WSU participated in its first West Coast Conference media day Thursday, and while the team was picked to finish fifth, one Coug received individual recognition as well.
Senior Cedric Coward was the only Coug selected to the WCC preseason team. Coward, a 6-foot, 6-inch guard and Eastern Washington transfer, was unanimously voted Big Sky first-team All-Conference following the 2023-24 season after posting 15.4 points per game with 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 56.5% field-goal shooting and 89.5% from the free-throw line.
Now Coward is expected to be one of the offensive leaders of a remade WSU squad coached by former EWU head coach David Riley. The move to WSU was always obvious for Coward, he said at WCC media day, and he can continue to grow under Riley and a support system in Pullman.
“It was all about relationships and family and him knowing what he’s getting into. He’s got big goals, and I feel like for him to achieve those, he needs a support system and people around him that are going to push him in that direction,” Riley said of Coward coming to WSU.
Coward was one of four EWU players to follow Riley to WSU along with several other high school recruits and transfers. He will join a backcourt also featuring sophomore Isaiah Watts, one of two Cougs remaining from last year’s roster.
Coward was one of 11 members of the WCC preseason team that included four Gonzaga Bulldogs, two Saint Mary’s Gaels, two Santa Clara Broncos, and one player each from LMU and San Francisco. WSU played one WCC opponent a season ago, falling to Santa Clara in a mid-season neutral site game.
Despite a nearly entirely new roster from a season ago, both Watts and Coward said that the team is the closest they have been a part of, on and off the court. The team has had no issues chemistry-wise, and the player’s styles have not created any barriers, Watts said.
WSU is coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008, which featured an elite backcourt led by NBA star Klay Thompson. Now going into the 2024-25 season, Coward leads a new and exciting backcourt into battle.
WSU opens the season at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4 in Beasley Coliseum against the Portland State Vikings, an opponent which Riley and co. defeated twice a year ago by a combined 47 points.
Cougar basketball is right around the corner, and Cowards is a name to watch when the Cougs hit the court.
