History
In 1936, the Cougars were retroactively awarded the 1917 National Championship by the Helms Athletic Foundation. The team played to large crowds in the late-1970s when George Raveling was head coach.
For the better part of seven decades, the Cougars were a consistent contender in the Pac-10 and its predecessor, the Pacific Coast Conference. However, after Kelvin Sampson left for Oklahoma in 1994, the program floundered for most of the rest of the 1990s and the early part of the 21st century. However, there was the beginning of a resurgence under coach Dick Bennett. The 2004-05 season saw a large increase in student support as the team finished within a few wins of a .500 record (along with a stunning upset win against eventual Elite Eight team Arizona). Bennett retired at the end of the 2005-06 season and was replaced by his son, Tony. Before becoming head coach, Tony Bennett spent three seasons as an assistant to his father, the last three seasons as head coach before leaving for the University of Virginia.
Read more about this topic: Washington State Cougars Men's Basketball
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The principal office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–c. 120)
“Social history might be defined negatively as the history of a people with the politics left out.”
—G.M. (George Macaulay)
“The principle that human nature, in its psychological aspects, is nothing more than a product of history and given social relations removes all barriers to coercion and manipulation by the powerful.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)