UW basketball signs record class, WSU inks four

Huskies basketball received an infusion of talent the likes of which the program has not seen under the direction of head coach Lorenzo Romar. Wednesday was the first day of the early national letter of intent signing period, and according to recruiting sites, the Huskies’ six-player 2015 class could go down as the best in school history.

Headlined by Rainer Beach High School shooting guard Dejounte Murray and Brewster Academy point guard David Crisp, a fellow Rainier Beach product, the class is ranked ninth nationally by Rivals.com and sixth by Scout.com. Among Pac-12 schools, it came in second behind Arizona, which brought in the No. 1 class in the country.

But the Huskies, who last season finished 17-15 (9-9 Pac-12) and lost their first game of the Pac-12 Tournament, kept pace by signing Elk Grove, CA., forward Marquese Chriss (ranked four stars by ESPN), Eastside Catholic small forward Matisse Thybulle (ranked three stars by ESPN), 6-foot-10 Indian Hills Community College forward Malik Dime, a Columbus, OH., native, and forward Devenir Duruisseau out of Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, VA.

Murray and Chriss made ESPN’s Top 100.

“This class is extremely versatile and should have an immediate impact on our program next season,” Romar said. “I’m very proud of how hard our coaching staff and program worked as a whole to put this class together. It meets a lot of needs for us and it ranks up there with any class we’ve ever had because of its versatility.”

At Washington State, first-year coach Ernie Kent signed four players as he looks rebuild a Cougars team that went 10-21 (3-15 Pac-12) under Ken Bone in 2013. The most touted of the quartet is Robert Franks, a 6-foot-7 forward from Evergreen High School in Vancouver, WA.

The Cougars also signed Jeff Pollard, a six-foot-eight forward out of Bountiful, UT., Derrien King, a guard from Santa Monica Community College and guard Renard Suggs out of Gillette College in Wyoming. When they enroll next season, Suggs will have two years of eligibility and King will have four to play three.

Pollard reportedly will spend next year at Impact Prep Academy in Las Vegas before transferring to Pullman for the 2016-17 season. 

Scout.com ranked WSU’s class ninth in the Pac-12.