Athletics
Washington State University is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. The school's mascot is "Butch T. Cougar" and the school's colors are crimson and gray. Varsity athletics include men's baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, and track and field, as well as women's basketball, cross country, golf, rowing, soccer, swimming, volleyball, tennis, and track and field. In the past WSU had varsity programs of boxing, wrestling, gymnastics, and men's swimming. In 1917, WSU won its first National Championship in Men's Basketball. In 1937, Roy Petragallo and Ed McKinnon won the NCAA boxing championship, another national championship. The Cougars third and most recent National Championship was earned in 1977 Indoor Track and Field.
University Recreation also supports 26 club sports, including bowling, men's crew, cricket, cycling, equestrian show team, men's and women's flag football, fencing, polo, men's and women's ice hockey, judo, men's lacrosse, logger sports, rodeo, men's rugby union, women's rugby, sailing, ski team, men's soccer, women's fast-pitch softball, taekwondo, triathlon, Ultimate, men's and women's volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
Washington State's biggest rival is the University of Washington Huskies. Strong rivalries also exist between WSU and the other Pac-12 teams of the Pacific Northwest: the University of Oregon Ducks and Oregon State University Beavers. WSU's closest geographic rival is the University of Idaho Vandals, a fellow land-grant school only eight miles (13 km) east of Pullman across the state line in Moscow. Conference rivals until 1959, their rivalry football game, the "Battle of the Palouse", was played on an annual basis from 1901 until 1978 when the NCAA Division I split. After Idaho returned to Division I-A, a renewed series lasted a decade, from 1998 until 2007. It was but was dropped from the schedule due to the Cougars' continued dominance of the Vandals in the series, and each school's ability to generate more revenue by playing other opponents. Vandal head coach Robb Akey, a former WSU defensive coordinator, preferred the game as an occasional rather regular attraction. On hiatus for several years, it is scheduled to return in 2013, as the Vandals now struggle to fill out their schedule.
Acting as a liaison between the athletes and the athletic administration, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee is an active part of Cougar athletics. The Committee, composed of two athletes from every sports team and a few athletic administrators, discusses issues relevant to WSU athletes and legislative changes in the NCAA.
During the 2006–07 season, the once-moribund Cougar men's basketball team achieved unprecedented success, including its first Top 10 ranking under then first-year head coach Tony Bennett, reaching as high as No. 9 in the AP poll on 2-20-07. During the 2007–2008 season, the Cougar men's basketball team reached the Sweet Sixteen after beating Winthrop and Notre Dame, before losing to No. 1 Seeded UNC.
On March 1, 2007, Washington State was awarded a banner for its 1917 NCAA National Basketball Championship prior to its home game against UCLA. The championship was recently approved by the NCAA. In 1941, Coach Jack Friel led the Cougars to the basketball championship game, losing to Wisconsin 39-34. The Cougars are also fighting for the 1915 National Football Championship.
On March 30, 2007, after leading his team to a 26–8 record, 2nd place in the Pac-10 and to their first tournament appearance in over a decade, then Head Coach Tony Bennett was awarded the prestigious AP Coach of the Year award, receiving 40 of a possible 72 votes. Bennett also was awarded the Naismith Award by the Atlanta Tip of Club. This was Bennett's sixth major coach of the year award for the 2006–2007 season (the Associated Press, The Sporting News, United States Basketball Writers Association, Basketball Times, and CBS/Chevrolet, and the Naismith Award). This is the most major awards won by a Pacific-12 Conference coach in a single season, surpassing UCLA legend John Wooden's five in 1972.
Bennett had agreed to renew his contract with WSU for an additional seven years (extending his contract until 2014). On March 30, 2009, however, Bennett shocked the Cougar faithful by accepting the head men's coaching position at the University of Virginia. On April 6, 2009, WSU announced former Portland State University men's head coach Ken Bone as the new head coach of the Cougars.
On April 20, 2007, Washington State hired the recently fired Washington Huskies women's basketball coach June Daugherty as the new head coach of the women's basketball team. This is just the second time a head coach has switched schools in the history of their rivalry. Daugherty was fired by the University of Washington less than a month earlier despite leading the Huskies to six NCAA Women's Tournaments, including her last season at the school.
Paul Wulff began his second season as WSU head football coach when the Cougars took on the Stanford Cardinal on September 5, 2009, at Martin Stadium in Pullman. The university's 31st head football coach, Wulff is the first WSU graduate and football letter-winner since Phil Sarboe to lead the Cougars. Subsequent to the 2011 football season Bill Moos fired Wulff. On November 30, 2011, former Texas Tech head coach, Mike Leach agreed to terms with Washington State and will coach starting the 2012 season. He has a 5-year rollover contract, which will make Leach the 4th highest paid coach in the Pac-12.
On Sept. 22, 2009, then WSU Athletic Director Jim Sterk launched the "TeamBuilt" fund drive for Phase III of the Martin Stadium renovation to add luxury suites, club seats and loge boxes atop the north stands. On Feb. 15, 2010, San Diego State University announced Jim Sterk as their new athletic director.
On Feb. 24, 2010, President Elson S. Floyd announced the appointment of William "Bill" Moos as WSU's next athletic director, beginning no later than May 1. Anne McCoy, senior associate athletic director is serving as interim athletic director. A three-year letterman in football for the Cougars, Moos was on the WSU athletic staff from 1982–1990, then was athletic director for the University of Montana and the University of Oregon.
Read more about this topic: Washington State University