In 2024 WSU made a surprise march madness run, being eliminated in the round of 32. The Cougs benefited from a weak Pac-12 and big wins over Arizona to finish third in the Pac-12 and earn a selection to the NCAA tournament.

However, after losing head coach Kyle Smith to Stanford, the Cougars underwent a series of roster changes that have completely upended the team.

Jaylen Wells was drafted and Isaac Jones signed an undrafted free-agent contract with the Sacramento Kings. Myles Rice transferred to Indiana, and Andrej Jakomovski went to Colorado.

It left the Cougars with some major holes, but they have filled them, and now prepare to begin their first year as an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference.

Point guard might be the weakest of positions for WSU, at least based on previous NCAA performance. The starter will be Nate Calmese, a junior transfer from the University of Washington. In 2023, Calmese averaged 4.1 points per game off the bench, while contributing 0.5 steals and 0.8 assists per game.

Calmese is now at his third school. He spent his freshman season at Lamar, where he started 31 games and averaged 17.6 points per game, making him the second-leading freshman scorer in the 2022-23 season. That came after winning Arizona 4A High School Player of the Year in 2022. After not playing much with Washington, he is expected to step back into a starting role in Pullman.

At shooting guard, the Cougars brought in transfer senior Cedric Coward. Coward is one of the four players who joined new head coach David Riley in making the move from Eastern Washington to WSU. Last year, Coward averaged 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds. He was named to the first-team All-Big Sky team and has been named to the All-WCC preseason team.

Asked about his move to follow Riley to WSU during WCC media day, Coward said “Wherever he was at, I was at.”

“We all know what he wants out of us,” Coward said. “The goal of Washington State is to create an NBA factory…we’re all understanding of the culture here.”

Also at shooting guard is sophomore Isaiah Watts, the only returner who played during the 2023-24 season. Watts averaged 3.7 points per game but came alive towards the end of the Cougars season. He scored a season-high 18 points Feb. 29 against USC and followed it up with 15 points against Washington Mar. 7.

Watts will likely see an increased role as he enters his second season on the Palouse.

Coming off the bench to serve as a backup guard will be redshirt freshman Parker Gerrits. Gerrits starred at Olympia High School, which he took to the Washington State 4A Championship game in 2023, ultimately losing to a Curtis High School team led by Washington freshman and five-star recruit Zoom Diallo.

Gerrits did not play in his freshman year at WSU, instead electing to use his redshirt year. He is the only other returner from last year’s roster.

“Parker Gerrits stuck it out with me, and I appreciate him for that, cause I would have been too lonely,” Watts said.

Not related to Isaiah, but sharing his last name is LeJuan Watts, another transfer from Eastern Washington. He will slot in as the Cougars’ starting small forward, a role he played well with the Eagles. He averaged 9.2 points per game while shooting 40.5% from the three-point line. The Cougars may turn to Watts to be a sharpshooter for the upcoming season.

At power forward, the Cougs welcome junior Cal transfer ND Okafor. Standing at six-foot-nine-inches and 235 pounds, Okafor has the ability to play physical basketball and could potentially play some center as well. He missed the last 23 games of 2023-24 due to an ankle injury.

Before the injury, he averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. As a freshman, he averaged 3.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and made two starts.

Backing up LeJuan Watts and Okafor will be Latvian forward Rihards Vavers. Vavers is a sophomore who transferred to WSU from Quinnipiac. He played 24 games for the Bobcats, averaging 7.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, recording a season-high 18 points twice.

At center, the Cougs will be starting another Eastern Washington transfer, Ethan Price. The six-foot-ten-inch senior was a rebound machine at Eastern, averaging 12.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in 2023-24. He started over 100 games over the past three seasons and now joins his former coach at WSU for his final year.

Backing up Price will be the fourth Eastern transfer, senior Dane Erikstrup. The tallest man on the team, Erikstrup towers at six-foot-eleven-inches. The Oregon native averaged 10.8 points and 3.3 rebounds last year, splitting time with Price between center and power forward.

The Cougs also have a group of freshmen who will compete for playing time or could redshirt for the season. They include Marcus Wilson, guard out of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Tomas Thrastarson, guard from Thorlakshofn, Iceland; Dimitrije Vukicevic, center from Belgrade, Serbia and Kase Wynott, guard out of Winchester, Idaho.

The final member of the team is Tayom Sessoms, who walked on after transferring to WSU from Tacoma Community College. He will provide depth off the bench as a guard.

Isaiah Watts gave his thoughts on the team’s strengths and weaknesses at WCC media day.

“We play really fast, we’re a great shooting team,” he said.

Watts said defensively, the team would like to play fast and complement the offense.

“We wanted skill guys, we wanted high IQ guys, you gotta have a big motor, and you gotta have a high character person,” said Riley on the team’s roster construction. “We did a good job in the portal and looking at the freshman.”

With a solid foundation of players built mostly from the transfer portal, the Cougars will have a lot to prove in 2024. One thing was made clear; they are in this together.

“This is probably the closest team I’ve been on in all four years of my college career,” said Coward.

WSU begins play at home on Nov. 4 when they will host Portland State.