Summer vacation is well underway here at Podcast Vs. Everyone HQ (East), which means we are highly keen on keeping the immaculate vibes going. To that end — and in the spirit of this week’s celebration of the good ol’ US of A — let’s dedicate this week’s newsletter to celebrating cool stuff happening to and for Cougs by handing out a bunch of HELL YEAHs.

In today's newsletter ...

• Hell yeah, Jaylen and Isaac!

• Hell yeah, Anne McCoy!

• Hell yeah, CJ Allen!

• Hell yeah, Mike Leach!

• Thanks, Matt Chazanow

Hell yeah, Jaylen and Isaac!

Jaylen Wells made good on his decision to stay in the NBA Draft, realizing his dream to become a professional hooper when the Memphis Grizzlies picked him with the 9th pick in the second round, 39th overall, last Thursday.

The moment he was picked:

And ESPN’s analysis:

When paired with Atlanta’s selection of Mouhamed Gueye in 2023 — also at No. 39 — it marks the first time the Cougs have had players selected in back-to-back NBA drafts since the 1980s.

It’s a stat that sounds cool, but it’s actually even cooler than that: As my esteemed partner Craig pointed out on our members-only Slack, Keith Morrison went 103rd in 1986, while Dwayne Scholten went 128th in 1987. If the draft was only two rounds back then as it is today, neither would have been selected.¹ Probably the only other WSU draft accomplishment that eclipses what Gueye and Wells did was when Guy Williams (34th), Craig Ehlo (48th) and Steve Harriel (60th) all were selected in the 1983 draft.²  

In addition to Wells’ selection, Isaac Jones landed a two-way contract with the Sacramento Kings. Both spots seem like great places for each of them to start their careers.

While no details of a potential contract for Wells have been reported, it’s typical for players in the early part of the second round to agree to guaranteed contracts. That’s a big win for him. And he fills a need for the Grizzlies, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, which gave the pick a B+ grade:

The Kings, meanwhile, only made one pick in the draft, selecting Devin Carter in the first round before trading away their second rounder. They’re an already young team whose coach is unafraid of playing young players, but more than that, they’re unafraid of guys who are funky. For example, take Domantas Sabonis. At 6-10 with short arms and almost no rim protection on defense, he’s nobody’s idea of the prototypical NBA center. And yet, after acquiring him from Indiana — where he played primarily as the 4 — the Kings made him into their starting center, turned him into the facilitator of the offense, and he went from a fringy all-star to a guy who averaged damn near a triple double the last two seasons and made all-NBA third team both times.

If there’s a team that can see value in a 6-foot-9 center who is a wizard around the basket, it’s the Kings.

As WSU transitions to a new phase, this makes for a pretty cool end point to the Kyle Smith era. Smith and his staff were wizards at building relationships and identifying underrecruited talent with a hit rate that we hadn’t seen since the Bennetts. It’s really about the only way you can succeed at WSU. Casual fans will lament that it only resulted in one NCAA tournament appearance, but back-to-back NITs followed up by a near-championship in the Pac-12 is a historical run of hoops by Pullman’s standards.

I know we’re still close enough to the end of last season that the mass departures are still kind of raw, but I hope that, in time, everyone can appreciate the last five years for what they were — a return to fun, competitive basketball that ended with one of the great seasons in WSU basketball history — and remember it fondly. It’s worth celebrating.

I presume we’ll see both Wells and Jones playing summer league, but all of that is still TBD.

Hell yeah, Anne McCoy!

Unlike Wells and Jones and their NBA aspirations, I doubt it was McCoy’s lifelong dream to be the director of athletics at WSU. But I think this is a job she pretty clearly wanted, and I couldn’t be more thrilled at this point that she earned it.

McCoy was hired by Jim Sterk waaaaaaay back in 2001, and she has held a slew of positions in the last 23 years — including the last three months as the interim director of athletics. To be blunt, folks don’t stick around collegiate athletics departments that long unless they really love where they’re at, and McCoy’s love for WSU is deep and real. Her daughter was an excellent swimmer at WSU. She cares about the school — a lot. 

I wouldn’t normally place a lot of stock in that for such a high level position, but I don’t need to tell you that these are not normal times — and in the wake of Pat Chun’s departure and with more conference upheaval on the horizon, having someone leading the way who is not only intimately familiar with all facets of WSU athletics but also has kinda seen everything in her time is a huge asset. I mean, just think about what she’s been around for:

• Football: Rose Bowl to Paull Wulff to College Gameday;

• Men’s basketball: Paul Graham to the top 10 rankings to the the embarrassment of Ernie Kent to an NCAA return under Kyle Smith;

• Volleyball: Really good under Cindy Fredrick to a long slide to 0-18 to a powerhouse under Jen Greeny;

• Soccer: Middling program to consistent winner to College Cup;

• Women’s basketball: Worst program in Pac-12 history — in any sport — to multiple NCAAs under Kamie Ethridge.

