The Washington State Cougars, who have taken a good share of basketball talent out of Australia in recent years, are taking their talents Down Under.
The Cougars are scheduled to fly out of Spokane today for a two-week tour of Australia. Sightseeing will be mixed in with five exhibition games against teams that include players from Australia’s top pro league, the National Basketball League.
“I really think this trip is going to help us as a team as we get to know each other better both on and off the court,” WSU coach Ken Bone said. “I can’t thank Bill Moos (WSU’s athletic director) enough for this opportunity.”
Current Cougars Brock Motum (the reigning Pacific-12 Conference scoring champion), Dexter Kernich-Drew and James Hunter hail from Australia. Ex-WSU center Aron Baynes is playing for Australia in the Olympics.
Hunter, a junior college transfer, can’t play in the exhibitions because he did not attend summer school at WSU.
Another new Cougar who will be sidelined is highly regarded freshman wing Que Johnson. He has yet to be cleared academically by the NCAA. Junior center Jordan Raley, who will redshirt this year after transferring from Iowa State, also is ineligible to play in the Australian games.
Kansas transfer Royce Woolridge, a combo guard who redshirted at WSU last season, will make the trip. Former Curtis High School star DaVonte Lacy, who started for the Cougars as a freshman guard last season, is making his second international trip of the summer after playing on a U.S. amateur team in Asia in June.
The Cougars begin play Monday night (Pacific time) against the Melbourne Tigers.
The NCAA permits teams to make exhibition tours of foreign countries once every four years. The Cougars toured Australia and New Zealand in 2007.
WSU overcame injuries to key players to finish 19-18 last season after losing to Pittsburgh in the finals of the College Basketball Invitational.
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