Season Preview: WSU looking to build off breakout season despite turnover

Men’s basketball on the Palouse has been very exciting the last couple years, especially with Washington State now coming off its best finish in more than a decade.

The Cougars' 22-15 record last season marked the second straight winning season and the most wins since the 2010-11 campaign, while their fifth-place Pac-12 finish was the program's best since 2007-08 and they also made their first postseason appearance since 2010-11, advancing to the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden.

This team went on a run at the end of the regular season, including beating Oregon on senior night, going 1-1 in the Pac-12 tournament and then posting NIT wins at home over Santa Clara and on the road against both SMU and BYU to make it to New York City.

The expectations are now as high as they've been in a long time for Washington State basketball entering coach Kyle Smith's fourth season-- at least around Pullman, even if Cougars were picked eighth in the Pac-12 preseason poll.

"I think there's an expectation level in the program," coach Kyle Smith said. "We talk about having great attitudes, working hard, guys having pride in being a Coug, and the group that's behind has done the same. We're just going to look a little different. The goal is to improve every year. The program we inherited was 207th in the country, and we've gotten up to 44. We need to make the next jump to do that, to be playing in the NCAA tournament in some capacity.

"So I think it's about the bigger picture and who you're playing with isn't as important. I think it's a different group, but they've got a good way about them to keep improving."

Let's take a closer look at what's changed for the Cougars since last season ...

This Washington State team lost a lot throughout the offseason.

In the frontcourt, guard Michael Flowers exhausted his eligibility after earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors in his lone season with Washington State, averaging 14.2 points per game and 3.2 rebounds per game. Guard Noah Williams (9.5 PPG, 3.1 RPG) transferred to Washington, returning back to his hometown of Seattle, and Tyrell Roberts (11.4 PPG) transferred to San Francisco.

Forward Efe Abogidi (8.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG) also entered the transfer portal but decided to go to join the G League Ignite.

That means the Cougars are replacing four starters this season.

Additionally, guards Jefferson Koulibaly (SMU) and Ryan Rapp (Hawaii) transferred to SMU, who entered the portal and transferred to the University of Hawaii, and all told including other departing seniors the Cougars had to replace nine players from that successful 2021-22 team.

A lot of young new faces enter the program this year, with a couple transfers from the portal that bring a veteran presence.

During the offseason, the Cougars landed guard Jabe Mullins, the transfer from Saint Mary’s who is from Snoqualmie, Wash.

Mullins shot 41 percent from the floor and 37.3 percent from deep, averaging 10 minutes a game for the Gaels and is expected to be a key cog in the retooled offense.

The Cougars also snagged guard Justin Powell, a transfer from Tennessee. He averaged 11.7 points over 10 games two seasons ago but got just 14.1 minutes per game (3.7 PPG) last season while shooting 39.2 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from 3-point range and just over 73 percent at the line.

"I call them the twin Gingers. I hope that's not offensive to the redheads out there. They're both very similar but good. I think these guys can attest, they're very pass-first guys, very skillful with size, can shoot. They're what we call triple pass, shoot guys that make us better offensively," Smith said. "The question, where are the points going to come from? Well, I think people are going to be surprised how much both [TJ Bamba and Mouhamed Gueye] improved offensively, but also it helps having those guys that they look for others. I think where the ball zips around in practice, and hopefully there's carryover of that in the game, and I think there will be."

And then freshman class for WSU is loaded with talent nationally and internationally, another example of Smith’s ability to recruit talent to the Palouse.

It starts with 7-foot, four-star center Adrame Diongue from Chandler, Ariz., (originally from Senegal), who was the No. 115 overall national prospect.

Then there are 6-foot-6 guards Kymany Houinsou and 6-foot-9 forward Mael Hamon-Crespin, both from the country of France. The Cougars also snagged the Korpela brothers -- 6-foot-5 guards Shae and Braden -- as true freshman from Aspen, Colo., 6-foot-7 forward AJ Rohosy, from San Anselmo, Calif., and finally, the local kid from Spokane, freshman guard Dylan Darling, who was named Washington’s 4A player of the year last season.

Ultimately, though, Washington State's identity is built around returning 6-foot-11 sophomore Mouhamed Gueye (7.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG) and 6-foot-5 junior guard TJ Bamba (7.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG) as the captains and leaders of this young team.

"I feel like it's my job this year to lead the group. Being in the program for three years now, I know what it looks like, and I know what it takes to be a great team and get to that postseason that we hopefully are pursuing this year," Bamba said. "So I just look to lead the group, put my best foot forward every game, defend, and I'll definitely look forward to taking the jump on the offensive end, be more productive, efficient, showcase my talent."

Said Gueye: "This offseason I worked on my game overall, obviously shooting because that was my biggest. But I work on my game overall, like TJ said, trying to lead, trying to be a better leader, be more vocal. Be more aggressive on the defensive end, and I think that will help the team too."

Also returning are junior forwards DJ Rodman (4.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG) and Andrej Jakimovski (5.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG) and unproven sophomore forward Carlos Rosario.

The Cougars will be missing junior 6-foot-10 center Dishon Jackson, who was unexpectedly hospitalized with an unspecified medical issue and is sidelined for an “indefinite stretch of time.” WSU will also miss redshirt freshman guard Myles Rice for the season, as he was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in late September and will miss the season.

The non-conference slate for this team features some big competition that can elevate the Cougars into the top 25 if they take advantage of their opportunities.

WSU, in total, plays three 2022 tournament teams, including No. 5 Baylor, Boise State, and Prairie View A&M, all on the road.

"The last three years we've really made a commitment to being good defensively, rebounding, and trying to get where we could take care of the ball. ... I think we have a group, that area we addressed and improved, and I think we're going to be better, I would say. But the challenge for us to make that jump is to keep the defense in the rebounding at that level, and that's going to have to come from our -- we have bigger size on the perimeter. We're more switchable," Smith said. "We're going to have to do those things to really compensate. We led the Pac-12 in shot blocks last year with Efe, Dishon and Mo. We're designed differently. Going to stretch us as players and coaches to sustain. You've got to defend and rebound to win. That will be our challenge."

The Cougars start out early conference play traveling to No. 21 Oregon in Eugene and then hosting Utah just three days later in early December.

This young WSU team can surprise the rest of the Pac-12, a conference that has top talent such as No. 8 UCLA, No. 17 Arizona, No. 21 Oregon and a USC team that has made two straight NCAA tournament appearances.

"I feel like last year, we formed a brotherhood with the team last year, and I feel like the carryover this year is going to be the culture," Bamba said. "So just forming that relationship off the court and building with each other, really investing at times off the court with each other, that's going to hopefully carry over to the court and help us have a great year."

The Cougars start their 2022-23 campaign on Monday against Texas State at home.