Washington State Basketball: Mass exodus has sunk the Cougars

Washington State lost their fourth guard of the offseason on Friday when Milan Acquaah announced his plans to transfer.

The Washington State Cougars need to search the state for a guard who wants to stay.

On Friday, Milan Acquaah announced that he would be leaving the program. On the surface, that doesn’t look like a major loss; the freshman averaged just 4.9 points per game during his lone campaign in Pullman.

When viewed in the context of Wazzu’s other defections, however, it’s hard not to be concerned. Sophomore Malachi Flynn already decided to transfer, receiving interest from Creighton and Gonzaga, among others. A day later, Jamar Ergas followed suit. TJ Mickelson also left.

Meanwhile, Robert Franks departed for the NBA Draft and KJ Langston became persona non grata after an indefinite suspension last year.

For those keeping track at home, that’s six players who left before their eligibility expired.

Four of the team’s six leading scorers from 2017-18 are gone.

That’s not to say the team is completely bereft of talent. There are a couple of players who are ready to take the next step in 2018-19 and lead the team in scoring and shooting metrics.

But there’s something amiss in Pullman, something that’s going to doom the Cougars to yet another year of mediocrity.

Next year’s recruiting class isn’t going to do Washington State any good. According to 247 Sports, it’s the worst class in the entire Pac-12: one three-star recruit and nothing else. A couple of junior college players have been added to the ranks, but that doesn’t move the needle much.

Ernie Kent hasn’t done so either. The former Oregon Ducks coach took over in 2014. Since then, the Cougars haven’t won more than 13 games in a season or finished better than eighth in the conference standings. This was already set to be a pivotal year in his tenure.

Next: Arizona recruiting back on track

It will proceed without a handful of players he expected to have next year.