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If you found your way here, you're probably a pretty big WSU fan. And if you are, you'll probably be interested in the news in the next few paragraphs.

Sorry folks, Glenn Kasses is gone and as far as I know he's not coming back. Yes, we (and that's the royal Spokesman-Review "we") miss him too. Especially me (and that's the decidedly not-royal "me," Vince Grippi).

Glenn was a great guy to cover Cougar games with and strong journalist who helped me whenever I asked. And now I'm going to try to fill his shoes. For a while. Click the full entry link for the particulars.

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A good Wednesday morning to you all out there. Well, this post ought to wrap it up for me, unless something significant breaks over the course of the day. I didn't write anything for this morning's paper, but I do have a couple of stories that should be in print down the road, most likely including one on the hoops team in tomorrow's S-R. For that link, and for all things Cougar for the time being, make sure you check out Sportslink. Vince does a great job with that blog keeping folks up to date on all things related to Spokane sports including WSU activities, and should something come up in the near term I hope you'll make that a destination.

That said, there is a story in the paper this morning, as June Daugherty was released from the hospital on Tuesday. This comes exactly one week after she suffered the cardiac arrest that very nearly took her life. Things continue to look good in her recovery process, though, so it appears that we will see Daugherty coaching the Cougars as expected this fall.

OK, not too much more to say here that's new, but last week I mentioned that I'd take any and all questions, so as promised here goes with those ...

Would you give us on more comprehensive article on the WSU men's basketball team based on your recent observations at practice(s)?

Gregg

Well, the article is coming tomorrow, but here's a little synopsis of what I'd expect to see, in a few points:

1. Will the defense be as good? It was overlooked towards the end of last season - except for a few savvy readers here - but WSU was not nearly as good defensively towards the end of the season as it was at the beginning of it. Without Ivory Clark on the roster next season, I wonder if that will still be true in 2007-08.

The Cougars had three natural shotblockers last season, and now that number is down to two. I'm curious to see if Aron Baynes can be quick enough in the lane to help send shots back from the weak side, something that Clark excelled at. (Think Oral Roberts and Caleb Green.) If the defense is strong again on the interior, the Cougars should be lined up for a heck of a season.

2. Health. WSU had its share of injuries last season, but they didn't come to the key guys, and certainly not at the key moments. Yes, Nikola Koprivica's knee injury was a blow, but Derrick Low - who missed significant time in his first two seasons - played in every game. Same thing for Robbie Cowgill. Kyle Weaver didn't miss anything. Daven Harmeling was out for just one game, and that came against UT-San Antonio. Clark was healthy throughout.

Point is, WSU had a lot of things go right for it last season to do so well, and health was one of them. If Low and Cowgill can play every game like they did last season, that'll be impressive. But remember that in two of three years that hasn't been the case. We'll see how that plays out.

3. Just how good does Weaver get? Maybe I can spill this on my way out, but in a practice during Weaver's freshman season, Dick Bennett told Weaver in front of the whole team that he had NBA potential if he did all the right things in college. Well, Kyle took a big step in that direction last year, but I am curious to see if he makes the final leap - and it would be another big leap - to become that type of prospect. Should that happen, and should Low be as good or better than he was last season, then the Cougars will legitimize that top-10 ranking that is expected right now. And they'll destroy some good teams out there on the perimeter, too.

4. Other thoughts: I would expect Thomas Abercrombie to get a good, long look in Australia and New Zealand; his handle still needs work but he has a Weaver-like ability to get a lot of different things done o

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Good morning, everyone. Just wanted to take a couple of minutes on this Sunday to post a little more about Michael Harthun, who committed to WSU yesterday as I wrote here last night.

First of all, here's the story I wrote on the matter from this morning's S-R, and in it you'll find comments from Harthun and his AAU coach.

One other comment from Harthun: “My goal was to actually be patient and not rush anything, maybe play through the summer and see what happens,” he said. “But I felt so comfortable that even if I had played through the summer I still would have wanted to be with them.”

Oregon, by the way, had been expressing interest in Harthun and told him a scholarship offer would be on the way eventually, but it hadn't yet happened and as Harthun indicated he felt ready to go ahead and commit to WSU.

