Fall 2022
It’s 50 for Title IX
Women athletes, coaches, and leaders from WSU bring the five-decade history of Title IX to the forefront. » More ...
Basketball
Spring 2022
Video and stories about James Donaldson
Former Coug and NBA basketball star James Donaldson (’79 Socio.) faced a lot of adversity over the last decade. He has turned his struggles with mental health into a new purpose: helping others through sharing his experiences.
Video: Eric Johnson (’84 Comm.) interviews Donaldson for Eric’s Heroes on Seattle’s KOMO-TV
Donaldson is a guest on Chino y Chicano, co-hosted by Enrique Cerna (’75 Comm.). (Read more about Cerna and his podcast)
Your Gift of Life: Donaldson’s nonprofit to increase awareness of mental health
Read more about Donaldson’s journey back in “Standing tall.”
From the … » More …
Spring 2022
The turning point
When asked what the turning point was during the 2006-07 season coach Tony Bennett said:
“That game against Gonzaga.”
Bennett began his first season as the Cougar head coach with seven straight wins, marking the best start by a Pac-10 head coach in his inaugural season since 1951-52.
The winning streak was snapped by a loss at Utah, Dec. 2. Next up was a pivotal match-up against Gonzaga in Pullman three days later.
“That game was a big game for us,” remembers Kyle Weaver, a junior guard on the team. “Gonzaga was a solid team.”
Gonzaga established itself a perennial national power with a … » More …
Spring 2022
Finding out the meaning of T.A.Y. the hard way
T.A.Y. (Turnaround Year) was more than an acronym for the 2006-07 Cougar basketball team.
“That was not just a slogan for us,” remembers Kyle Weaver, a junior guard on the team. “We really took it to heart. It goes to the things we did to prepare for it to be a turnaround year.”
“We had a lot of tough, grueling workouts,” adds Weaver.
Weaver remembers seeing the director of strength and conditioning, David Lang, when arriving for the day’s workout session; in particular, the runs up the hills of Sunnyside Park in the summer heat.
“We came to the hill and said, ‘What’s about to … » More …
Winter 2020
Guiding a transition game
Kyle Smith, the new WSU men's basketball coach, sees potential in the team. » More ...
Spring 2017
How you play the game
It took a while for the guys to start passing her the ball during pickup games at the gym.
Jeanne (Eggart) Helfer ’82 stuck with it, spending much of her free time back in 1977 simply running the length of the basketball court waiting for a chance to show she knew her way around the paint. It was her first semester at Washington State, a few months before she would start setting school records, and Helfer patiently waited for the guys to discover what her older brother and his friends already had learned back in Walla Walla.
That girl can shoot. And pass. And rebound.
… » More …
Spring 2015
A winning style
While most reporters covering Ernie Kent focus on his affinity for fast-paced basketball and his ability to recruit, inevitably the subject of his sartorial splendor arises. He’s the “man of a million clothes,” according to The Seattle Times and in the Oregonian’s view, a “clothes horse,” with “tight ties,” and “sharp collars.”
Whether he’s coordinating plays or coordinating outfits, Ernie Kent is a man with a brand.
“In this day and age, your brand is huge,” says Kent. “If you don’t understand that at a young age, it’s going to be a shock to your system as you go from the bright lights of college … » More …
Winter 2014
New & noteworthy
After Artest: The NBA and the Assault on Blackness
David J. Leonard
SUNY Press, 2012
After a brawl at a Pistons-Pacers game in 2004, the NBA adopted policies to govern black players and prevent them from embracing styles and personas associated with blackness. This book by Leonard, associate professor of critical culture, gender, and race studies at Washington State University, discloses connections between the NBA’s discourse and the broader discourse of anti-black racism.
Emergence and Collapse of Early Villages
Timothy A. Kohler (editor), Mark D. Varien (editor)
University of California Press, 2012
This book examines how climate change, population size, interpersonal conflict, resource … » More …
Summer 2013
We Are the Bus
James McKean ’68, ’74
Texas Review Press, 2012
This small book of poetry plays on themes of reminiscence, travel, and the bliss of simple things like being a boy with a Racket Box full of fireworks. This collection of 42 poems won the 2011 X.J. Kennedy Poetry Prize.
In it McKean transports us to some lovely places. Fishing on the Sandy River, climbing up to the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, floating on … » More …
Spring 2013
Down Under to Pullman
The crowd at Beasley Coliseum calls out, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oy, Oy, Oy!” for the Australian basketball players on the court, but one key to the Down Under connection sits on the sidelines.
Assistant WSU coach Ben Johnson played professionally and coached in Australia for six years, and has been instrumental in bringing standout players Aron Baynes and Brock Motum from there, as well as up-and-coming players Dexter Kernich-Drew and James Hunter.
Johnson, who has been at Washington State for nine seasons, says, “Through that time, I was able to build some good networks and contacts over there in Australia. And … » More …