It is strange to think the WSU men's basketball team was advancing to the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas when its season ended abruptly due to the coronavirus. The first-round win over Colorado was Jeff Pollard's first postseason win as a Cougar and, strangely, the last game he played for Washington State University.

Pollard was the captain of the 2019-20 team that needed his veteran leadership on and off the court.

"It was abrupt. I mean, nobody expects that, and it was a tough pill to swallow, to have the season end like that," Pollard said. "Not too many players experience their last game in college as a win," he said, acknowledging the silver lining.

Pollard had a senior season unlike any other recent WSU graduate, for a variety of reasons. Instead of walking off the court one last time before a crowd of cheering fans, a global pandemic cut short his career at WSU.

He contributed to WSU's first Pac-12 Tournament victory since 2009. He helped defeat No. 8 Oregon in Beasley Coliseum, the highest-ranked team the Cougars beat since 2007. He was a part of the biggest jersey retirement ceremony in school history, honoring Cougar legend Klay Thompson with a win. Pollard's senior season was the program's most successful since 2012.

He returned to WSU for his last season as the most experienced player under new head coach Kyle Smith. Pollard's playing style worked well in Smith's system, which focuses on defense, rebounding and hustle. One metric Smith uses to determine defensive productivity is hustle-to-defense ratio. That bodes well for Pollard, who deflects the ball, forces turnovers, closes out on shooters, dives for loose balls and sprints back on defense after his team misses a shot. A true glue-guy known for his hustle, grit and passion.

"At first there were a lot of adjustments for everyone, but I think there was a good foundation from the beginning with coach," Pollard said. "But this senior season has been extremely rewarding. It was the culmination of everything, like the final act of a play."

Now Pollard is looking to the future. He is back in his home state of Utah, spending time with loved ones while COVID-19 runs its course and Americans practice social distancing. He looks forward to continuing his basketball career overseas, chasing his dream of being paid to play the game he loves, while traveling the world.

"I loved every second of my time at WSU," he said. "It is a great place to go to college, an amazing place to play sports and I'll always miss it."

Pollard leaves WSU a member of the All-Pac-12 All-Academic first team, a graduate in business management, a leader and, most of all, a Coug through and through.