While the women's basketball turnaround has yet to really occur, things are going in the right direction as they did get their first Pac-10 Player of the Week in 4 years when sophomore April Cook nailed down the honor yesterday.

Cook, a guard from Carson California, scored 33 points as the Cougs beat ASU, winning in Tempe for the first time in 13 years. She shot a lights-out 72% from the field (13-18). It was the 9th-best scoring performance in Cougar women's basketball history.

She also scored 13 points in a loss to Arizona.

Congrats April!

Go Cougs!

I love slow days during the Pac-10 season, because it allows me to take time away from our regularly-scheduled programming and laugh at our rivals.

If you thought it was impossible to make huge, tattooed, muscle-bound men look less intimidating than the Canadian figure skating team, you were completely wrong. Leave it to the UW to find a way:

Hahahahahaahhhahahaha!

Now, bring on the "what's funny is we beat you guys" crybaby nonsense from the husky fans.

I'm not talking about wins, I'm not talking about losses, I'm talking about horribly embarrassing choices in life.

This is one of them.

I'm not sure what they were thinking, but for future reference, when someone tells you they want to shoot a "It's Time For The Dancin' Dawgs" video - just say no.

Add this to last year's "velour jumpsuit incident" and you start wondering who it is over there that's in charge of this stuff.

I want to meet this person and personally shake their hand.

Go Cougs!

The DeAngelo Casto who we know and love, the firey and aggressive forward, finally reappeared tonight, and in a major way, scoring 19 points to lead the Cougs(15-8, 5-6) to a monster 78-60 win over league-leading Arizona.

He played with fire and intensity from the first minute of the game, posting up, attacking the basket, crashing the boards and forcing Arizona to adjust to him. His energy was contagious and it was nice to see him back after disappearing for the past three games.

Every other glaring problem that has plagued the Cougs over that same stretch - lack of intensity, soft defense, poor shooting, and inconsistent performances from half to half - all disappeared tonight.

The Cougs relentlessly attacked the basket from the get-go and they played with intensity on the defensive end. The Cougs dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Wildcats 36-24. They shot 51% on the night, took a 6-point lead in to halftime and played even better in the 2nd half.

Ken Bone's substitutions were different as well, bringing in little-used freshmen big men Brock Motum and Steven Bjornstad early on. Motum's fire and hustle kept him in the game, and he notched 10 points in 17 minutes, both career highs. His length and quickness helped keep Arizona's extremely athletic players in check, getting out to the perimeter with ease.

Klay Thompson's shooting woes didn't exactly disappear, but they did improve. He went 5-11 from the field and 1-3 from beyond the 3 point line on his way to 14 points.

What really stood out, though, was the overall aggressive style of play. Every Coug who took the court played their hearts out. This is the team we've almost forgotten about in the past three games. This team looked like they wanted to be there from start to finish.

Will it last? Will the Cougs come out with this same fire on the road against Stanford on Thursday? Will Ken Bone keep Motum in the mix? Apparently, Abe Lodwick didn't play due to an illness, but Motum may have played himself in to more minutes when Nik Koprivica sits.

No reason to worry about that right now, though. The players and the fans should all sit back and relish this win at least for one night. This was an impressive showing from a team that needed a game like this to start believing in themselves again.

Aaaaahhhhhhh... GO COUGS!

Despite being down by double-digits for most of the game, the Cougs did battle back to get within 4 late, but couldn't get any closer and ASU ran away with it, 81-70.

Klay Thompson led all scorers with 20 points (on 6-20 shooting). Marcus Capers had a career-high 13, while Reggie Moore and Nik Koprivica also checked in with 13.

Now for some awesome stats:

ASU shot 56.5% from the field.

For the Pac-10 season, the Cougs allow opposing teams to shoot 46.5%. That's good for 9th place in the conference, narrowly edging out 10th place Stanford who checks in at 46.8%.

ASU shot 41.2% from beyond the 3-point line.

For the Pac-10 season, the Cougs allow opposing teams to shoot 37.2% from beyond the arc. That's good for 10th.

Over the past three games, all double-digit losses, the Cougs have allowed their opponents to shoot a ridiculous 54.2% from the field and 36% from 3-point land.

