For the first time since the summer of 2007, Purdue fans will not be talking about a player named Robbie Hummel as they approach the basketball season. Even though two of the Baby Boilers — E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson — graduated in 2011, Hummel was still around for his final season at Purdue after recovering from multiple knee surgeries. After an excellent comeback season last year during which Hummel nearly led the Boilers to an upset of #2 seed Kansas in the third round of the NCAA tournament, Matt Painter now prepares his program for a new era in West Lafayette.

How will Matt Painter deal with Robbie Hummel’s departure and a younger core of players?

Evaluating Last Year: Expectations for the 2011-12 season were fairly realistic in West Lafayette last season because of Moore and Johnson’s departure. Fans weren’t sure what to expect from the returning Hummel but overall, Purdue’s season should be considered a success as they finished 10-8 in conference play and gave Kansas everything it could handle in the NCAA Tournament. Even though Hummel had lost much of his explosiveness due to all the injuries, he still led the team in scoring with 16.4 PPG and his presence created more open shots for his younger teammates — especially Terone Johnson, who averaged 9.2 PPG. Painter’s team did not necessarily pull off many big wins during the season but certainly won most of the games that it was supposed to. The Boilermakers hit a mid-season slump by going 1-4 during late January/early February, but recovered fairly well to secure an NCAA bid for the sixth straight year. A huge win in Ann Arbor against Michigan (75-61) on February 25 was key to locking up an NCAA bid.

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Washington State week is over, but in case you missed anything, here’s all of our posts on Cougar basketball:

1. Evaluating The Recent Past
2. Players Not Returning
3. Running Down The Returnees
4. Kansas Transfer Leads Large Set Of Newcomers
5. What To Expect
6. Breaking Down The Schedule
7. Q&A With CougCenter
8. Burning Question: How Long Is The Road Back To National Prominence?

It’s that time again, as Adam Butler of Pachoops.com joins us once more with our Burning Question for the Washington State program, concerning the road back to national relevancy for the Cougars and whether Ken Bone is the man to lead them there.

Not too long ago, the Cougars enjoyed the most successful era in the history of their basketball program. But Tony Bennett left for Virginia, Ken Bone came in from Portland State, and Washington State hasn’t gone dancing since they did it back-to-back in 2006-07 and 2007-08. What do the Cougs need to do to not only get back to the NCAAs, but national prominence as well, and is Bone the man to lead them there?

Ken Bone Enjoyed Much success While At Portland State, But So Far It Has Not Translated To The Court In Pullman (credit: Don Ryan)

Adam Butler: Find their identity. The Bone era hasn’t been devoid of talent, but it has been missing consistency. I think I like their style – it’s generally up-tempo – but there’s been an inability to consistently perform and execute what I imagine is Bone-ball. Maybe that’s a result of being an uptempo-ish team in this recent trend (started by Bennett in Pullman) of Pac-12 school’s to slow things down and play deliberately. Nonetheless, if it’s unclear what you’re doing, odds are you’re not going to be particularly successful. The same concept applies to a lot of things, just ask your first girlfriend. But there are a lot of things going for the Cougars, too. I think Reggie Moore could be poised to break out of this two-year funk as senior seasons tend to help people do, and Brock Motum is a Player of the Year front-runner. Am I sold on Ken Bone building a Top 10 team? Not today. But I think it’d be a step in the right direction if there was an identity to what a Cougar game was like as opposed to hoping talent prevails.

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Over the next four weeks we’ll be taking a step back and looking at each team in the ACC to assess where each program — and the conference as a whole — stands before we totally turn our attention to the 2013-14 season later this fall. Today’s target: North Carolina.

Where They Stand Now

What do you do when you have a team that goes 14-2 during conference play and loses in the Elite Eight after its record-shattering point guard goes down with an injury? In Chapel Hill, you are deeply disappointed in a team that arguably underperformed. The loaded Tar Heels were near helpless after Kendall Marshall‘s injury, struggling to execute on offense, and the surfeit of NBA-caliber talent all amounted to nothing against a Kansas team that came prepared to capitalize on North Carolina’s weaknesses. Most teams would still call a season like that a success, but for UNC fans, the 2012-13 ended in incredibly disappointing fashion.

