It’s been a week since my last post, and honestly, there’s very little going on right now. I’ve still got some longer posts I’m kicking around/working on that are more big picture things, but nothing ready for publishing yet.

What I’d like to do is steal a little idea from my friend Grady over at Stadium Way, and solicit some e-mails for a mailbag post. Got a question that’s been burning you up? Shoot me an e-mail and I’ll be happy to share my thoughts with all.

The NCAA made some waves today when it released its yearly report on Annual Progress Rates — a four-year rolling rate designed to measure both retention of athletes and their progress toward a degree. Despite having one of the lowest APRs in the WSU athletic department, the basketball team avoided the penalties that befell the football team.

I found the low figure of 903 curious, given the reputation the Bennetts have for commitment to academic excellence. As it turns out, the only reason the number stands as high as it does is because the Bennetts are so awesome: The figure in Dick Bennett’s first season was abysmally low — 813, more than 100 points below the NCAA’s accepted standard of 925 — thanks to the remnants of the Paul Graham era. In the past three years, the team has posted scores of 938, 923 and 942, and will presumably rise safely above that 925 figure next year, making any future conversation about scholarship losses moot.

The team escaped penalty this year because all of the players who left the program in 2006-07, either through transfer or exhausted eligibility, were on track to graduate.

The only basketball team in the Pac-10 to lose scholarships was USC, which the Los Angeles Times reports was due to Lodrick Stewart, Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt not attending classes after the end of last season.

Honestly, that’s where I think this NCAA program gets it right. There’s got to be some accountability for players not interested in making progress toward graduation and for institutions who don’t make sure they are interested. This relatively new system, which is only just now fully taking shape, is infinitely better than the antiquated graduation rate system, which was the epitome of how statistics can be skewed to say just about anything you want.

But this APR system also underscores the continuing gap between the haves and the have-nots in the NCAA.

Consider: Of the 53 men’s basketball programs to receive sanctions, only six are teams from BCS conferences — USC, Kansas State, Purdue, Seton Hall, Colorado and South Carolina. BCS schools make up roughly 20 percent of all Division I basketball schools, yet comprised only 11 percent of sanctions.

Is it because BCS schools have a premium on academically committed athletes? Or could it be because they generally have far more resources at their disposal, such as small armies of tutors and counselors, to “ensure” students stay on track for graduation?

Just some food for thought.

So, there seems to be quite a bit of consternation that despite Tony Bennett receiving a sizable raise from the university, the buyout clause in his contract is still “only” $500,000 or so. Even though that’s a number that’s uncharted territory for any WSU coach, it doesn’t appear to be giving people a lot of comfort right now.

I know this is part of the angst built into our Cougar DNA, but let me provide a little perspective.

The sense I get is that everyone is reading a little too much into this raise. My understanding, from everything I’ve read, is that this isn’t a total restructuring of his contract, as it was last year — it’s just a raise.

Now, a $200,000 raise naturally raises the eyebrows of you and me who need four-to-six years to make that kind of jack — the sheer number makes us think that’s a huge raise, especially when the total amount the school is handing out has now topped seven figures. But it’s not even close to the kind of raise he received last year. Think of it this way: This is the equivalent of going from $40,000 a year to $50,000 a year — a nice raise to be sure, but not earth-shattering stuff.

The thing to keep in mind is that this was a one-sided affair, coming from the school’s side. Although Tony did ask for some things at the conclusion of the season, such as raises for his assistants and charter flights for the team, Tony didn’t ask for a raise for himself. Had he asked for it, I think it’s fairly obvious they all might have entered into the kinds of negotiations that would also protect the school with a larger buyout. But that wasn’t the case. Restructuring a contract is a complicated legal process that, quite frankly, I’m pretty sure neither side had any interest in undertaking.

Dale Carnegie would tell you that one of the three fundamental techniques in handling people is to “give honest and sincere appreciation.” I think this is precisely that. This is the school saying, “We know you didn’t ask for this, but hey, you’ve done an awesome job, and we want to let you know how much we value you by rewarding you.”

In an ideal world, we’d absolutely love to have a larger buyout. But that’s going to require ripping up the current agreement and going back to the drawing board, and that wasn’t going to happen this year. So the school did what it could do to protect its investment: Try to keep its best employee happy — not because he asked for it, but because it was the best thing to do.