Couple that with the fact that in the same three games, the Cougs have shot 27.4% from the 3 and only 36.6% from the field, and it should be no surprise that they've lost by an average of 17 points.

So...what's the answer? Is it all just a run of bad luck? Have the Cougs just ran in to teams who shoot the lights out, or does Ken Bone need to start addressing the problem?

This starting lineup has 4 players who learned defense under Tony Bennett, is it possible that in one half of a season they forgot what they learned? How do they allow so many open shots? Why are they not rotating quickly enough? Ken Bone, it's up to you! Get these guys playing D! We all know they're capable of it. The shots just aren't falling on offense, despite getting the open looks and many times, standing under the basket. When that's happening, THE DEFENSE NEEDS TO STEP UP! Seems pretty simple to me. If you're in a funk and can't score, you'd better not let the other team make over half their shots!

Arizona comes to town on Saturday, fresh off a loss at UW. For the record, in conference play, Arizona leads the Pac-10 in 3 point percentage.

Hopefully it doesn't come as a surprise.

Go Cougs! Please.

The Spokesman-Review is reporting that running backs coach Steve Broussard is heading to ASU to coach receivers with his former coach, Dennis Erickson.

Bummer.

I'll post more when I find it...

Go Cougs!

At the half-way point in the Pac-10, here are the standings:

Cal 6-3, 14-7

Arizona 6-3, 12-9

ASU 5-4, 15-7

UCLA 5-4, 10-11

UW 4-5, 14-7

WSU 4-5, 14-7

Oregon 4-5, 12-9

USC 4-5, 12-9

Stanford 4-5, 10-11

OSU 3-6, 9-12

These standings tell us that the entire league is suffering from exactly what the Cougs are suffering from: Lack of experience, leading to a lack of consistency. On any given night, any team in the league can beat any other team. No one is dominant and no one is the doormat. It should be kinda exciting, though, right? Why does it just seem annoying, then?

The Cougs are at 4-5, 14-7 on the season. With 9 games left, they actually are in decent shape. They've got ASU, UA, UCLA, USC and UW at home and UO, OSU, Stanford and Cal on the road. I don't see a single one of these games that are unwinnable. If the Cougs come to play and get hot, it's absolutely not out of the question that they reach 20 wins prior to the Pac-10 tourney.

What does Ken Bone have up his sleeve? How does he plan on getting this team on track? The talent is there, the experience is not. Coach, they need you. Tailor your schemes to what your team is giving you, don't force things they can't handle!

ASU makes the long trek to Pullman for a 7pm untelevised tipoff tonight. All reports state that WSU still hasn't gotten its act together and is still not providing any sort of webcast for the game. I've checked around a bit and again confirmed that it is 2010, yet that fact still doesn't seem to matter.

The Sparklers are coming off a big win against Stanford where they were up 54-17 at one point in the game. This was a much needed win, as they had dropped their two previous games against Cal 78-70 and against their rival UA 77-58.

ASU is now 5-4 on the season.

You may not remember the last time these two teams met, simply because the Cougs pulled one of their disappearing acts again, this time in the first half, and got blown out 71-46.

Now that the Cougs have got them at home, hopefully the situation will be reversed. If there was ever a team in need of a breakout performance, it's these Cougs.

They need to show some passion and hopefully 8000+ at Friel Court will provide the inspiration.

My wish list:

1. Klay goes off. Just make your shots, Klay. Don't get down on yourself if they aren't falling, focus focus focus!

2. Casto awakens. DeAngelo needs to play with some of the fire that he had earlier in the year. Most importantly, he needs to catch the ball when Reggie dishes it to him!

3. Nik continues to start.

4. Would it kill anyone to play some tough D? Anyone else notice that once the guard penetrates and gets past his defender, everything falls apart?

5. Two halves of solid basketball. I don't care if it's two good halves. I just want two consistently solid halves.

Go Cougs!

Despite the incredible amount of coverage given to the recruiting process, there are always those guys who you never see coming. This year for the Cougs, it's Tallahassee, FL native and high school superstar, C.J. Mizell.

