It bears repeating: this has been a truly special season for the Washington State Cougars men’s basketball team. The release of the Pac-12 All-Conference honors on Tuesday hammered that point home with Kyle Smith being named the Coach of the Year and Myles Rice being first Wazzu player to ever earn conference Freshman of the Year honors.
Before the season, the Cougs were picked to finish 10th in the league and all Smith has done is guide his team full of players in their first year with the program to a second place regular season finish; all but assured of a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Many doubted whether the Cougs could sniff any postseason birth with the departure of so much talent to the portal but Smith and his staff have guided WSU to a 23-8 record in the regular season, their best in 15 years.
Smith is the first WSU coach to be named conference coach of the year since Tony Bennett in 2007.
We all know what an incredible story Myles Rice is but who saw conference Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Conference coming for the guard from Columbia, South Carolina? Almost a year to the day after his Hodgkin's Lymphoma went into remission, Rice became the first player in school history to be named the Pac-12’s best newcomer after earning the weekly award seven times.
Rice has set school records for freshman in points, steals and field goals attempted, cementing himself as having the best first season on the court in school history.
He also earned First Team honors, along with his teammate Isaac Jones. The senior transferred to WSU after spending one season with the Idaho Vandals and quickly separated himself as one of the conference’s best low post players. He also leads the team in points and rebounds per game.
Finally, Sonoma State transfer Jaylen Wells was also named to the Honorable Mention team. An All-American prior to coming to Washington State, Wells’s hot shooting from beyond the arc has helped propel the Cougs in conference play, including a memorable four-point play to lift them over the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson.