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Washington State Basketball: Projected depth chart and rotation for 2023-24 season

By Jason Burgess

Feb 23, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Washington State Cougars bench celebrates after the basket against the Stanford Cardinal during the second half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 23, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Washington State Cougars bench celebrates after the basket against the Stanford Cardinal during the second half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kansas Jayhawks guard Joseph Yesufu Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports
Kansas Jayhawks guard Joseph Yesufu Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports /

Starting Point Guard – Joseph Yesufu

Grad senior: 2022-23 stats: 4.1 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 0.4 APG (numbers at Kansas)

Reserves-So. Dylan Darling, So. Kymany Houinsou, So. (RS) Myles Rice

Let’s begin by looking at the point guard position where it should be the newcomer Yesufu who takes the reigns here for a team that hasn’t made a big part of what they do. Last season Powell led the team in that category with just 2.6 per game, and sophomores Dylan Darling and Kymany Houinsou the most experienced guards returned to the team this season.

The second-year duo combined for just five points and two dimes per contest. If there is a name to keep an eye on in the point guard battle for the Cougars, it’s redshirt freshman Myles Rice who has yet to play a game in two seasons in Pullman. He redshirted as a freshman and then received a medical redshirt last season to receive treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Obviously, with such a long layoff it’s hard to know what to expect from Myles, but he was a highly-rated point guard coming out of Georgia. If he can get on the floor, he would give Smith a solid ballhandler to run this offense.

Make no mistake though, the success for the Cougars at the point guard position hinges (at least for me) on Yesufu regaining his 2021 form that saw him net nearly 13 points per game while shooting 44% from the field and over 38% from beyond the arc. Yesufu has never been much of a distributor, averaging 1.8 assists in that 2021 season, but if he can regain that shooting touch, which would’ve made him the best shooter percentage-wise in the Cougars rotation last season that will go a long way in helping Washington State reach their ceiling.

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