How did he end up at WSU?

Apparently, he was set to attend Florida State last season, but didn't qualify academically. At that time, he was the #5 rated linebacker in the nation by Scout.com and was named a Prep Star All-American.

With the coaching change at FSU, Mizell was looking for schools and WSU knocked on his door. Recruiting Coordinator Rich Rasmussen claims that C.J. only came on the WSU radar about 10 days ago, when he was recommended by a former player. "He has since completed the necessary requirements and is eligible."

Huge pickup. Well done coaches!

Here are the latest signees to send in their LOIs:

Devontae Butler 5-11 180 RB Sacramento, CA

Tyrone Duckett 6-0 205 S Alameda, CA

Marquess Wilson 6-3 170 WR Tulare, CA

Kalafitoni Pole 6-2 275 DT Union City, CA

Brandon Golden 6-0 190 CB Covina, CA

Damante Horton 5-10 175 CB Oakland, CA

Matthew Simmons 6-0 180 CB Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

C.J. Mizell 6-3 210 LB Talahassee, FL

According to Rasmussen, these are all the letters that they expect to get today. All-in-all, a pretty impressive haul of athletes!

Go Cougs!

Happy National Letter of Intent Day, everyone!

It's that glorious day where every team is signing the class that will lead them to greatness. Everyone's glass is half-full, the guys they got are perfect for the system and the ones they didn't get, well, we didn't want them anyway.

The 18 year-olds will fax in a letter, some with fanfare and some with all the fanfare that should be assigned to faxing a letter.

People will flock to recruiting websites to see how many "stars" the players have been assigned to by some guys who've never coached college football and everyone is warm and fuzzy until spring practice where they forget about most of these guys and don't hear from them again until a couple of years down the road.

Aaaahhh, LOI day. All snarkiness aside, it is fun to hear about these guys and try and figure out who will make the most impact in their WSU careers. I will say this, though. Don't lend too much importantance to rankings or stars or anything like that. WSU is rarely higher than 40th, including those seasons where they brought in the players that led them to those 3 top 10, 10-win seasons. On the other side of the coin, the UW is always in the top 20, and well, we know that they certainly don't end up there in the real rankings! The coaches recruit the guys that fit their system, they don't recruit the guys that have stars next to their name.

There isn't a single coach in the nation who reads the recruiting websites to find their guys.

The first of the letters have all ready arrived at the Bohler Gym offices of Paul Wulff. The first was by Wisconsin's Gatorade Player of the Year, Eric Oertel.

Here's the info on him and the other players that have sent their letters in. We'll add more as the day goes on, but you can also find all the information on this at the official site.

Eric Oertel 6-1 185 ATH Racine, WI

John Fullington 6-6 270 OL Belfair, WA

David Gonzales 6-6 270 OL Fresno, CA

Wade Jacobson 6-6 310 OL Hollister, CA

Blair Bomber 5-9 170 WR Lynden, WA

Deone Bucannon 6-1 180 S Fairfield, CA

Robert Jiles 6-0 185 WR Pittsburg, CA

Aaron Dunn 6-6 235 TE Spokane, WA

Jake Rodgers 6-7 245 TE Spokane, WA

Tracy Clark 5-10 175 CB Pittsburg, CA

Bobby Ratliff 6-1 180 WR Etiwanda, CA

Kristoff Williams 6-2 205 WR Antioch, CA

Rickey Galvin 5-8 172 RB Berkeley, CA

Connor Halliday 6-5 185 QB Spokane, WA

Continue to check back throughout the day. As more letter roll in, we'll put 'em up here!

Go Cougs!

Everyone could probably use a minute away from basketball right now, so let's instead focus for a day on Cougar Football.

February 3rd is National Letter of Intent Day and if things stay where they are, Paul Wulff has put together the best recruiting class since 2004, according to the recruiting analysts at Scout.com. And considering that the '04 class was kind of a fluke since most of the big name recruits didn't ever make an impact at WSU, you'd have to go back to 2002 to find a better class of incoming players. That one included guys like Jermaine Green, Sammy Moore, Jonathan Smith , Eric Frampton and Cody Boyd.

