IT HAS BEEN 22 days since Washington State last took the floor with the Cougars back in action tonight in the first round of the College Basketball Crown tournament from Las Vegas. But things look rather different for the 19-14/8-10 Cougars than they did back on March 9, when they lost to San Francisco in the WCC Tournament quarterfinals.
The Cougars are set to do battle with Georgetown at 8 p.m. on FS1, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Vegas.
But Nate Calmese and Isaiah Watts have both entered the transfer portal, leaving the Cougars short-handed in the backcourt. Marcus Wilson also hit the portal, although the freshman guard was already out injured for the season.
So what does the Cougar starting five look like tonight? Good question.
LeJuan Watts, Ethan Price, and Dane Erikstrup will almost certainly continue with the starting roles they’ve occupied all year. Wazzu has played 33 games this season, and Watts, Price and Erikstrup have started all of them. The same had been true for Calmese.
In all likelihood, it will be Parker Gerrits and Tomas Thrastarson entering the starting five.
- Thrastarson started 10 games earlier this year when Isaiah Watts was out injured, and performed well in the role.
- For Gerrits, this would be his first career start after appearing in 31 games this season.
WSU could also opt for a bigger lineup, with LeJuan Watts handling point guard duties and either Kase Wynott or Rihards Vavers sliding into the starting five.
But the guess here is that it will be Gerrits, Thrastarson, Watts, Price, and Erikstrup … with Vavers, ND Okafor and Wynott playing crucial roles off the bench.
Related: WSU’s Dane Erikstrup: Expect dog fight in Las Vegas with money on line
THE PORTAL HAS also impacted Georgetown. The 17-15/8-12 Hoyas haven’t played since losing to DePaul in the first round of the Big East Tournament on March 12, but starting power forward Drew Fielder has since entered the transfer portal. In addition, starting center Thomas Sorber is out for the season.
Without Fielder and Sorber, Georgetown becomes a much smaller team and will likely depend on its guard and wing play, whereas the Cougars may try to take advantage of their size, although Price and Erikstrup are more stretch bigs than true paint players.
Georgetown is favored by 2 1/2 points. ESPN gives the Cougars only a 35.2 percent chance to win tonight.
If the Cougars can clip the Hoyas, they would play again on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of Arizona State vs. Nebraska. FS1 also carries that game and it will be at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. ASU has been hit hard by the portal while Nebraska is filled with outgoing seniors so a matchup with the former Pac-12 team might not be in the cards.
Tomas Thrastarson (Photo: Getty/Ward)
