As Cougs prepare for Senior Day, Kent peeks ahead to 2017-18

WHAT: Washington (9-18, 2-13) at Washington State (5-10, 12-15)

WHERE: Beasley Coliseum (11,671), Pullman, WA

WHEN: Sun., Feb. 26, 5:30 p.m. PT

TV/RADIO: ESPNU (Roxy Bernstein and Corey Williams); Washington State IMG Sports Network (Matt Chazanow).

When Washington State takes the court Sunday evening for the final time at Beasley Coliseum this season, four seniors will play in front of the home fans for the final time in their careers.

Unlike some teams, though, all four seniors play prominent roles on the Cougars. Josh Hawkinson (15.3 points per game), Ike Iroegbu (12.6), Conor Clifford (9.4) and Charles Callison (8.7) account for 65.2 percent of WSU’s scoring (46.0 of 70.6 ppg) and 74.2 percent of the minutes played.

Hawkinson and Iroegbu have both eclipsed 1,000 career points. Only one current non-senior – freshman guard Malachi Flynn (10.8 ppg and 33.4 minutes) – is averaging more than 6.0 points or 17 minutes per game.

Those numbers entail one thing – WSU will definitely look drastically different in 2017-18.

Ernie Kent is counting on the addition of three freshmen currently being redshirted (Jamar Ergas, Milan Acquaah, Arinze Chidom), two JUCO signees (Kwinton Hinson and center Davante Cooper), the growth and development of Flynn, Robert Franks, Viont’e Daniels, Jeff Pollard and KJ Langston, and any additional pieces to fuel next year’s team.

While acknowledging Hawkinson and Iroegbu in particular will be difficult to replace (they combine for 28 points per game + senior leadership), Kent believes the 2017-18 Cougars will possess the speed and skill to better execute the fast-paced system he prefers.

“We look forward to bringing the other guys forward and coaching them, especially the three redshirts sitting there and the two young men (JUCOs) committed to us,” Kent said recently. “They are going to be huge for us. Then there are three pieces we still have to get.

“This season is telling us exactly what we need – mobile, athletic bigs that can score and also defend the ball screen, defend the pick-and-rill and protect the rim. Those two new players coming into the door are perfect fits. The key is what the next three pieces look like as far as making a giant move up.”

The top priority for the late signing period in April? A “pure” shooter.

“We’re looking high and low,” Kent said. “We’ve set our sights on some. Right now, we want to add two athletic big men and a pure shooter so we can spread the floor.”

The legacy of the four departing seniors won’t be in wins and losses, but in the leadership they provided the young players this season as the Cougs strive to build the foundation for better days ahead.

“Our young players have had excellent leadership from the four seniors,” Kent said. “They have had excellent examples to follow, like Josh, on how to handle yourself academically and work ethic.”

All five freshmen on the 2016-17 roster are excelling in the classroom with high grade point averages.

“They already have five of the highest GPAs on the team,” Kent said. “They are also five of the hardest workers on the team in terms of getting into the gym late at night. I expect them to really grow this spring and summer.”

Between the three redshirted freshmen, the two JUCOs already signed and up to three more targets, Washington State could have as many as eight players on the 2017-18 team that haven’t played a single minute for the Cougars this season.

We do know there will be four new starters.

Thus, Kent’s biggest challenge will be building chemistry between the new faces and developing depth in order to get the Cougars to hit the ground running next November when non-conference play begins.

“Our depth is going to be a lot better because there will be nobody to redshirt unless one of the pieces that comes into the door is a transfer or we have an injury,” Kent said. “Right now, we’re looking at a (2017-18) team with 13 pieces. We’ll have a deeper bench and more competition. Hopefully, the chemistry part will take care of itself.”

Kent expects Franks and Daniels, both rising juniors, to step up and become major contributors next season. Right now, they are combining to average 9.0 points per game.

“They are no longer freshmen or sophomores,” Kent said. “They will be full blooded juniors. The pressure is on them to step up. Everything needs to be right – their bodies, their stamina, conditioning, leadership, courage, confidence. By the time you hit that junior year, it’s no more about potential. Potential is when they came in as freshmen. When you’re a junior, you should be a stud in this conference because you’ve been around it for two years. If they can do that, they should be tremendous for us.”

NOTES:

-- Hawkinson needs just 18 more rebounds to become WSU’s all-time leader in that category. With at least four games left (three regular season + Pac-12 Tourney), Hawkinson has 975 career rebounds. The school record is 992, set by Steve Puidokas from 1974-77. Thus, Hawkinson could become the first Cougar ever to collect 1,000 career rebounds.

-- The Cougars are looking for their first season sweep of the Huskies since 2010-11 when WSU won at Pullman, 87-80, on Jan. 30, 2011 and at Seattle, 80-69, on Feb. 27, 2011. Sunday marks the 285th all-time meeting between WSU and UW in men’s basketball. WSU has swept UW 11 times in series history.

-- Recently, the matchups between WSU and UW have been close, hard-fought affairs. The last 10 meetings between the Cougars and Huskies have been decided by an average of 6.2 points.

-- Sunday night marks the first WSU ‘Senior Day’ that doubles as a cross-state rivalry since UW defeated WSU 59-55 on Feb. 25, 2012 at Beasley Coliseum.

PROJECTED STARTING FIVE:

G - Ike Iroegbu (12.60 ppg)

G - Malachi Flynn (10.8)

G – Charles Callison (8.7)

F – Josh Hawkinson (15.3)

C – Conor Clifford (9.4)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

Feb. 26 WASHINGTON, 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

March 1 at USC, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

March 4 at UCLA, 6:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

March 8-11 Pac-12 Tournament (at Las Vegas).

(All Times Pacific)

PAC-12 SCHEDULE/RESULTS (Feb. 25-26)

Sat. Feb. 25

Oregon 75, Stanford 73

UCLA 77, Arizona 72

Sun., Feb. 26

USC at Arizona State, 3:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Washington at Washington State, 5:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

PAC-12 STANDINGS (After Games of Feb. 25)

Arizona 15-2

Oregon 15-2

UCLA 13-3

California 10-6

Utah 9-7

USC 8-7

Colorado 6-10

Stanford 6-10

Arizona State 6-10

Washington State 5-10

Washington 2-13

Oregon State 1-16