Harthun, by the way, may be switching high schools for his upcoming senior year. His father has been living in Portland and commuting to games in Medford, but Harthun told me his family has the house in Medford up for sale right now and then the whole family could rejoin his father in Portland. That's not finalized yet, but it is worth noting, especially for you high school hoop junkies.

As Daniel alluded to in a comment below, the greatest value to WSU of this commit may not be in getting a solid basketball player for the future, but moreso in proving to the coaching staff that it's possible to get good basketball players out of high school. I've mentioned here before that this year's recruiting class could be pivotal in Tony Bennett's decision whether to try and stay in Pullman long-term or look elsewhere if the opportunity is there, and Harthun's commitment now could be a boost for WSU on that front.

(Bennett's contract, I should note, is still in negotiation. No reason to panic about this, it's just kind of the way Tony operates. If I had to guess, I imagine that there has been very little conversation about it at all between Jim Sterk and Tony. When they sit down for a final time to hammer things out, it probably won't take long.)

OK, I'm going to check out here and let the story linked above do the rest of the talking. Hope the long weekend is treating you all well.

First and foremost, a huge thank you to those of you - and wow, I can't believe the number - who posted such kind comments since I mentioned my impending departure yesterday. I'm really blown away, and I am working on responses to all of your questions.

But breaking news calls, and it's good news for the WSU basketball program. Michael Harthun, one of if not the top guard as far as high school seniors go in the Pacific Northwest, committed verbally to Tony Bennett earlier today, giving the Cougars a second name in the recruiting class of 2008. (Guard Nick Witherill committed last year, you may recall.)

Harthun won a state title in South Medford, Ore., last season and at about 6-foot-4 some have mentioned him in a similar breath as Derrick Low. By at least one scouting service, Harthun is a four-star recruit and as such he's the most highly touted commit to the Cougars to date.

I'll have more, including comments from Harthun and his AAU coach, in tomorrow morning's paper.

Good morning, everyone.

First, some good news from over in Everett, where it sounds like women's basketball coach June Daugherty is nearing release from the hospital after having a defibrillator surgically implanted on Thursday.

In a news conference yesterday afternoon, her doctors, family and friends explained just how close Daugherty was to passing away, and as it turns out a sick day taken by her 12-year-old daughter may have saved her life. It's quite a story, and the link to it from this morning's S-R is right here.

Increasingly, it's becoming apparent that Daugherty is expected to return to her new duties as WSU's head coach within a few weeks, and for that I'm guessing a number of people around Pullman are breathing one large sigh of relief.

That, however, is not the only topic I wanted to touch on today. I'd also like to pass along the information, on a more personal note, that my time at the S-R is rapidly coming to a close, a fact that I had planned on sharing here early this week - when, naturally, all heck broke loose with news bursting out of every corner, delaying this post.

Next Wednesday, for all intents and purposes, will be it for me, as I have decided to go back to graduate school and will be beginning at Boston College this fall. My fiancee, Amber, and I will be moving in a couple of weeks before our wedding later this summer, and to say the least we're both tremendously excited about the fun and adventure-filled months ahead.

I wanted to take a moment to first thank all of my co-workers and the higher-ups at the S-R for their support. But most importantly I need to say big thank you to all the readers who have made working here so enjoyable, in particular those of you who have taken the time to thoughtfully contribute and interact in this space when readership really started picking up and taking off over the last six or seven months.

Doing this blog became one of the most unexpectedly enjoyable parts of my job, and that was largely because of the feedback I so graciously received from you.

As my bio notes on the right, I started at the S-R just a little less than three years ago and since then I've done what I could to bring the best, most balanced and honest coverage to you that I could. Sometimes that hasn't been enough; on most occasions, I hope you feel that it has. (And, with a few days left, I also hope that it's not over yet.)

Having said all that, I wanted to give you the opportunity to fire away with any last questions. I already have a couple queued up, and I'm not at all unopposed to doing one last reader question marathon, if the material is there for it. (And no, I can't spill the beans on everything; professional integrity still applies.) But I am happy to answer all the questions that time will allow me to amidst the growing pile of packed boxes here. It is the least I can do in return for your willingness to follow my blatherings on a daily basis.

