Washington State Basketball: Why Cedric Coward is the most important team transfer for 2024-25

Things can change seemingly overnight in college basketball and Washington State is a profound example of that. The Cougars were largely irrelevant in basketball before this past season, winning 25 games and making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 16 years. Unfortunately, that great success came before the implosion of the Pac-12, with Washington State left behind by the majority of their conference rivals.

Every player who made that run special is gone, starting with top scorer and rebounder Isaac Jones. Other catalysts of that great campaign include Myles Rice, who transferred to Indiana, and Jaylen Wells who’s now in the NBA. A slew of depth pieces left the program, leaving new head coach David Riley with a monumental task in replacing all of that talent.

The Cougars don’t exactly have a sensational recruiting class, but did pull a few solid names from the Transfer Portal. Riley joined Washington State after several years coaching Eastern Washington and managed to pull several of his players with him: including Dane Erikstrup, Ethan Price, and LeJuan Watts. His staff also landed former Washington guard Nate Calmese and Cal forward ND Okafor, giving at least some power conference experience to this roster.

It’s another Eastern Washington transfer that stands alone as the most important and that player is Cedric Coward. After spending his freshman season at Willamette in Oregon, Coward joined the Eagles program and became an important cog these last two seasons. As a junior and full-time starter he averaged 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds, taking an explosive step forward.

Coward was named First Team All-Big Sky and led Eastern Washington to another regular season title in that conference. Not only was he one of the league’s top scorers, his true shooting percentage was spectacular, making more than 72% of his 2-pointers across those two seasons in the Big Sky. He’s a dynamic paint presence with decent rebounding production who can also step outside and hit outside shots, making 38% of those last year.

Luring his best player from one school to the next was a massive win for Riley, who at least has something substantial to build around. Coward has experience in Riley’s system and has really come into his own in recent years and he’d be a starting wing for a great number of teams this season. The biggest problem here is that Washington State doesn’t have a lot of great talent surrounding him, especially in the wake of what last year’s lineup accomplished.

Now relegated to the WCC, it’ll be interesting to see just what kind of season Washington State puts together. Coward presents experience in a lineup full of sophomores and new faces and how the rest of this lineup gels in the early months will tell a lot of the story. How does Coward handle the transition to a new program and with different expectations? Is this program doomed to mediocrity once more in the coming years or can they somehow find a way to build on last season despite a completely new roster?