Roy Williams Will Have to Put the Pieces Together With His 2012-13 Squad

Who’s Leaving

Everyone. Well, not quite, but like Florida State, the Tar Heels are facing quite a bit of turnover. ACC Player of the Year Tyler Zeller now plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. ACC Defensive Player of the Year John Henson now plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. Harrison Barnes, an All-ACC First Team selection, is now with the Golden State Warriors, while Kendall Marshall, the all-time assists in a season record-holder for the conference and Bob Cousy Award winner for the nation’s top point guard, is now with the Phoenix Suns. Stilman White, the team”s back-up point guard, is leaving for two years to work as a Mormon missionary. The team is also losing the services of the versatile fan-favorite Justin Watts to that scourge called graduation. In short, next year’s team will be near unrecognizable from last year’s team.

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1. News & Observer: The crown jewel of North Carolina State’s highly touted incoming class is, without question, Rodney Purvis. The Raleigh native and scoring sensation, however, has hit a small word block in that the NCAA has begun reviewing Purvis’ eligibility. This is not an unusual situation and, as of right now, there is nothing too alarming about it. Purvis was part of the Upper Room Christian Academy’s first graduating class, which means that the school has not yet gone through a full NCAA review — meaning that the examination of his eligibility seems to hinge on nothing more than the school’s newness. Still, the unfortunate result is that the vaunted freshman will miss the Wolfpack’s trip to Spain and the Canary Islands and not get the crucial live-game experience which can be so valuable for young players just getting to know their teammates.
2. Wilmington Star News: Of course, while North Carolina State’s international trip features beautiful Barcelona and the storied Canary Islands, Wake Forest and coach Jeff Bzdelik went a different route in planning the Demon Deacons’ international trip. The Deacs are going to Canada on a brief jaunt that’s going to include only two games and some sightseeing in Toronto and Niagara Falls. While the trip will surely be a great experience for the young players, it lacks the glamour of the Wolfpack’s Spanish journey or Duke’s eventful tour of China last summer. Bzdelik is understandably concerned about the physical toll of the season on what is going to be a very young and inexperienced team, but something tells me the players would rather be somewhere more tropical than Ontario.
3. NBC Sports: Rob Dauster follows up a fairly interesting article on college basketball teams that had unlucky seasons last year with a sleeper pick that will be interesting for ACC fans. Dauster likes Miami, a team that will be returning a good deal of experience and talent, to make a big run in the conference. The combination of Kenny Kadji and Reggie Johnson is one of the more potent frontcourt punches in the league, but the question for next year will be the same as last year: Can the two remain on the court, standing strong against the twin scourges of injuries and foul trouble? If they do, Miami might surprise some people.
4. Washington Post: Maryland basketball legend Juan Dixon is going to be inducted into the the university’s Hall of Fame, a fairly reasonable move considering the guy’s Terrapin resume. Dixon is the all-time scoring leader for the Terps and led the team to a championship in 2002. He was named the NCAA’s Most Outstanding Player, a first team All-American, and ACC player of the year in that same season. One of Maryland’s all-time greats, his induction into the hall certainly seems well-deserved.
5. Fayetteville Observer: The NC Pro-Am is a welcome summer basketball sight for ACC fans. Featuring a host of college players and former college players from the four Tobacco Road schools, the circuit is a great chance to get a fresh look at incoming freshmen, see how returning players are progressing, and finally, see which of the old-timers still has it (hint: Jerry Stackhouse). It’s also a great chance to see lesser-known ballers of all stripes. The Fayetteville Observer does a great job doing mini-profiles of some of the more interesting but not-as-well-known characters who have been making a name for themselves in that crowded Durham gym.

1. Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun seemingly can’t catch a break when it comes to his health lately. After suffering through a number of debilitating physical ailments the past few years, the 70-year old wrecked his bicycle while on a ride Saturday and fractured his left hip during the fall. He had surgery to repair the break over the weekend and is expected to make a full recovery. Still, tack this on to Calhoun’s laundry list of health issues — prostate cancer, skin cancer, spinal stenosis, even five broken ribs from another cycling accident in 2009. We certainly wish nothing but the best for Calhoun’s recovery and eventual migration back to the sideline in Storrs, but goodness, it’s getting to the point where we’re not sure he should go anywhere without wrapping himself in bubble wrap first.
2. We’ve known for a couple of weeks that Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith received a contract extension through the 2016-17 season, but the details of that deal were not released until Friday. Under the terms of this extension, Smith will average a salary of roughly $2 million annually with an extremely generous incentive structure that not only increases his compensation by as much as a quarter-million dollars for a Big Ten championship (regular season or tournament), but also extends the duration of his contract for reaching those same goals. While it’s no doubt true that Minnesota has suffered a number of crucial injuries and bad luck in the last few seasons, it’s still a harsh fact that the Gophers have never — not once — earned a winning record in the Big Ten (6-12, 6-12, 9-9, 9-9, 8-10), nor won a game in the NCAA Tournament (0-2).
3. Is Class of 2013 super-recruit Jabari Parker down to three schools? His official list still contains 10 suitors, but an article by the Chicago Tribune suggests that BYU, DePaul, Florida, Georgetown, Kentucky, North Carolina and Stanford may already be out of the running. Mike Helfgot covers Chicago-area high school sports, and his sources around Parker are telling him that Duke, Michigan State and Kansas are the clubhouse leaders. The same piece repeated the earlier news that it is increasingly likely that Parker will wait until next spring to make his decision, allowing the family to have full information about the talent surrounding him wherever he chooses.
4. Recruits are meaningless if they’re not eligible to play and two of the most notable players entering college basketball next season received recent news about that very thing recently. According to his head coach, Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel has finished up his summer coursework and will be on campus next month as a fully eligible player. On the other side of the issue, NC State’s Rodney Purvis has not yet been cleared by the NCAA because his high schools requires an “extended review” by the governing body. His team left for a five-game tour of Spain and the Canary Islands on Sunday without him. The issue with his high school is that Purvis was part of the first graduating class at Upper Room Christian Academy, and therefore the NCAA takes a more thorough approach in vetting the institution. It’s unlikely that his eventual eligibility will be anything other than a mere formality.
5. The adidas Nations high school basketball event has been going on in Long Beach, California, the last several days, and many of the nation’s top entering and returning collegians are on site acting as camp counselors. NBADraft.net has put together some thoughts from two days of action — the counselors play pick-up games against each other — and perhaps the biggest lesson learned so far is that Nerlens Noel is a long, long way from a finished product. Aran Smith writes about the shot-blocking fiend: “The #1 overall hype needs to be tempered some. He still obviously has top 5 potential but that’s just because of how weak this year’s draft is. Anyone expecting Anthony Davis 2.0 should just stop.” He also breaks down a number of other players, including Ray McCallum, Gorgui Dieng, Nate Wolters and Deshaun Thomas. Here’s the link to day one‘s thoughts followed by the link to day two.

As part of our Washington State week, we wanted to reach out to the guys at CougCenter for their takes on the upcoming Cougar basketball season. Kyle Sherwood was kind enough to spend some time with us and give us his thoughts.

Rush The Court: How do the Cougars plan on replacing players like Marcus Capers, Abe Lodwick, and Faisal Aden?

CougCenter: Easier than you’d think. Capers, Lodwick and Aden were all high-character guys and great team leaders, but for the most part they were all one-dimensional  players. Those players meant a lot to WSU, but I think this current roster is the first one that really fits into how Ken Bone wants to play. The 2012-13 team is loaded with athletic wings who can create space and hit shots from long-range, so we’re going to replace those guys by running…and running…and running..?

Look For The Fast Cougars To Have Many Transition Opportunities That End With Dunks (credit: Stephen Dunn)

RTC: CBI time! Washington State played four games in three different tough road environments (well, as tough as CBI crowds can get), and ended the tournament with a 4-2 record and runner-up finish. Overall, was this a good experience for the team?

CC: Well, Capers and Lodwick meant so much to the program that it was worth playing as long as they wanted to keep going. The team had really turned a corner around the beginning of February, but it wasn’t showing up in the win column. When they started advancing in the CBI, it wasn’t just that they were winning, it was how dominating they looked. It was nice for the players to see the work they had put in to turn their season around pay off with such lopsided scores. I think we all would’ve liked a tournament win (because you know WSU would hang a flippin’ CBI banner), but the team got what it needed from its success in the first four games.

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Washington State released their 2012-13 schedule a week and a half ago, and while dates and opponents are finalized, all but seven times still need to be set. Today we’ll take a quick look at their slate and figure out which games we’re most excited about.