Again, thank you for making this an enjoyable experience and I'm looking forward to the last few posts over the coming days. Enjoy your Friday and have a great day.

Morning, everyone. I don't have much time here, so I'll just give you the morning links and go on about the day.

June Daugherty continues to recover in an Everett hospital, and I write about both that and her upcoming recovery process in this story from this morning's S-R.

I also spoke to guard Katie Appleton to get a sense of how the team was dealing with its coach's medical issues, and the result is this sidebar, also from the paper today.

That's all I've got at the moment; have a good day.

Some comments from a release sent out by WSU regarding the condition of June Daugherty a few minutes ago:

“June is doing as well as can be expected,” Mike Daugherty said Wednesday morning. “We appreciate all those who have expressed their concerns and appreciate their prayers. Right now we request that everyone respect the privacy of our family.”

Added WSU athletic director Jim Sterk: “We are all very concerned for June, Mike, Brianne, Doc and the entire family and we continue to hold them up in our prayers. ... We are relieved June is feeling better and her status has been upgraded today. June is a very special person who already has won the hearts and support of the Cougar nation and I know they also are keeping her and her family in their prayers.”

A hospital spokeswoman in Everett said that June Daugherty's condition has been upgraded from critical to serious.

She remains hospitalized in Providence Everett Medical Center.

EDITED AT 10:07:

Washington State women's basketball coach June Daugherty remains in critical condition at a hospital in Everett after suffering cardiac arrest on Tuesday.

As detailed in a release sent out by a university spokesman, Daugherty was at an Everett clinic for a physical when she suffered the cardiac arrest and was then taken to the Providence Everett Medical Center.

According to the release, hospital personnel have told the family that Daugherty, 50, has no anticipated issues that will affect her in the long term and no artery blockage.

“June had a cardiac arrest yesterday and is stabilized now. She is doing as well as can be expected," her husband and associate head coach, Mike, said in a statement released to the AP by the hospital.

The WSU release further stated that no timetable is available for her recovery or her assumption of the duties associated with her coaching job. Daugherty was hired on April 20.

A public records request for the contracts of both June and Mike Daugherty revealed that whileterms have been agreed upon, both documents are still awaiting a signature from the WSU president's office.

Brian Holsinger and Mo Hines were just recently added to Daugherty's staff as the other two assistant coaches.

I just don't see any other way to describe the day that Washington State athletics had yesterday - and those concerns are far from over.

On any other day, the story about WSU setting up a basketball tournament in Spokane would be the top item. On any other day, the dismissal of two name football players because of grades would be the top item. And most certainly, on any other day the news that an assistant football coach was being shown the door because of unsavory conduct would be the top item.

But now we find out that women's basketball coach June Daugherty, hired just more than a month ago, had a heart attack and - as of late last night - was in critical condition at a hospital in Everett, and you just have to shake your head.

This was not the day that WSU fans will want to remember, I imagine.

Here are links to all the stories I mentioned above, with a big, big thanks to John Blanchette for tackling basketball on a day when I obviously had a lot on my plate. First, here's the June Daugherty story as it ran in this morning's S-R. I have no further information at this point, and just tried to get in touch with the media contact over in Everett unsuccessfully. Then, here's my story on the Ken Greene situation, with more information expected to come out today (not a guarantee, but I think it'll happen with the caveat that the Daugherty situation could delay things if Jim Sterk ends up traveling to the West Side here). Next, my story as it was posted on the Web site here yesterday and published this morning on Derrell Hutsona and DeWayne Patterson. And finally, here's John's column on the basketball scheduling situation. Again, many thanks to him for helping to bail me out a bit on a busy day.

I think I'll let those stories speak for themselves this morning. There's a pretty strong chance that more news will be coming out as the day progresses, and so I wouldn't keep this site more than a mouse click away if things break. Thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope the day treats you well.

Recently hired women's basketball coach June Daugherty suffered a heart attack and is in critical condition at an Everett hospital, according to a spokeswoman at the facility.

