Apr. 12—Washington State lost two basketball players to the Big Ten on Friday afternoon.
Two-year WSU men's basketball player Isaiah Watts announced his commitment to Maryland, where he will reunite with former Coug Myles Rice, who spent the past year at Indiana before committing to the Terrapins several weeks ago.
Three-year WSU women's basketball star Astera Tuhina announced her commitment to the Cougars' former Pac-12 rival Oregon the same day.
Watts and Tuhina built a clutch reputation in their time on the Palouse.
Watts broke onto the scene late in the WSU men's 2023-24 March Madness season. The then-freshman from West Seattle sank the go-ahead shot in WSU's first-round NCAA Tournament win over Drake in March 2024 in Omaha, Neb.
The 6-foot-3 guard from Seattle was one of two Cougs to stay at WSU after former coach Kyle Smith left for Stanford and took on a larger role in first-year coach David Riley's lineup.
He suffered a hand injury and missed more than a month of action this past season, but returned to sink the game-winning trey with 28 seconds left to beat Pepperdine 87-86 on Feb. 8 in Pullman.
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In two years on the Palouse, Watts posted 6.8 points per game and sank 35% of his 3-pointers.
On the women's side, Tuhina and fellow transfer Kyra Gardner were the last members of WSU's 2023 Pac-12 Tournament championship team.
Tuhina had a knack for clutch shots with her most recent make being a 3-pointer on a broken play that propelled WSU to a first-round win over Utah Valley in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
The Kosovo native was named to the All-Pac-12 freshman team three years ago and garnered All-West Coast Conference second-team honors this past season.
She ends her WSU career with eight points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and a 37% mark from deep.
The WSU men lost five players to the transfer portal, including starters LeJuan Watts and Cedric Coward, a highly touted player from Eastern Washington who suffered an injury after playing just six games at WSU.
The WSU women saw six players enter the portal.
