PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University men's basketball will honor former head coach George Raveling as it hosts its second and final exhibition game of the season against Pacific University, Friday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. at Bohler Gym. The game is part of 'Flashback Friday', in which the Cougars are honoring their former coach, while playing in the gym Raveling coached in during his first season with WSU in 1972-73.
WSU athletics has teamed up with Nike to provide George Raveling t-shirts to all 2,427 fans in attendance, in hopes to have everyone in attendance in their George Raveling t-shirt. Fans are reminded to come early to ensure a spot in Bohler Gym, as capacity is set at 2,427.
Raveling coached at WSU beginning with the 1972-73 season until 1982-83, as his first season with the Cougars was the team's last in Bohler Gym. Raveling is the third-winningest coach in Washington State history with a 167-136 record in 11 seasons, leading two teams to the NCAA Tournament (1980 and 1983).
In WSU's first exhibition game of the season, Oct. 31 an 81-74 victory over Lewis-Clark State, junior Josh Hawkinson picked up where he left off last season, finishing with 29 points and 9 rebounds in 29 minutes. He was 10-for-15 from the field (.667) and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Newcomer, point guard Charles Callison added 10 points, 3 assists and 2 steals.
Redshirt junior Que Johnson was the third Cougar in double figures with 11 points. Johnson led the team with 2 blocked shots and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Hawkinson added a blocked shot and was 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Senior Junior Longrus added 7 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Junior Ike Iroegbu had a game-high 7 assists, adding 9 points, a block and a steal.
WSU head coach Ernie Kent is in his second season after leading the Cougars to their most Pac-12 wins since 2011-12 with a 7-11 league mark in 2014-15. The Cougars return three starters in Iroegbu, Hawkinson and sophomore guard Ny Redding. WSU loses leading scorer DaVonté Lacy to graduation, but Hawkinson returns as the leading scorer and rebounder after averaging 14.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game a year ago.
Hawkinson made his mark on WSU history as led the nation with 8.7 defensive rebounds per game and was fourth in the NCAA with 20 double-doubles. He broke WSU single season records for double-doubles as well as rebounds, marks that had stood for 48 and 51 years, respectively. He needs just 156 rebounds to break into WSU's career top-20 and is on pace to set a WSU career rebounding record held by Steve Puidokas (1974-77) with 992.
Iroegbu and Longrus are looking to move up in WSU's career record books as well, as Longrus is tied for 18th on WSU's blocked shots list with 55 and Iroegbu needs just 75 more assists to break into the WSU career top-20.
Also returning for the Cougars are senior Brett Boese and Johnson. Boese had his best output of his career last season as a junior, averaging 4.3 points per game, while shooting .361 from beyond the 3-point arc. Johnson put up 6.1 points a game, while shooting the highest mark from the charity stripe with a .854 clip. Redshirt junior Valentine Izundu will made his game debut for the Cougars this season after sitting out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA rules after transferring from Houston. Izundu averaged 2.0 points and 1.1 blocks in just 8.0 minutes per game at Houston as a freshman in 2012-13.
Joining the Cougars are four junior college transfers and two true freshmen. Juniors Conor Clifford, Callison and Renard Suggs and sophomore Derrien King make up the group of transfers. A 7-foot-center, Clifford was named the Southern California (SoCal) and Orange Empire Conference MVPs at Saddleback College last season. A 6-foot-point guard, Callison was named the Foothill Conference's MVP, as well as the 2014 Press-Enterprise Area College Men's Athlete of the Year following his sophomore Year at San Bernadino Valley College. A 6-2 guard, Suggs led Gillette College to JUCO Nationals last season, averaging 13.5 points per game. King, a 6-6 guard, averaged 11.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and shot .417 from the field at Santa Monica College last season.
Guard Viont'e Daniels and forward Robert Franks make up the freshman class. The Washington 4A State Player of the Year, Daniels averaged 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior at Federal Way High School. Franks was named an Associated Press All-State honorable mention honoree at Vancouver's Evergreen High School last season.
Raveling and WSU second-year head coach Ernie Kent will speak at Cougar Athletic Fund's Friday luncheon, Nov. 6, which it holds each Friday of home football weekends. The luncheon will take place at Valhalla Bar and Grill with doors opening at 11:30 a.m. and lunch and the program beginning at noon. The cost for CAF members is $20 and for non-CAF members is $25. Pre-registration is encouraged and available online here: http://www.cougarathleticfund.com/support/events.html.
Following his time at WSU, Raveling coached at Iowa (1984-86) and then at USC (1987-94), taking four more teams to the NCAA Tournament. Following basketball and a brief stint with Fox Sports and CBS as a color commentator, Raveling took on the job of Director of Grass Roots Basketball for Nike. He was promoted to Director of Global Basketball in 2000, then director of International Basketball for Nike.
Raveling was inducted into Washington State Athletics' Hall of Fame in 2004, the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, and most recently, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. An active member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), Raveling served as the organization's president from 1995-96.
WSU's basketball exhibition game is in conjunction with 'Dad's Weekend' at Washington State, as the football team will take on Arizona State the following day, Saturday, Nov. 7 at 12:30 p.m. at Martin Stadium. Raveling will be the Cougars' honorary flag raiser for that game, and will raise the flag prior to kickoff.
The Cougars open up the regular season in a men's/women's doubleheader hosting Northern Arizona, Friday, Nov. 13 at 5:30 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum. Last season the Lumberjacks fell in the championship game of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).
The season opener is the first of six-straight home games for the Cougars as they host Idaho State, Friday, Nov. 20 (the night prior to WSU football hosting Colorado, Saturday, Nov. 21), Cal State Los Angeles, Tuesday, Nov. 24, Texas Southern, Saturday, Nov. 28, Gonzaga, Wednesday, Dec. 2 and Portland State, Sunday, Dec. 6. Texas Southern advanced to the 2015 NCAA Tournament, before falling to Arizona in the second round. Gonzaga advanced to the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national champion-Duke. The home game with Gonzaga is the first the Cougars will host against the Bulldogs since Dec. 5, 2012.