Despite mass exodus, new coach David Riley has WSU men’s basketball in solid shape for WCC detour

It’s a Tuesday afternoon in early October and David Riley is out of breath. Just moments prior, he had finished a few sprints with his Washington State players, wrapping up a preseason basketball practice by getting in shape alongside them.

“This is the first time for me,” Riley said. “I realized about a week ago that I hadn’t done much exercise since I got the head coaching job. It was an opportunity for me to get a little running in.”

Riley wasn’t missing out on exercise because he was being a couch potato. He was out of shape because he had spent the past six months earning the head coaching job and putting together a roster at WSU, which lost all but two players in the offseason, when former coach Kyle Smith left for Stanford and nearly the entire roster took their talents elsewhere.

The only holdovers Riley didn’t need to replace are guards Isaiah Watts and Parker Gerrits, the former of whom came on strong toward the end of last season, helping the Cougars reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 16 years, making an appearance in the second round. In late March, they defeated Drake before falling to Iowa State. Two days later, Smith ended his five-year WSU tenure by accepting the same job at Stanford.

By early April, Riley had left the head coaching job at nearby Eastern Washington for the same job at WSU, and he already had a rebuilding job on his hands. When the dust settled, nearly the entire team had left. Guard Myles Rice transferred to Indiana, wing Jaylen Wells was drafted into the NBA, veteran Andrej Jakimovski transferred to Colorado, and centers Oscar Cluff and Rueben Chinyelu transferred to South Dakota State and Florida, respectively – giving Riley some serious work to do.

He reconstructed this Washington State team by bringing along a few of his best EWU players, including wings Cedric Coward and LeJuan Watts, and centers Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup. He maintained a commitment from guard Marcus Wilson and secured a new one from Lapwai, Idaho, guard Kase Wynott. He added Cal transfer ND Okafor and Washington transfer Nate Calmese, then added a few players from overseas: Iceland guard Tomas Thrastarson, Latvian wing Rihard Vavers and Serbian center Dimitrije Vukicevic.

That’s the group that will guide WSU into the first of two seasons as West Coast Conference affiliate members, a temporary solution to the Pac-12’s collapse last summer. In 2026, the Cougs will compete in the rebuilt Pac-12, but until then, they’ll compete against the likes of Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara and the rest of the WCC.

In the teams’ first meeting since 2015, WSU will travel to face Gonzaga on Jan. 11. The Pullman contest is set for Feb. 19.

“I think something that we always look for is motor, No. 1,” Riley said of how he rebuilt the WSU roster. “We need guys that have a chip on their shoulder, they’re gonna play super hard, IQ, skill and character. Those four things are the biggest things. We love athleticism, but I think that’s something that kind of takes a second (place) to those four other characteristics. I think when you look at it from that perspective, all those new guys have that.”

Riley didn’t need to look for any of that in Isaiah Watts, who never much considered jumping ship when his teammates departed, he said. He likes Pullman, likes the small-town feel he doesn’t get in his hometown of Seattle. For Watts, that made it easy to stay, especially as he saw the guys Riley was landing for the new-look Cougs.

For his part, Watts seems to fit well into Riley’s offensive system, which relies heavily on shooting and court sense. He wants to space the floor, wants to get guys playing, not thinking. Almost all his guys at Eastern the past couple of years felt comfortable shooting from distance, and as he implements the same type of system in Pullman, it’s becoming clear how free-flowing WSU’s offense might be.

Riley also likes the additions of his assistant coaches, including former NBA G League head coach George Galanopoulos, whose experience will help the Cougs round out their defense.

Assistants Jerry Brown, Pedro Garcia Rosado and Blake Fernandez followed Riley from EWU to WSU, helping him piece together a coaching staff he hopes will lead the Cougars into a new, bright future.

“It’s been really fun,” Watts said. “A lot of different cultures, a lot of different people from a lot of different places. So it’s awesome to see how they act and versus how we Americans and my Seattleite self acts.”