COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW: WSU MEN > SCHEDULE (All times Pacific;home games in Some anxiety eased crimson; road/neutral games in gray) DATE OPPONENT TIME Sighs of relief were heard ’round the Palouse in late 11/4 vs. New Hope Christian ^ 2p May — Robert Franks, a standout scorer and rebounder 11/11 vs. Nicholls 4p for the Washington State men’s 11/14 at Seattle TBD basketball troupe decided the 11/19 vs. Cal Poly 6p NBA draft could wait, and he’d 11/24 vs. Delaware St. 7:30p return for his senior season. 11/27 vs. Cal St. Northridge 8p Good thing for the Cougs 12/1 at New Mexico St. 6p and fifth-year coach Ernie 12/5 vs. Idaho 6p Kent too, considering the 12/9 vs. Montana St. + 4p 6-9 forward Franks, who averaged 17.4 points and 12/17 vs. Rider 7p 6.6 rebounds per game 12/19 vs. SIU-Edwardsville 7:30p last year, was an All-Pac- 12/22 Las Vegas Classic (TBD) TBD 12 honorable mention 12/23 Las Vegas Classic (TBD) TBD and the conference’s most 12/29 vs. Santa Clara # 11a improved player. 1/5 at Washington * 7:30p WSU is coming off a 12-19 1/10 at Colorado * 6p campaign (4-14 in confer- 1/12 at Utah * 5p ence), so it’ll need all the help it Robert 1/17 vs. California * 7p can get with outside expectations low Franks 1/19 vs. Stanford * noon (picked to finish 12th by the coaches and media) but intra-squad 1/24 at Oregon St. * 8p ambitions high. That preseason billing as the ultimate worst may 1/27 at Oregon * 5p have surfaced from the loss of 3-ball-conjuror Malachi Flynn to 1/30 vs. UCLA * 7p transfer. However, the Cougars return a few notables such as 2/2 vs. USC * 4p spot-up-specialist Carter Skaggs, versatile guard Viont’e Daniels 2/7 at Arizona St. * 5p and welcome a few high-ceiling newbies. 2/9 at Arizona * 4:30p 2/16 vs. Washington * 5p Undervalued assets 2/20 vs. Colorado * 7p 2/23 vs. Utah * 5p It seems no one factored in the grav - 2/28 at Stanford * 6p ity of overlooked transfers. The Cougs 3/2 at California * 4p sure haven’t. Of the 13 players, five 3/6 vs. Oregon * 8p new arrivals are from the junior-college 3/9 vs. Oregon St. * noon ranks — and four of those are top-tier 3/13-3/16 Pac-12 tourney Las Vegas juco products. According to an article published by COUGFAN’s Barry Bolton, ^ Exhibition > COACH juco recruiting expert Cameron Belden + Home game at Kennewick, Wash. Ernie Kent, fifth acknowledged that WSU’s recruiting class # Home game at Spokane year, 47-77 is a little more than stout. * Pac-12 Conference “Every one of those kids we had on our > 2018-19 top 125,” said Belden, a longtime scout > RETURNING LEADERS 12-19 overall, for Mullen Sports. “If I had to say, they POINTS PER GAME 4-14 Pac-12 easily had a top-five class. They would Robert FRANKS ...................... 17.4 definitely be up there at the top.” The four enlistees he mentioned: guard REBOUNDS PER GAME Ahmed Ali, forward Marvin Cannon, guard Jervae Robinson and for- Robert FRANKS ....................... 6.6 ward Isaiah Wade (center James Streeter is another juco transfer). ASSISTS PER GAME Skipping town Viont’e DANIELS ...................... 2.0 After a disappointing 2017 effort, four WSU contributors fled > ROSTER the program, searching for better opportunities. Along with the 15.8-points-per-game scorer Flynn, Milan Acquaah, Jamar Ergas NO. PLAYER POS HT YR and KJ Langston also decided to bolt. Behind Flynn, Acquaah 0 Isaiah Wade PF 6-7 Jr. was the most weighty departure — he averaged about five 1 Jervae Robinson G 6-2 Jr. points per game and was tied for third in assists. 2 CJ Elleby F 6-6 Fr. 3 Robert Franks F 6-9 Sr. Strong start, then it went haywire 4 Aljaž Kunc SF 6-8 Fr. 5 Marvin Cannon SF 6-5 So. After six straight nonconference triumphs last season, faith 13 Jeff Pollard F 6-9 Jr. in the Cougs was growing. At 6-0, Kent’s club was just outside 15 James Streeter C 6-10 Jr. the top 25 — but it didn’t last long. After UC Davis handled 23 Ahmed Ali PG 5-11 Jr. WSU, the Battle of the Palouse signaled fret. The Cougs lost to 24 Viont’e Daniels G 6-2 Sr. Idaho by 27, then proceeded toward a downward spiral, which 25 Arinze Chidom F 6-9 So. featured back-to-back, near-30-point defeats to the Oregon 32 Davante Cooper F 6-11 Sr. schools — the season’s low point. 35 Carter Skaggs G 6-5 Jr. TRIBUNE PHOTO/PETE CASTER TRIBUNE GRAPHIC/COLTON CLARK, MATT BANEY.