WSU's David Riley says next roster is all but wrapped up: 'We have a lot more talent walking in the door than we did last year'

Since the end of WSU's ...

May 9—PULLMAN — Washington State's next basketball roster is all but complete. That's the word from coach David Riley, who said in a Zoom news conference Friday that with the exception of a post player to be announced later, the Cougars' roster for next season is in place. "I think we did a really good job being efficient this year in the in the portal," Riley said.

Since the end of WSU's regular season, which ended with a 12-20 record for the program's first losing season in seven years, coaches have landed nine new players via the transfer portal: Oregon transfer guard Jamari Phillips, UNLV transfer Ladji Dembele, Northwestern transfer Tyler Kropp, Providence guard Jaylen Harrell, Wake Forest guard Sebastian Akins, Central Missouri (DII) transfer Lazerek Houston, Manhattan transfer Fraser Roxburgh, TCU transfer RJ Jones and East Texas A&M transfer Ronnie Harrison, plus Golden State prep alum Roman Stathis, whose addition was announced on Friday. That group will join the Cougars' two returners, forward Dominik Robinson and walk-on guard Dio Blakely, and incoming freshman Brayden Kyman to make up the team's 2026-27 roster. All told, including the unnamed player to be announced next week, that's 11 newcomers for Washington State.

WSU was forced to act because of the departure of its entire starting five. Star guard Ace Glass decamped for Vanderbilt, forward ND Okafor committed to Ole Miss before flipping to Mississippi State, fellow forward Eemeli Yalaho went to NC State, wing shooter Ri Vavers took his talents to Memphis and guard Jerone Morton signed with Kentucky. In other departures, reserve guards Parker Gerrits committed to Wyoming and Kase Wynott to nearby Idaho.