No other details on her condition are available at this time, according to Cheri Russum, the spokeswoman at Providence Everett Medical Center.

Daugherty, who was introduced as the new women's basketball coach at WSU on April 20, had been the head coach at Washington for the last 11 years before her contract there was not renewed.

Her husband, Mike, is also her associate head coach, and he was in Pullman as recently as Monday afternoon taking in the WSU men's practice. The Daughertys have twin 12-year-olds, Doc and Breanne, who are finishing the school year on the West Side.

At this point, I am not expecting any additional updates before the morning, but as soon as I hear anything I will post it here.

Another update on a busy day ... running back Derrell Hutsona and safety DeWayne Patterson have failed to meet NCAA standards and are no longer with the Washington State football team.

Here's a link to a story on our main site.

As I said, this whole situation is still ongoing, but those two guys I know about and can tell you for certain right now.

Hutsona, of course, came to the Cougars as a junior last season and ran well, but was held out of the spring because of academic reasons. Patterson played in 2005 but was academically ineligible last season.

OK, here's your early afternoon update.

I amended ever so slightly the post below to read that cornerbacks coach Ken Greene is leaving the program because terms of his departure - on an official basis - are not yet finalized. So for those of you wondering, that's why the little change in language was posted.

Also, as far as the academic issues on the football team go, once again, it sounds like nothing is official at this point. But I'm hearing the same indications that some of you have heard that multiple players may be either off the team because of grades or ineligible for the fall for the same reason, but the school is not going to be saying anything, at least not at this hour.

Having said that, I've written a little bit about the academic situation in months past, and I'll stand by what I've written then with no reservations.

On the WSU Alaska Shootout thing, I can tell you that the Cougars were exploring the possibility of getting out of that tournament for a number of months, mostly because of the road-game factor. Exposure is nice, but as a top-whatever team WSU shouldn't be hurting for publicity, at least not in relative terms.

I think the program is in the mindset of needing to win games now, and playing so many games on the road was going to make that more difficult. That's all I'll say for now, but there should be more in tomorrow's S-R.

When it rains, it pours, I guess, and it's a busy day in Pullman.

WSU head football coach Bill Doba informed his staff Monday afternoon that cornerbacks coach Ken Greene will no longer be with the program because of conduct issues, multiple sources have told me.

Greene, who played at WSU from 1974-77, has been the secondary coach since January 2003, one of Doba's first hires as head coach. During this offseason, his responsibilities went from the full secondary to just the cornerback position because of a coaching staff shuffle.

A first-round NFL draft pick in 1978, the 51-year-old coached at Fresno State and Purdue before coming to WSU. He oversaw the secondary on the 2003 Holiday Bowl team that included current NFL standout Jason David, but has also presided over the defensive backfields that have struggled in recent seasons.

Obviously, I am continuing to work on gathering more information on this story.

Hey hey, how about this for a little spring change of pace?

Washington's State's basketball team took the floor on Monday evening for the first time since the end of the season in March for No. 1 of 10 days of practices before its foreign tour in New Zealand and Australia.

You can check out my story on the practice right here.

The Cougars leave for New Zealand on June 2, and they'll practice every day but Thursday(s) and Sunday between now and then, including some two-a-day sessions, since none of the players are currently taking classes in this first summer session.

Also, here's their schedule for the trip:

Tuesday, June 5 - New Zealand Breakers Academy, Auckland, N.Z.
Thursday, June 7 - Australian Boomers, Canberra, Aus.
Friday, June 8 - Waratah All-Stars, Sydney, Aus.
Sunday, June 10 - Sydney Kins, Sydney, Aus.
Tuesday, June 12 - Southern District Spartans, Brisbane, Aus.
Wednesday, June 13 - Cairns Marlins, Cairns, Aus.

As you can see, this tour includes stops in the hometowns of both Thomas Abercrombie and Aron Baynes.

I don't want to blow all of my observations out on the first day here - after all, it's not like all that much will change between now and the end of the month - but you can read some of them on the physical condition of the Cougars in the linked story above.

I won't be out there at every practice but hope to attend at least a handful, so if there are specific questions on your mind send them along and I'll see if I get a chance to get them covered.

Have a good day, everyone, and if something newsworthy takes place check back as the day progresses.

Good morning and welcome back to the work week. As I've mentioned here already, I got the chance to take a little tour of the Martin Stadium construction site on Friday, led by John David Wicker of the athletic department and Brad Frazier of Graham Construction and Management.

What I thought I would do today in this space is to go over, section by section, what's taking place and what you can expect to see this fall. For many of you - especially students and other north-side ticket-holders - the changes will be significant.

First, though, a couple of links from this morning's paper. Here's my game story on Sunday's WSU-UCLA baseball game. The Cougars missed out on a golden opportunity to sweep the Bruins and finish up this 2007 baseball season with their best conference record in 11 years, giving up four runs in the eighth and another in the ninth to lose 7-5.

Still, a nice finish to the conference season after a 1-9 start, as I pointed out in my game story from the day before. WSU goes to UC Davis next weekend to finish its season - and the athletic season of WSU, too.

Also, before I launch into my stadium stuff here you might want to check out this article on the same subject that ran in today's S-R. (By the way, thanks to KXLY's Allison Leep for taking the picture of yours truly at the conclusion of the stadium tour. The rest of these sad photos are my own handiwork, so you know where to send complaints.

As for the rundown here, what I'm going to do is go direction by direction, recapping what's already happened and what will happen (only in Phases I and II, the ones that are currently guaranteed to take place).

As a refresher, the south side is the press box concourse, which makes southwest the CUB corner. East is Stadium Way. North is obviously the student side, and northwest is the student entry.

Hopefully that helps straighten it all out in your mind. Now, read on for pictures and comments ...

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Morning, everyone. Quickly, as I head off to the WSU-UCLA baseball series finale in a minute, here's the link to my game story from this morning.

Also, please note that the stadium renovation story was held for a day, and as such I'll holdoff on my comments here on the same subject until tomorrow morning. Thanks for your patience.

Good morning, everyone.

Before I get to a little baseball talk here I just wanted to update you all on the Martin Satdium renovation as I had mentioned recently. The athletic department has set up a media tour later this morning, so with hard hat donned I'll be poking around the construction site to gather what information I can. We'll have something in the paper this weekend and whatever else I can glean I'll share with you here.

But for now I'd like to go back to the diamond, where the Cougars host their home series finale this weekend. WSU greets second-place UCLA for a three-game set that opens at 3:30 p.m.

A couple of weeks ago, this one would have looked like a blowout in the making, but as of late WSU has played some pretty solid hardball.

Most notably, the Cougars took two of three on the road last weekend from defending national champion Oregon State.

"We knew hey'd be tight games. Obviously they're a good club, the defending national champions and the two-time defending Pac-10 champions," Cougar coach Donnie Marbut said. "We swung the bats better than I thought we would. I think we swung the bats that weekend as good as I thought we could."

WSU won the first and third games of the series, and it was that rubber match that earned Sunday's starting pitcher, Jayson Miller, Pac-10 pitcher of the week honors on Wednesday.

Miller is not an overpowering pitcher, and had Jared Prince been healthy enough to pitch this conference season, Miller probably would be coming out of the bullpen.

But recently the lefty has done a nice job for the Cougars, helping to secure a 4-2 win in the series finale against Stanford and then the 5-3 win in Corvallis last weekend.

WSU is 10-3 in series-ending games this season, and Miller has been helpful in amassing those victories.

"He's won three of the last four weekends," Marbut said. "He can change speeds. He has good pace; he doesn't walk people. ... Jayson's just kind of the quiet assassin. He goes about his business and works hard at it. When he's on his A game he can make the game pretty short."

Again, at 8-13 in the league this season has not represente the step forward that Marbut would have liked. Prince's injury has taken him off themound completely and it seems to have limited him at the plate, too. First baseman Jim Murphy, expected to be this team's big power hitter, has endured a season-long slump at the plate and really hasn't helped the Cougars all that much.

