot at the Zags to close things out, and there's something fitting about that. For more on what's happening around the program, check out the update on Trey Leckner healing up fast and maybe finally seeing the field. Tight end room could use the help. 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.
Mouhamed Gueye traded buckets for defense, and it's working
Mouhamed Gueye walked into the NBA as a scorer. He's making his money as a stopper. That's the kind of pivot that keeps a second-round pick in the league, and after watching him play 77 games this season for Atlanta, it's working. Gueye averaged 14.3 and 8.4 at WSU. He was the guy. Then he got to the Hawks and realized everybody in the building can put the ball in the basket. So he figured out the other end. At 6-11 with a 7-3 wingspan, he can guard one through five. That's not a throwaway line. That's how you go from six games as a rookie to a rotation guy on a playoff team. The numbers won't jump off your phone screen, 4.4 points, 3.6 boards, but the Hawks don't need him to score. They need him to make life miserable for whoever he's guarding. He did that all season, and now Atlanta is the fifth seed in the East, headed to New York to open the playoffs Saturday. Gueye also keeps an eye on the Coug pipeline. Klay Thompson is still the standard, and Gueye says every time they see each other it's "Go Cougs." Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward are in Memphis. Isaac Jones is in Detroit. The fraternity is small, but it's growing. If you're tracking how WSU hoops is rebuilding, our story on the Cougs adding a big body from Northwestern is worth a read.
Three Coug freshmen got their first taste of Kansas State: and the lesson was loud
The first time you step on a Power Four opponent's floor as a true freshman, you find out fast what you're made of. Three Coug freshmen got that lesson in Manhattan, and the scoreboard says Kansas State won by 14. But the tape says something else. Those first few minutes? That's the part that matters. Seeing the speed, the size, the way a veteran team moves without thinking, that's the real education. And for a program that's still building its identity under this staff, the question isn't whether they lost. It's whether they learned. We'll have more on the X's and O's soon. If you want to see how the coaching staff is breaking down that fight, go read "Kirby Moore on K-State: What the postgame tape reveals about Wazzu's fight." It's the kind of film-room honesty that tells you more than any box score. For now, the take is simple: these three freshmen got baptized. That's not a bad thing. You don't grow in Pullman without a few hard Saturdays. The Cougs didn't fold. They took the hit, and they'll be better for it. Go Cougs.
Cut mid-flight, Isaac Jones lands on his feet in Detroit
Isaac Jones got cut mid-flight. Not a metaphor. The Kings tapped him on the shoulder at 30,000 feet and told him he was waived. That is brutal. Jones sat in that seat for the rest of the flight, texted his wife, and didn't sleep. Two days of waiting on the phone. Detroit called. The fit makes too much sense. Jones is a Spanaway kid who worked at a pipe supply store, grinded through Wenatchee Valley, Idaho, and then WSU, where he helped drag the Cougs to their first NCAA tournament in 16 years. He plays with grit. The Motor City is the right place for that engine. He's 26 now, the oldest guy on Detroit's Summer League roster, and he's still out there averaging 17 and eight. He's working on his three-point shot, taking four in a game. The Pistons want him to shoot. That's the next step. Jones still follows both of his former schools on the Palouse. He's planning to hit Pullman in August for an alumni tournament. He was happy to see Idaho make the tournament too. That's a guy who doesn't forget where he came from. If you want to read about another unusual path from the region, check out the story on Noah Riley's route from Whitworth to the NFL. Different sport, same kind of persistence. Go Cougs.
Cougs Handle Southern Utah in Straight Sets, No Drama Required
The Cougars walked into Bohler Gym, took care of business, and walked out. No drama. No five-set heartburn. Just a straight-sets sweep of Southern Utah, the kind of night that lets you enjoy the highlights without chewing your fingernails off. That's the nice thing about a match like this. You get to watch the team execute, see the freshmen get some run, and leave early enough to beat the rush to Valhalla. Southern Utah came in hungry, but the Cougs never let them sniff a set. Clean passing. Smart swings. The kind of volleyball that makes you remember why you love this program even when the weather outside is doing its best to convince you otherwise. If you missed the live action, do yourself a favor and check out "Cougs sweep Southern Utah with highlights worth the replay." There are some points in there you'll want to watch again. And if you're already looking ahead, and let's be honest, you are, Kirby Moore is already on the mic breaking down the offense ahead of Arizona week. That's linked up on the site, too. For now, though, enjoy the sweep. No stress. No drama. Just Cougs doing what Cougs do. 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.