The Contra-Costa Times recently released their "Cream of the Crop" - a ranking of the top 20 college prospects in the Bay Area, and 7 future Cougs are on the list. One other was a recruit before recently changing his commitment to Northwestern and one more is undecided, narrowing his choice down to the Cougs and Oregon. 7, possibly 8 of the top 20 guys in the Bay Area? Not only is that amazing, it's unheard of, never happening in the history of the list.

The Seattle Times awarded 18 Washington high-schoolers with "Red Chip" status (by their definition, players "capable of starting in a major conference such as the Pac-10"), 6 of which are incoming Cougar recruits.

Incoming QB recruit Connor Halliday and incoming TE recruits Asante Cleveland and Aaron Dunn all made the Tacoma News Tribune's Western Top 100 list. The list compiles the "top high school football recruits from Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Western Canada."

Of course, the list today versus the list on Wednesday could be two very different things. Kids change their minds and some will head elsewhere while a couple who were planning on going elsewhere will head to WSU. That being said, the group this year looks to be very solid. Add in 4-star DE Brandon Rankin who will finally join the Cougs this year (was a recruit last year) and you've got an outstanding amount of incoming talent.

I'll have the complete list and information on all the recruits on the 3rd, but if you want to get more details on the incoming class and hear what the coaching staff has to say about them, then be sure to sign up for "A Night With Cougar Football" which will be held in four locations throughout the state in the coming weeks.

The Seattle event will be held on February 12th at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront. Social hour begins at 5pm and the dinner and program starts at 7:15pm. The cost is $85 per person or $65 for Young Alumni (30 years and under).

The other events around the state will be held as follows:

2/3 6pm - Spokane - Northern Quest Casino

2/5 6pm - Tri-Cities - Meadow Springs Country Club

2/10 5pm - Shelton - Little Creek Casino

Sign up for the event here.

Go Cougs!

Can someone get a copy of Ken Bone's half-time speech? It must've been a doozy. The Cougs went in to the half playing with fire and came out like they just got off the plane after a four-day bender in Vegas, eventually losing 92-64.

The Cougs shot 60% from 3-point land and 44% from the field in the first half. In the second half, they somehow managed to shoot 22.9%, including a jaw-dropping 0.00% from beyond the arc. 0-10. AWESOME. So awesome, in fact, the Cougs went 0 for their first 13 field goals in the 2nd half, not actually scoring until a layup by DeAngelo Casto with 13:08 left.

Not much else to say about this one other than we see that once again they can't put two strong halves together.

I've said it over and over again, it's the hallmark of a young team. Unfortunately, it's now 20 games in to the season and a regression is not what should be occurring.

Sadly, neither the first-half success or the second-half collapse come as any surprise. If you can't believe it, you haven't been watching any games this season.

Things that went well:

Xavier Thames had a career-high 15 points.

Reggie Moore had 13 points.

Nik Koprivica had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Things that didn't go well:

Ken Bone's half-time speech.

Klay Thompson apparently arrived late for the team bus and didn't start. Whether or not this was a factor I can't tell as he couldn't shoot straight anyway, finishing with 7 points on...wait for it...2-15 shooting!

Reggie Moore had 8 turnovers.

DeAngelo Casto continued to be a non-factor and his minutes reflected it, only tallying 23 minutes. He made the most of it, scoring 4 points and wrangling 2 rebounds.

The good news is that after missing everything for 7 minutes of the second half, the game was really no longer in doubt and I could direct my attention to more important things like the Jersey Shore marathon on MTV.

What's up next for America's Team? ASU comes to Pullman for a Thursday night matchup. The game's not televised and for much of the Cougar faithful, it's probably a good thing.

Oh well, 4-5 through the first half of the Pac-10 is not the end of the world. I think what's frustrating is that they've played so well at times but have gone completely brain-dead at others. If they finish the second half at 5-4, we're right about where we thought we'd be. Let's just hope that Bone figures out who is going to lead this team and manages a way to right the ship.

Inconsistency is not a total surprise at this point, but inconsistency at this level is almost amazing.

Get it fixed, coach. We've got faith in you!

Go Cougs!