I guess I could just keep recycling that “another first for WSU basketball” headline in perpetuity.

The Seattle Times is reporting that the raise that was rumored from the moment Tony Bennett turned down Indiana has been finalized, and it’s a doozy.

How much of a doozy? How about $1 million per?

Count me among those Cougs who never thought we’d see a coach crack seven figures until pure inflation demanded it. But as AD Jim Sterk says in the story, Bennett is well worth it, and I’m glad the athletic department was able to pony up the cash the guy has earned.

A million bucks can buy a lot of super baskets at the Cougar Country Drive In, that’s for sure.

Now that the deadline has passed for underclassmen to declare for the draft, both the 2008-09 college seasons and the 2008 NBA Draft are starting to take shape. This is still pretty preliminary, as a number of players who declared could still come back for their senior seasons, but we’re starting to get an idea of what “experts” think of where these guys will get drafted.

If you’re curious, Kyle Weaver is looking like a fringe first-rounder, according to DraftExpress.com and NBADraft.net. I’d love to tell you what Chad Ford at ESPN.com thinks, since he generally seems to be a little more in tune with what teams actually might do, but all of his content is Insider. If anyone has access to that info, post it in the comments. There are other ones out there, too, but most of them have yet to reflect the guys that actually didn’t declare.

These projections can fluctuate pretty wildly in the next couple of months, based both off of performances at pre-draft camps and team needs/preferences, but it tells you what you need to know about how people are viewing Weaver’s skill set: He’s a winner who projects to point guard at the NBA level with his smarts, passing ability and defensive length. More or less the kind of guy that can help out a team that doesn’t need him to carry the mail, the kind of team found at the bottom of the first round.

I’m no draft expert, but that would seem to be the high end for Weaver, barring a spectacular showing at a pre-draft camp. The guys in front of him on the board are guys not likely to head back to college thanks to their potential, and of course, we all know what a premium the NBA places on potential in the draft over actual proven abilities.

Getting into the first round would be huge for Weaver. The difference between the 30th overall pick and the 31st? Two years guaranteed at just under $1 million each with team options for the third and fourth years vs. the prospect of a non-guaranteed contract.

As for Derrick Low? He had some well-publicized difficulties at the Portsmouth Invitational draft camp, and isn’t on anyone’s radar as even a second round pick at the moment. But that could change, too, with a good showing at another camp.

It’s been nothing but a series of firsts for the WSU basketball program thanks to Dick and Tony Bennett.

Ready for another one?

Rivals.com recently released its final Top 150 list, and guess what? Two future Cougs are on it: Klay Thompson and Michael Harthun. That’s never happened before.

We keep talking about just how great this 2008 recruiting class is, and to be fair, it’s all just speculation at this point — ask any UW fan who has watched Lorenzo Romar rake in top 20 classes year after year, or ask any Coug fan what they think of that 2004 class these days. But it’s fun to talk about, nonetheless.

When the first portion of that class was announced, it was a widely held belief that Michael Harthun was the jewel, WSU’s first top 100 recruit since recruiting services such as Scout.com, Rivals.com and Scouts, Inc. started putting lists together. He’s currently ranked No. 96 by Scout.com, No. 100 by Scouts, Inc. and No. 118 on that Rivals.com list.

Harthun might well still turn out to be the best of this impressive class, but a huge senior season has propelled Thompson (above) right past him in nearly everyone’s eyes — a “late bloomer” in recruiting speak. Thompson now is ranked as high as No. 45 by Scouts, Inc. and No. 51 by Rivals.com. (He’s still unranked by Scout.com, but they have not updated their list since before the early signing period.)

Thompson led his team to the California Div. III title with an almost-mythical performance in the championship game: 37 points, including 7-of-11 from 3-point range and three blocked shots. For the season, he averaged 21 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists. From this report, offensively he sounds like Kyle Weaver with a better outside shot:

Thompson has the skill and savvy to play all three perimeter positions at the next level. He has solid speed and quickness and he’s a very crafty ball handler. He has excellent court vision and could have easily had a couple of triple-doubles if teammates could have converted.

