In a pivotal season of transition for the Cougar men’s basketball, three seniors emerged as the leaders of a team seeking to begin the ascension of its basketball to a new level.

When WSU (12-16, 6-10 in Pac-12) takes the court at 3:30 p.m. Saturday to face the Colorado Buffaloes (13-15, 6-10), it will be the last time senior center Jordan Railey and senior guards DaVonté Lacy and Dexter Kernich-Drew take the floor at Beasley Coliseum. That is, unless WSU receives a birth into the CBI Tournament where the Cougars could potentially host a game.

The three seniors have endured plenty throughout their careers at WSU. For Railey, it started after he transferred from Iowa State to begin a new chapter as a Cougar. After averaging 16.2 minutes per game last season, he’s seen his minutes slightly decrease to 15.8 minutes a game this season. However, Railey has matured and grown into a player that has had a significant impact in the front-court for WSU. This season Railey is averaging 6.0 points per game and 3.3 rebounds with 1.1 blocks a game to match.

Kernich-Drew began his career at WSU after traveling across the world from his home in Australia. It’s a move that he didn’t hesitate to make.

“This has been my dream since I was pretty young,” Kernich-Drew said. “I didn’t know if I was going to get the opportunity to do this but obviously I’m here now so I’m very thankful for that and thankful for the opportunity Washington State has provided me.”

Although the overall season stat line might not show it, this season has been a bit of a breakout year for Kernich-Drew. He’s found consistency over the last half of the conference season scoring 18 points or more in four out of his past six contests. He played a pivotal role in wins against Arizona State and USC.

Then there is Lacy, who has been the star on the team over the course of the last two seasons. After averaging 19.4 points per game as a junior, Lacy is putting together a season scoring 17.3 points per game and has upped his assists per game to 2.2 after averaging 1.4 last season. Lacy has elevated his play after struggling with injuries during his sophomore and junior seasons playing in 48 of the team’s 63 games.

This season has brought restored health to Lacy and has featured team success on the court he hasn’t experienced since his freshman season. Lacy wouldn’t trade in his time at WSU for anything.

“It’s been up and down, it’s been a roller coaster but like all roller coasters it’s fun,” Lacy said. “I wouldn’t change anything… to be honest I’ve had a great four years, I couldn’t ask for more, I’ve been really blessed to be here doing what I’m doing and being looked to as who I am. I’m happy I did it the way I did it because I did it myself, I did it being myself and I did it not trying to change and make other people happy. I did what I wanted to do and I can’t take anything back from it.”

Although it could mark the last time their physical presence is felt on the court, sophomore guard Ike Iroegbu knows the memories they made together will last a lifetime.

“The first or the second game last season, Dex (Kernich-Drew) had a breakaway and I thought he was going to do a regular dunk but he did the 360,” Iroegbu said. “I remember in the press conference after, DaVonté (Lacy) said ‘if he would’ve missed he would’ve gone first flight back to Australia,’ but yeah I have a lot of great memories with those three guys being around them for two years – we’re like brothers now and I can’t wait to see what they do in the future.”

Head Coach Ernie Kent believes this senior class played a pivotal role in the development of the program.

“Just their ability to at times, each one of them had their moment when they carried the team in a ballgame,” Kent said. “Certainly in practice and that was huge because what they basically have done is taught the young guys how to work, how to be responsible. The fact that they’re going to graduate on time, the importance of the academic piece and all of that. I’m going to commend them for hanging with us, allowing us to lead them, allowing us to coach them and buying into what we wanted to do.”

With signs pointing in a positive direction for Cougar basketball, the seniors will be remembered as the ones who bought into Kent’s program and allowed for the younger players to learn how to conduct themselves as collegiate athletes. For Lacy, he doesn’t want people to just remember him for his playing ability.

“I don’t want to be the guy that just came here and shot threes and left,” Lacy said. “I want to be the guy that left his imprint and continued to leave his imprint so that not only these freshmen, but the freshmen from two years, three years ago they’re still talking about ‘Man, when DaVonté (Lacy) came to practice, he was already in a sweat or when he came to work out, it was like there’s no competition because he’s just going to out-work somebody.’”

The seniors will take the Beasley Coliseum floor for potentially the last time Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against the Colorado Buffaloes. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 networks.