MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: After losing final 17 last season, Year 3 'pivotal' for WSU's Kent

PULLMAN — When athletic director Bill Moos triggered the rollover clause in Ernie Kent’s contract last March, effectively keeping Washington State’s basketball coach in Pullman through 2021 on a base annual salary of $1.4 million, it was first and foremost a vote of confidence from AD to skipper.

By flashing his checkbook, Moos indicated that Kent, who can now receive a one-year extension at the end of each season, will not only be part of WSU’s immediate future, but will also have a long-term residency inside the confines of Beasley Coliseum.

In that sense, Kent isn’t really working on a ticking clock — not that time isn’t of the essence.

The Cougars, who open Kent’s third season today at 4 p.m. at home vs. Montana State, won just a single game in the Pac-12 last season — the program’s lowest win total since 2001-02 — and finished the season on a 17-game losing skid. WSU’s overall record (9-22) was also the second worst of Kent’s coaching career in major college basketball, which enters its 22nd season.

And Pac-12 media members didn’t exactly take a leap of faith when sizing up the 2016-17 Cougars. In a recent preseason poll, WSU was picked to finish last in the conference and by some margin. The Cougars garnered just 30 points — 48 less than 11th-place Arizona State. The Oregon team Kent headed for more than a decade collected 320 votes and all but four first-place votes as an overwhelming favorite to win the conference.

So Kent and company are in a hurry to turn things around on the Palouse and the Cougars’ intentions should be reflected by the frenetic pace at which they run their offense this year.

“Year three of what you’d call rebuilding a program is a real pivotal year,” Kent said. “Particularly with the group of seniors we have. The success will depend upon, I think, just our mental. Our mental approach, our confidence, our toughness and those areas.”

WSU returns four seniors, including forward Josh Hawkinson, a versatile big man who ranks third on the school’s all-time list with 40 career double-doubles. In two years under the Kent regime, Hawkinson has shown a deft touch inside the key and his knack for rebounding was represented by the 11.1 boards per game he grabbed as a junior. That number ranked best in the Pac-12.

The Cougars also bring back fourth-year senior Ike Iroegbu, an athletically gifted guard who was the only player to start in all 31 games last season. Big man Conor Clifford and guard Charles Callison are junior college additions who each return for their second and final season in Pullman.

WSU graduated two role players from last year’s team, Junior Longrus and Brett Boese, and lost two more characters from the 2015-16 cast when three-guard Que Johnson (11.2 points per game) and center Valentine Izundu (2.2 blocks per game) transferred to Western Kentucky and San Diego State, respectively.

But it’s entirely plausible that the departures of Johnson and Izundu came at a convenient time for a program trying to speed up its game. A breakneck offense has traditionally been the MO of Kent’s programs at WSU, Oregon and Saint Mary’s, but the Cougars spent much of last season dialing things down, especially for Johnson, who was more productive playing in a half-court set.

Kent’s biggest offseason acquisition was Malachi Flynn, the 4A Player of the Year in the state of Washington who’s expected to assume the starting point guard role. That will allow Iroegbu, who’s proven to be a better scorer than distributor, to slide into a two-guard position.

Flynn averaged nearly 30 ppg as a senior at Bellarmine Prep.