Don’t trust the “experts”? Take a look with your own eyes. This kid is silky smooth:

Now, before you go all crazy drooling on your keyboard, here are Rivals.com’s No. 51 recruits from the last few years:

• 2007: Justin Burrell, St. John’s
• 2006: Marreese Speights, Florida
• 2005: Bobby Frasor, North Carolina
• 2004: Dayshawn Wright, Syracuse
• 2003: Dwight Brewington, Providence

Of those five, chances are you only recognize two of them: Speights and Frasor. Speights had a good sophomore season for the Gators and is testing the draft waters, while Frasor was a nice reserve point guard for the Heels before going down with a knee injury. Both are good players.

But consider the other three. The jury is still out on Burrell, who had a decent freshman year for a terrible St. John’s team. Wright and Brewington? Wright flamed out of Syracuse thanks to poor academics, while Brewington played one season at Providence before transferring to Liberty, playing one season there, declaring early for the draft and going undrafted.

The moral of the story? All ostensibly have/had talent, but a lot can happen on the road to greatness. So keep it in perspective.

If you’re curious, the Cougars have had only one other Rivals.com Top 150 recruit: Derrick Low, No. 138 in 2004. That one turned out OK. There was another guy in that glass, some dude named Weaver who didn’t even sniff anyone’s top 150. I think he turned out all right, too.

If you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor, Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby really did hit the ball out of the park with his hire of Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins, who is reported to be Trent Johnson’s successor. This is the guy who’s been Mike Kzyzewski’s top assistant for 11 years, most of that spent as his top recruiter at a university whose admissions standards are similar to Stanford’s.

Of course, you never really know how a lifetime assistant is going to do as the head guy — hellloooooo, Paul Graham! — but I think this is a great hire. I’ve often wondered why Dawkins has never gotten a shot as a head man, and the thought has been that he was just patiently waiting for the right opportunity. He elected not to go the Jeff Capel route, assisting Coach K for a few years then parlaying a few years at a small college (VCU) into a bigger job (Oklahoma).

It looks like that patience has been rewarded. He’s learned from the best, and he won’t get a better fit than this.

And I stand by what I wrote Thursday: Bowlsby will end up looking like the smart guy in all of this.

The rumors have been circulating for months that the Cougs were on the verge of upgrading their non-conference schedule, and they finally were confirmed yesterday: WSU will travel to Louisiana State next year in the first game of what appears to be a true home-and-home series with the Tigers.

How long has this agreement been in the works? Given the rumblings we heard all year, we can safely assume this was being discussed long before Trent Johnson took the job. However, since coaches pretty much have all veto power over the schedule, it probably didn’t hurt that Johnson is now the coach, given his four years in the Pac-10.

Much like the recruiting class Tony Bennett signed this year, this piece of scheduling also represents just how far this program has come.

It’s not just that someone is willing to play us; after all, you might remember that we regularly appeared as sacrificial lambs on other major conference opponents’ schedules in the down years. It’s that LSU is playing us because the Tigers wanted to strengthen their schedule — it is benefiting them to play the Washington State University Cougars because of the level of excellence the program has reached. Heady stuff.

The game is scheduled for Dec. 27 in Baton Rouge, right before each team is scheduled to begin the conference slate, which makes a lot of sense for the Cougars. We all figure the Cougs will be counting substantially on the freshmen to contribute, and giving them a taste of major conference competition — on the road — before Pac-10 play should be just about perfect.

What can the Cougs expect to see down there? Well, you might remember that LSU was in the Final Four just two years ago. But this is a program that has fallen nearly off the map since then. There’s a reason John Brady lost his job this year, as the Tigers stumbled out of the gate and never really found their footing en route to a sub-.500 record and fourth place finish in the SEC West.

But this is a team that should be back on the rise next year. Although superfrosh Anthony Randolph was one-and-done on the bayou, the Tigers will be led by a pair of talented seniors: sharpshooting guard Marcus Thornton and center Chris Johnson, a shot-blocking machine. Barring some kind of injury that changes the complexion of LSU, this game should provide an excellent litmus test heading into conference play.

The potential of next year’s experienced squad probably is no small part of the reason Johnson bolted form Stanford, proving more and more that he is the master of striking while the iron is hot. I meant to write about this when he took the job, but consider the following.

Johnson was at Nevada for five years, culminated by a Sweet 16 appearance behind a pair of future NBA players — Kirk Snyder and Nick Fazekas — that he turned into the job at Stanford. As Clay Bennett would say, that’s a sweet flip.

