WSU men’s basketball enters the 2024-25 season with 12 new faces and an entirely new coaching staff. Returning only two players from last year’s NCAA Tournament squad, a lot of work went into producing a roster full of different styles, sizes and backgrounds led by a new headman at the helm.
Following the departure of former head coach Kyle Smith, WSU hired former Eastern Washington head coach David Riley. Riley, a two-time Big Sky Coach of the Year award winner, amassed a 62-38 record with the Eagles. But rebuilding WSU basketball from the studs up required a different coaching philosophy than just Xs and Os.
“[The coaching staff] has always looked for motor number one, we need guys that have a chip on their shoulder, they’re gonna play super hard. IQ, skill and character, those four things. We love athleticism, but I think that’s something that takes a back seat to those other four characteristics. All these new guys have [those four characteristics],” Riley said.
WSU brought in four high school recruits and six transfers. Four of the transfers came from EWU with Riley, including forward LeJuan Watts, who said he was in Cabo, Mexico when he got the call from Riley asking if he wanted to be a Coug to which Watts replied “Yes sir.”
Beyond the four former Eagles, Riley brought in a deep crop of talent to diversify the Cougar roster including forwards ND Okafor, who transferred from California but is originally from Dundalk, Ireland and Rihards Vavers who transferred from Quinnipiac, but is originally from Adazi, Latvia. Additionally, WSU added Tomas Thrastarson from Iceland and Dimitrije Vukicevic from Austria.
“I think it’s an incredible thing to have the diversity that we do. That’s what life’s all about, is to meet people from different cultures and parts of the world. I think we represent that well, on our team and on our staff. It shows in the way we talk in huddles, when you see the different ideas that are brought up. We’re trying to win games and that is brought up there, and even in the food we eat. It’s a lot of different areas we embrace being different and thinking of each other’s cultures,” Riley said.
Riley brought over a WSU system that Watts described as “the exact same system as at EWU.” But with such a new group of guys, there is room for improvement on and off the court. One key area of growth is in the team’s chemistry, Riley said.
“Hanging out, doing barbecues every week, doing little camaraderie stuff. All the camping and all that stuff made us come together and be friends first before we became teammates,” Watts said.
Early signs are that the chemistry building has paid off, as the new WSU squad is even closer than last year’s squad, said Isaiah Watts, one of two returners from the 2023-24 team.
Isaiah Watts is entering just his second season of collegiate basketball, but he has already stepped into a role as a leader and a glue piece helping the transition of the new additions to Pullman. Friendly competition is always welcome, and Isaiah Watts reminds the EWU transfers that WSU beat them last year twice a week, but he has taken what he learned a year ago to help him lead now, he said.
“I look at what the guys did for us last year, like [Andrej Jakimovski, Myles Rice and Kymany Houinsou]. Those guys were there last year and the year before, they just helped us win a certain way. I just try to follow what they were doing and I think it’s working well so far,” Watts said. “All these guys are like my brothers. I’m really close with the people that are in the gym, cause I like to be in the gym a lot… We got workers, that’s for sure.”
With chemistry being a strength of the team, it allows for some room for jokes, particularly when one of the new additions is guard Nate Calmese, a transfer from the University of Washington. Calmese is clicking with the group and enjoying his time here, but the team needs to get him right, Isaiah Watts said.
“Last year, [UW] beat us at home, and [Calmese] danced on the Coug [logo]. So before our first game, we’re gonna make him kiss the Coug,” Isaiah Watts said.
Beyond the importance of putting a team together and getting the personalities to mix, there is the challenge of mismatched play styles on the court. With a new squad formed, the biggest area that has shined through on the court has been shooting, Riley said.
It is hard to predict what a team can do before the season starts. But WSU, which was picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 a season ago before their tournament run, so far has been knocking down shots one through five and handling all the little details that “come down to being connected,” and result in winning, Riley said.
Early returns from within the team are that the new-look WSU squad is closer than ever off the court, and is connecting seamlessly on the court, Isaiah Watts said.
“The Eastern guys really just know how to play basketball, and credit to coach Riley for doing that the year before. Our first open gym I was so surprised at how well we meshed and played together. I’ve never experienced anything like it,” he said. “It’s going to be a fun year. The more time we have to grow together, the better we’re going to be.”