| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Exp. | Hometown (Last School) |
| 20 | John Allen | G | 6-0 | 181 | FR | HS | Brier, Wash. (Mountlake Terrace HS) |
| 11 | Aron Baynes | C | 6-10 | 270 | SR | 3V | Cairns, Australia (Cairns State) |
| 13 | Fabian Boeke | C | 6-11 | 230 | SO | SQ | Hamburg, Germany (Urspring Basketball Academy) |
| 0 | Marcus Capers | G | 6-4 | 172 | FR | HS | Winter Haven, Fla. (Montverde Academy) |
| 23 | DeAngelo Casto | PF | 6-8 | 229 | FR | HS | Spokane, Wash. (Ferris HS) |
| 40 | Charlie Enquist | F | 6-10 | 220 | RS FR | SQ | Edmonds, Wash. (Kings HS) |
| 52 | Caleb Forrest | F | 6-8 | 228 | SR | 3V | Pagosa Springs, Colo. (Pagosa Springs) |
| 32 | Daven Harmeling | F | 6-7 | 225 | RS SR | 4V | Grand Junction, Colo. (Fruita Monument) |
| 3 | Mike Harthun | SG | 6-3 | 170 | FR | HS | Medford, Ore. (South Medford HS) |
| 4 | Nikola Koprivica | G | 6-6 | 211 | JR | 2V | Belgrade, Serbia (Sport Grammer School) |
| 5 | Abe Lodwick | G | 6-7 | 196 | RS FR | SQ | Bend, Ore. (Mountain View) |
| 10 | Taylor Rochestie | G | 6-1 | 186 | RS SR | 2V | Santa Barbara, Calif. (Tulane) |
| 1 | Klay Thompson | SG | 6-6 | 187 | FR | HS | Ladera Ranch, Calif. (Santa Margarita Catholic HS) |
| 14 | James Watson | PF | 6-7 | 210 | FR | HS | Atoka, Okla. (Stringtown HS) |
| 44 | Nick Witherill | G | 6-1 | 176 | FR | HS | Phoenix, Ariz. (Highland HS) |
The first thing that jumps out at me – three, count ‘em, three players from the state of Washington. OK, so maybe it should be expected that Washington State boasts a few players from the Evergreen State. But this is a big deal because it starts to show something that Dick Bennett predicted years ago. That is, as the Cougs improve, the circle from which they recruit will become smaller. Last year, coming off of a tournament appearance, the Cougs only had one player from in-state: Charlie Enquist. And he was on the bench getting a redshirt.
Now, the Cougs picked up a college-ready recruit from Spokane (DeAngelo Casto), and perhaps the steal of this past recruiting period in walk-on John Allen from Montlake Terrace. Don’t know Allen? Nuss at WSU Hoops has the inside information on the 6′1″ guard that could steal some minutes as early as this season.
The other thing you’ll notice is just how ridiculously young this team is. Nine freshmen on the fifteen man roster. If you count Fabian Boeke, there will be ten first-year players on this squad. Wow.
Enquist, Lodwick and Boeke do have a year of experience in practice, which is useful because they had to go head to head with Low, Weaver and Cowgill at the top of their games. However there is nothing in terms of actual game experience for these guys. The learning curve will be steep and it starts with the tough non-conference schedule.
Baynes, Forrest, Koprivica, Harmeling and Rochestie. Those are your five players with experience. Enough to make a good starting lineup, but not enough to make a whole rotation. So expect a lot of playing time for the Cougs’ freshmen.
Quickly, we’ll see if Tony’s philosophy is different from his father’s. Dick Bennett played anyone and everyone in his first two years in Pullman. Tony played essentially the same starting lineup every night in 2007-08. Will Tony stick with the rotation he sets at the beginning of the year? Will we see all fifteen players out on the court at some point this season? Will anyone redshirt? Can we afford to have anyone redshirt? Only time will tell.
Some questions for you: which frosh will have the biggest impact this year? Who will be the biggest surprise? Who would you redshirt? Don’t be afraid to leave your thoughts in the comments.