There’s literally nobody in Pullman who understands WSU athletics as well as McCoy. This doesn’t guarantee that she’ll be an awesome fundraiser or nail all of her hires, but I think it does ensure that whatever decisions are made for the future of WSU will be made with eyes wide open and done in the best interest of the institution and not in the interest of self promotion.

It’s not just me that thinks this. Here’s Nancy Swanger, WSU faculty athletics representative:

I also think it’s rad that she’s the first woman to sit in the AD chair.

Hell yeah, CJ Allen!

The former WSU track star is headed to Paris after finishing 2nd in the 400 meter hurdles Olympic Trial:

Needing a top three finish, Allen — who left Pullman in 2017 after four successful seasons in which he won the Pac-12 twice in that event and also twice made second team all-American — used a strong second half of the race to finish one one-hundredth of a second ahead of the third place and 15 hundredths of a second ahead of fourth. It was the second-fastest time of his career.

“I was so nervous all week – the nerves have been high,” Allen said after the race to assembled reporters. “But overcoming that, that’s always been one of my strengths. Everybody’s going to feel that pressure, the weight of what this year means. It’s only every four years you get to be an Olympian – let alone in the U.S., the hardest team to make.”

You can watch the race here:

Additionally, Maribel Caicedo — an Ecuadorian who grad transferred to WSU before last season — has already achieved the Olympic standard in the 100 meter hurdles, the only woman in Ecuador to do so. She should be joining Allen in Paris.

Hell yeah, Mike Leach!

WSU announced the latest class to be inducted into its hall of fame, and the former coach is taking his rightful place among the greats in school history. He joins Jack Elway, Babe Hollingbery, Mike Price, and Jim Walden as football coaches in the hall.

I don’t need to rehash Leach’s accomplishments for you, so I’ll just say this: It still endlessly bums me out that Leach isn’t around to get his flowers for all that he accomplished as a coach. But I’m glad WSU is recognizing him now.

Other hall inductees this year:

• Alissa Brooks-Johnson (women's track and field, 2013-18)

• Micaela Castain (soccer, 2010-13)

• Don Collins (men's basketball, 1976-80)

• DeWayne Patterson (football, 1990-1994)

Kinda shocking that Collins and Patterson weren’t already in there, no?

The next logical step for Leach is for the College Football Hall of Fame to fix its stupid and arbitrary rules and put the godfather of the modern day passing game in there.

Thanks, Matt Chazanow

OK, this isn’t a hell yeah — as happy as I am for Matt’s career advancement, I can’t exactly pump my fist about it — but I didn’t want to let the opportunity pass to make note of his departure for NC State.

When Matt came to WSU in 2015 to replace the short-lived and ill-fated tenure of Bud Nameck, I was highly skeptical of the hire. He had no connections to Pullman at all, and his only significant on-air experience was as a studio host and fill in guy for Pitt. A graduate of Syracuse, he was an east coast guy through and through.

I immediately assumed WSU was a stop over on his career climb.

Turns out, it took nine years for the stop over to end.

Beyond Matt’s obvious broadcasting skill, what impressed me most about him is how he dove feet first into Pullman and enmeshed himself with WSU athletics. He quite literally became one of us. For as much as those of us of a certain age loved Bob Robertson, Pullman was never his home.

That’s not a knock on Robertson; that’s to emphasize Chazanow’s all-in approach to the job. He moved to Pullman when he was hired and immersed himself in everything about the university, treating all aspects of his job with the professionalism it deserved. Whether it was working alongside Robertson³ or Alex Brink or Craig Ehlo, he was so adept at both calling the action in front of him while setting up his partners for success, and his calls of big moments were second to none. Away from games, his coaches shows were top notch, particularly his weekly summits with Smith.

You could just tell that Matt had a genuine affection for the coaches and players he covered, and that’s exactly what you want from your hometown announcer: To be the amplified voice of you, the fan. Matt did that, and he did it about as well as it could be done. And he did it for long enough that I really started to wonder if he actually was going to be that lifer that those of us who love our university long for.

Alas.

I can’t really blame him — NC State is a wonderful opportunity for many reasons, both professional and personal, and you can listen to him tell it in his own words here. Those 20 minutes with Jason Puckett are worth your time.

I hope Matt becomes a legend at NC State, and I’m grateful for having had him at WSU. But it sure would be nice if the kicks to the nuts would cease!

1  Morrison went in the 5th round, while Scholten went in the 6th.

2  WSU also had a 10th(!) rounder that year: Aaron Haskins, brother of former WSU assistant coach Ed Haskins.

3  I had forgotten that Robertson was his wing man for the first few years!