Another Late Night Letdown as Cougs Can't Finish the Job at Gesa
That 14-0 lead felt like something, didn't it? Caden Pinnick punched one in on the ground, then Jackquintin Ball jumped a route and took it to the house. Gesa was loud. The old ghosts were stirring. Then Arizona remembered it had Noah Fifita and Tre Spivey, and the whole thing flipped. The Cougs hung around. Pinnick found Branden Ganashamoorthy for a 46-yard score late, cutting it to seven with seven minutes left. That's the part that stings. The defense got a stop, then couldn't push Arizona out of field goal range. Michael Salgado-Medina drilled a 51-yarder with two minutes left, and that was that. 34-24. This was the best effort of the year, which tells you where the bar is. Pinnick is now up to five turnovers in four games. The offensive line gave up three more sacks. The run game still isn't there. The secondary got torched for seven passes of 15-plus yards. All of that adds up to 1-3 and a lot of the same questions. The good news? Pac-12 play starts next week against Fresno State. First meeting in Pullman since 1994. The bad news is the same problems keep showing up. If you want to dig into how the offense left plays on the field, our story on Moore's unit has the details. Go Cougs.
Cougs add a 6-8 forward who likes to score
The Cougs just added a 6-8 forward who likes to score, and that's a good thing for a roster that lost 12 players. Ronnie Harrison, out of East Texas A&M, put up 14.7 points and 6.1 boards last season, shooting 53% inside the arc. He's not a three-point gunner, 30% from deep, but he gets buckets from everywhere else. He also blocks shots and picks pockets, so the two-way stuff is there. Harrison is the fourth addition this spring for David Riley and his staff. He joins Manhattan's Fraser Roxburgh, TCU's RJ Jones, and Central Missouri's Lazerek Houston, who averaged over 20 points as a true freshman. That's some serious scoring depth. Harrison mostly played power forward and center for the Lions, so he gives Riley flexibility up front. The Cougs are essentially rebuilding. Of last season's team, only Dominik Robinson and walk-on Dio Blakely return. Ace Glass is gone to the SEC, and we wrote about that in "Ace Glass trades Crimson for Gold as fourth Coug exits Pullman." That one stung, but Harrison is the kind of get that helps you move on. He's a Dallas kid who started at Tarleton State before finding his groove at East Texas A&M. He became their top scorer in a hurry. Now he's a Coug. For a team that needed bodies and buckets, this is a solid pickup. Go Cougs.
Three Cougs who made the Boeing Apple Cup one to remember
The pass from John Mateer to Kyle Williams wasn't just a touchdown. It was the moment the Cougs said, *We are not done here.* Three Cougs made that Boeing Apple Cup one to remember, and it wasn't just the stat sheet that did the talking. Mateer played like he had something to prove. Williams caught everything thrown his way, and the connection between them felt like something Pullman hasn't seen in a while. But let's talk about that defensive stand. The Cougs' defense held when it mattered most, forcing the Huskies to kick a field goal instead of sealing the game. That gave the offense a shot. And Mateer and Williams took it. This wasn't a perfect game. It was a gritty one. And for a program that keeps hearing it can't hang, that kind of grit matters more than the final score. If you want the full breakdown from the locker room, Kirby Moore breaks down exactly what went wrong and what went right in our piece on the loss straight from the source. Three Cougs showed up in Seattle and reminded everyone that this rivalry still runs deep. The scoreboard didn't flip, but the fight did. Go Cougs.
Arizona week starts with Kirby Moore on the mic, no need to overthink it
Arizona week is here, and Kirby Moore is the one talking into the mic. That is fine by us. No need to overthink it. Moore has been running the offense all season, and he has earned the chance to break down the tape and the game plan after a win. The Cougs just handled business on the road in Fresno, and if you want the full breakdown of how that looked, we have the *Fresno State couldn't slow the Cougs in a clean road win* piece waiting for you. That game was clean. This week should be, too. Arizona is a different animal. They have athletes, and they will try to make things messy. But Moore has been steady. He does not get cute. He calls what works and trusts the guys in front of him. That is the kind of offensive coordinator you want when the schedule starts to tighten up. Pullman will be loud. The weather will probably do something weird. And Kirby Moore will be up there, talking through the adjustments like he has been doing it for a decade. Because he has. We will have more on the game plan and the matchup as the week goes. For now, it is Cougs on the mic, Cougs on the field, and no reason to complicate it. Go Cougs.
Kirby Moore Breaks Down the Offense After Arizona
Kirby Moore sat down after the Arizona game and didn't sugarcoat anything. He broke down the offense the way you'd expect from a guy who spent his Saturday watching his unit grind through a Pac-12 road game. No excuses. Just film, mechanics, and what needs to click. That's the kind of talk Pullman actually respects. Moore walked through the adjustments, the reads, and the moments where the Cougs either hit or missed. It wasn't a victory lap. It was a coach who knows the margin between a good drive and a stalled one is smaller than a play call sheet. If you watched that game and wondered why certain routes looked open but the ball didn't go there, Moore answers that. He doesn't hide behind jargon. This is the stuff that doesn't make the highlight reel but makes the difference in November. If you want the full picture from Tucson, we already had a piece on the things that won't show up in a box score. Moore's breakdown fits right next to it. Read them together. That's where the real story lives. The offense is still finding its rhythm. Moore knows it. The players know it. But hearing him talk through it, you get the sense he trusts what he sees. That matters more than a clean stat line. Go Cougs.