Click To Enlarge

Early-Season Tournament: After five fake games in Australia, then one real fake game against Saint Martin’s, the Cougars will play in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic to start the regular season. Washington State should roll over its first two opponents in the regional round, Eastern Washington and Utah Valley, but they are placed into the Championship Round no matter what happens in the first two games. Unfortunately for the Cougs, they draw the toughest opponent in Kansas for their first game, only made tougher by the fact that the games in this round will be played in Kansas City. They will face either Saint Louis or Texas A&M in the Championship or Consolation game, two teams that match up well with Wazzu. Overall, this will be a good way to start off the year. They should be able to snatch three wins, and playing a top-five team in a virtual road game will impress the selection committee come March.

Toughest Non-conference Game: Kansas without question. The Jayhawks return Jeff Withey and Elijah Johnson and will add four incoming freshman who will be ready to contribute immediately and ease the losses of Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor. Guard Royce Woolridge will get a chance to play against his former team in this one. It will be just his fourth regular season game after transferring from Kansas.

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We’ve gone through the Washington State roster and told you about the returnees and the newcomers, but let’s put it all together today: What does the 2012-13 season hold for the Cougars? Just how good will returnees like Reggie Moore, DaVonte Lacy, and Mike Ladd be, and which of the newcomers will emerge as major contributors? And most importantly, can these Cougs improve upon last year’s CBI appearance? Let’s break out that old crystal ball again and see what it says.

Motum Will Lead The Cougars In Scoring For The Second Straight Year

WSU’s Leading Scorer – Brock Motum. No reason we shouldn’t think the Pac-12’s leading scorer in 2011-12 wouldn’t lead his own team in his senior year. With Motum’s ability to score from anywhere on the floor and the fact that he touches the ball so many times on each possession, this is the only pick here. Even with a pair of confident newcomers like Royce Woolridge and Demarquise Johnson who will take a way some of his looks, Motum will still be the go-to guy.

WSU’s MVP – Royce Woolridge. This is a tad bold, but we don’t want to give two awards to Motum even if he may deserve it. Players and coaches called Woolridge the best player on the practice court last season, and the word out of Pullman is that he’s not afraid to shoot the ball. If he can give the Cougars 12 points a night, four rebounds, and maybe a couple steals here and there, Woolridge and Motum will make quite the one-two punch.

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On the heels of last-year’s CBI runner-up season, Ken Bone welcomes in eight newcomers, headed by Kansas transfer Royce Woolridge. The eight newcomers will no doubt ease the blow of losing three “team first” guys, but sometimes talent can’t make up for chemistry. We’ll break all eight of them down below, roughly in the order of the contributions we expect from them.

Royce Woolridge, Sophomore, Guard, 6’3” 175 lbs, Kansas – Woolridge received pure garbage minutes in his freshman year at Kansas (0.9 PPG, 0.5 RPG, 0.6 APG in 2.8 MPG), with his best game coming in his first one – six points, two rebounds, and two assists in eight minutes against Longwood. It was an uphill fight from there, and by season’s end Woolridge decided a transfer was necessary. He chose Washington State, a place where he could study Faisal Aden’s game — one much like his own — in the mandatory sit-out season, then fill his role after Aden leaves. Like the departing sharpshooter, Woolridge is a “fill-it-up” type of scorer, meaning he needs to shoot the ball to get his points. That will be fine with Cougar fans if he can make those shots consistently. He will also bring the physical, explosive, nose-for-the-ball mentality that Marcus Capers left behind. Described by coaches and teammates as the best player on the practice floor last season, everyone is anxious to see what he’ll bring to the table once the bright lights are shining.

Woolridge’s Explosiveness Off The Dribble Will Have Opponents Scrambling This Season (credit: Jerry Wang)

Demarquise Johnson, Freshman, Shooting Guard, 6’5” 190 lbs, Westwind Prep Academy, Phoenix, AZ – Johnson hails from the central Arizona power Westwind Prep. While primarily a shooting guard, Johnson is very explosive off the dribble and can slash and score with ease inside the paint, something the Cougars have been missing the past few seasons. That being said, his intensity and on-court toughness does draw some question marks. If he is going to earn major minutes as a freshman in the rotation, Johnson needs to move better without the ball instead of just waiting for it to come to him. This kid is a legitimate player that will surely make an impact by the time he’s done in Pullman. After all, he didn’t earn offers from UNLV, Gonzaga, and Washington for nothing.

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