Then, he was at Stanford for four years. After having taken over a program that averaged nearly 27 wins a season in Mike Montgomery’s final seven years, Johnson never won more than 18 games or advanced past the first round the NCAA Tournament until this past season — the season in which he had a pair of 7-footers that gave his team a sizable physical advantage in nearly every game it played. And oh, by the way, those 7-footers are headed to the NBA, leaving the Cardinal in position for a major fall. Another sweet flip.

Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby has been getting crucified in the Bay Area for not locking Johnson up to a long term deal and letting him get away, but I’m betting he’s the one who ends up looking good in this deal when all is said and done. Johnson might have won 28 games last season, but I’m pretty sure Ptowncoug could have coached the Lopez twins and three midgets into the Top 25.

Johnson bolted for bigger money before anyone could remember what a mediocre coach he was for his first three years.

I’m not saying he won’t turn out to be moderately successful at LSU. One of the first things Johnson talked about upon accepting the job was that he found Stanford’s academic standards a difficult part of the recruiting process, something he’ll have absolutely no trouble with in Baton Rouge. He proved that he was able to recruit at a public school in Nevada, so he should be able to be successful on that front at LSU.

But Bowlsby was rightly skeptical of Johnson’s “success,” and this is a move that probably will end up benefiting both parties — Johnson in his pocketbook, and Stanford in getting a better coach.

Obviously, I’m a bit late to the DeAngelo-Casto-signed-a-letter-of-intent party — thanks in no small part to spending five days in Anaheim, Calif., with 23 of my students at a national student journalism convention with 4,300 teenagers, then spending the past two days getting caught back up at work — but I still have some quick thoughts for you all. Better late than never, right?

First of all, now that Casto has signed that LOI, here’s to hoping he clears the necessary academic hurdles. Our frontcourt has just one good rebounder coming back (Aron Baynes), and while Casto is far from a finished offensive product, he’s long, athletic and clearly has a nose for the basketball — both in terms of rebounding a blocking shots.

If Casto can qualify, there’s little doubt in my mind that he’ll be called upon to contribute right away. The only true frontcourt players returning who figure to be fixtures in the Cougs’ regular rotation next season will be Baynes and Caleb Forrest. Baynes is a great rebounder; Forrest is not. The rest of the frontcourt prospects include 6-7 Daven Harmeling (perimeter player), 6-7 Abe Lodwick (lightweight), 6-8 James Watson (freshman) and 6-10 Fabian Boeke (injured and ineligible all last year).

He won’t start, and he might not play more than 15-20 minutes a game. But clearly, Casto brings an element to the table that none of these other guys do, and that will be worth something — especially once the team gets into Pac-10 play and size becomes more of a premium.

But that’s not what has me most excited about this signing. What’s got me fired up is the talent in this six-man class. This certainly is the most talented class inked by the school in some time, if not ever. It’s a well-rounded class that features a solid mix of frontcourt and backcourt players, each of whom brings something a little bit different to the table, and there is not one — not even one — throw away prospect in the class.

Not one guy was signed just to fill out a roster spot. Not one guy was signed with the hope that someday he develops and pans out. No projects to be found.

Beyond that, four of these six guys are from the west, and Casto is the Washington 4A player of the year. We’re no longer having to scour the globe for guys other schools have never seen; we’re beating schools in our own conference to guys.

Those two things, my friends, say as much about where this program is going as anything else. Exciting times.

It’s been eerily quiet since the end of the season, and that should change tomorrow. Although, there’s a chance it might not.

The spring signing period begins tomorrow, meaning we might finally have an answer as to who’s going to use that scholarship vacated by Stephen Sauls. There’s no news around as to which way Paul McCoy is leaning, and there is no more news of substance related to DeAngelo Casto. As far as the recruiting services are concerned, there aren’t any other players on the Cougs’ radar, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

If a letter of intent comes into the basketball offices, then we’ll know something right away. But if it doesn’t, there’s a chance this could drag on for some time — especially if they’re truly waiting on Casto to qualify — as the open signing period lasts for a month. And until something happens, the coaching staff can’t really comment, unless they want to come out and say they’re giving that scholarship to a current player such as Enquist or Rochestie. But they haven’t done that yet, so it would seem rather obvious that they are trying to use that scholarship to strengthen the team.

So, tomorrow could be fun, but it could also be real boring. If something happens, we’ll have some thoughts for you.