Throw in some other injuries, and it's taken this group quite some time to pull itself together. Having said that, though, WSU is getting some good at-bats from guys like Paul Gran and is clearly playing better down the stretch of the season. It's too little, too late for postseason consideration, but another surprise weekend could at least give the Cougars a chance to finish seventh in an nine-team league. (WSU is currently in eighth, two games ahead of last-place Stanford.)

UCLA, for the record, trails only Arizona State in the standings, and the Bruins just lost three straight to the Sun Devils despite leading in all three games. (It's worth noting that Arizona State's lineup this season is almost certainly the best in college baseball, and it's light years ahead of any other Pac-10 bunch. In fact, one might be able to cull an all-star team of Pac-10 hitters outside of Tempe and still not produce the same number of runs.)

But back to UCLA ...

"They're one of the best teams, if not the best team, in the Pac-10," Marbut said. "I'm assuming they're a team that's trying to get some more wins so they can host a regional."

Should be an interesting series to see just how far the Cougars have come this season. They finish the year with a non-conference series at UC Davis next weekend, by the way, and then it's time for them to start thinking about 2008.

A good Sunday morning to you all out there.

I have a couple of basketball-related items to share this morning, from both the women's and the men's side of things.

First, in case you missed the story from Friday's paper - and sorry I didn't get the link up here then - Katelan Redmon of LC did indeed receive a rejection letter from Washington in her quest to be released from a letter of intent. Here's my story from then, and in today's paper, this column on the matter from John Blanchette.

Now, this all is at the least an interesting story, but it appears more and more likely that it's one of significant interest to Washington State in particular, since it appears fair to call WSU Redmon's most likely destination if she did get a release. (I base that on the fact that time and time again, Redmon's relationship with June Daugherty is cited as a reason for her decision to attend UW in the first place.)

It goes without saying that, no matter how she gets there, if a player of Redmon's caliber out of Spokane ends up in crimson and gray, that's a big deal to the women's basketball program at WSU. So it's certainly worth following, as the appeals process begins soon. (It's expected to take somewhere in the are of 6-8 weeks.)

Over on the men's side, now, I wanted to point out a verbal commitment halfway across the country that I am sure registered nowhere on your radar screens. In fact, it probably would have escaped my own attention, too, had it not been written by one of my good buddies back in the Midwest. John Shurna, a 6-foot-8 junior out of the Chicago suburbs, has committed to Northwestern, as Adam Rittenberg wrote in The Daily Herald recently.

I mention this because Shurna had been, as I understand it, one of WSU's first-tier targets for the remaining spots in that big 2008 recruiting class. (Yes, I know you probably haven't seen that elsewhere, but take my word for it.)

I've heard his name lumped in there with the Tyrese Breshers (the power forward from L.A.) of the world as those guys that WSU is really hoping to land for the '08 class. (Last I heard, that list was about five deep, and that included Shurna.) And I know that the Cougars had been in on Shurna for some time now, so losing out on him is sure to have at least some effect on the Cougars' recruiting process as they look to fill the void left by Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver, Robbie Cowgill and Chris Henry in a year's time.

Remember, guard Nick Witherill from Arizona has already committed, so really it's three spots at this point in time, and, as I believe I've stated here before, the more time passes, the more it appears that the '08 recruiting class will be incredibly important to the future of WSU hoops.

Also worth pointing out, by the way, that the Cougar baseball team is going for a series win aganst defending national champ Oregon State this afternoon. The Cougars won the opener in a one-run game then lost 11-5 on Saturday. This has been a disappointing Pac-10 season for both of the Northwest's land grant schools, but a win today for WSU would at least put an exclamation point on a lower-division finish.

OK, everyone, enjoy your Sundays, and I'll be back during the week with more as it comes in.

The Bonnies put out their official release today announcing that Chris Matthews will be joining their program this fall after deciding to transfer from Washington State this spring.

I'll be trying to get in touch with Chris soon to get his thoughts, but here's the text of the full release from St. Bonaventure:

Men’s basketball head coach Mark Schmidt announced on Thursday that shooting guard Chris Matthews will transfer to St. Bonaventure from Washington State University.

A 6-foot-4, 207-lb. guard, Matthews will have two seasons of eligibility remaining after he sits out the 2007-08 season per NCAA transfer guidelines.

“Chris has been exposed to and has played at the highest level of college basketball the last two years and his knowledge for the game and experience will be useful for our young players coming in,” said Schmidt. “He will have a chance to get comfortable with our system for a full season and will be one of the go-to guys in 2008-09. Chris’ ability to shoot the ball combined with his basketball IQ make him a threat on the offensive end and a bonafide A-10 player. We’re excited that Chris has decided to join our basketball family.”

Matthews averaged 3.7 points per game over 17 games last season on a Washington St. team that earned the No. 3 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament with a 25-7 regular season record. Matthews scored five points in eight minutes in the team’s loss to Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His best game of the season came against No. 7 Oregon when he tied a career-high with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including two three-pointers.

During his two seasons with the Cougars, Matthews averaged 3.5 points per game and 10.9 minutes over 35 contests. He started three games as a freshman and scored a career-high 13 points against No. 16 Washington.

A native of Washington, D.C., Matthews played three seasons at National Christian Academy in Baltimore, Md. He helped lead National to back-to-back Beltway League Championships as a junior and senior. Matthews then transferred to Lutheran Christian Academy, a prep school in Philadelphia, where he averaged 13.0 points per game. Lutheran Christian Academy finished with a 35-3 record and was ranked the No. 5 prep school in the nation.

Hello there everyone, and my apologies for the prolonged absence here.

I thought I would check in today to comment on the naming of captains by the Cougar football squad for next fall.

No huge surprises, as quarterback Alex Brink, wideout Michael Bumpus, safety Husain Abdullah and linebacker Greg Trent got the nod from their teammates.

Brink, of course, is the only returning captain as Mkristo Bruce, Jason Hill and Eric Frampton have all graduated and moved on.

Bumpus also makes a lot of sense, as he'll be a fourth-year starter and one of WSU's more decorated players heading into the 2007 season.

Abdullah follows in his brother Hamza's footsteps, as the older Abdullah was a captain back in 2004 when Husain was a redshirt freshman getting his first playing time. Husain has started since his sophomore season in 2005 and as the only returning starter in the secondary his captaincy seemed to be a logical pick. (Although it is worth noting that this Abdullah is a good deal quieter than his older brother.)

The last choice, Trent, is the only one that might be considered an eyebrow-raiser, but solely for the reason that the middle linebacker is entering his junior season.

Really, Trent has about as much starting experience as anyone on the defensive side of the ball, and his leadership of that group in the spring was evident. (In retrospect, Trent probably showed himself about as well as any Cougar over those practices, I think you could say.)

It is interesting, though, because it wasn't all that long ago - less than a year, really - when it was being said that Trent wasn't yet up to speed on the X's and O's of the defense, and was still taking a lot of direction from Scott Davis and Steve Dildine. The full year of starting last season appears to have served Trent well, though, and now he'll be the one breaking in new starters at the other linebacking spots this fall.

Again, sorry for the gap between blog visits by yours truly, but I hope to be back much sooner this time around with more.

I'm thinking about doing a little update here on the stadium construction progress, if it's of interest to you all, as it only takes a slow drive along Stadium Way to see that a lot is taking place.

Good morning, everyone, and sorry that I wasn't able to get this posted here last night.

I spoke with both assistant coach Matt Woodley and Stephen (pronounced STEFF-an) Sauls last night, and wrote this story for the morning paper today.

Sauls signed his letter of intent and the 6-3 point guard becomes the last Cougar to fill out the scholarship roster for next season. He is not, as someone asked me, eligible to play on the Australian tour. (Practices begin for that on May 21.)

I'll have a little more on Sauls this evening, but for now I hope that the article tides you over. Enjoy the day.

Afternoon everyone.

Two Cougars were taken this weekend in the NFL Draft. First, Jason Hill went yesterday to his hometown 49ers, and Jim Meehan's story on that is right here. And today, safety Eric Frampton found out that he'll be playing across the bay in Oakland, taken in the fifth round by the Raiders. I'm sure we'll hear more about other players signing free agent deals in the coming days.

Also, here's a link for the feature on June Daugherty that I wrote for this morning's S-R.