Stock for Elleby, Cougs clearly on the rise

PULLMAN — Near the end of May, CJ Elleby withdrew his name from the NBA draft pool.

He elected to return to the Palouse after taking in the advice of professionals. He’d probably also noticed his name wasn’t really appearing on any mock draft boards.

Good call.

Elleby, the 6-foot-7 super-sophomore for Washington State’s men’s basketball team, already has been featured in the national discussion a handful of times.

Last year, he never won a Pac-12 weekly award; he certainly hadn’t spearheaded the Cougs to a top-10 win, and he hadn’t hit a game-winning 3-pointer battling the flu, setting himself up to be highlighted by renowned ESPN commentator Scott Van Pelt.

“CJ Elleby, big bucket,” Van Pelt said of the poofy-haired forward’s step-back game-winning basket with five seconds left Wednesday against Arizona State. Elleby matched a career-high with 27 points and added 12 boards in the 67-65 win. “He had that big game against (No. 8) Oregon, when they knocked ’em off.

“This guy’s good. He is good, and he has the official hairdo of college basketball 2020.”

Elleby, a Seattle native who’s fourth in the league in scoring (18.8 points per game) and eighth in rebounding (7.3), has boosted his stock considerably. In the spring, he hadn’t been listed in any mock drafts, unlike former teammate Robert Franks, formerly of the Charlotte Hornets.

Today, Elleby’s name is floating around among prognosticators’ circles as one with mid-to-late first-round draft potential.

Elleby’s overall steadiness this season has helped first-year coach Kyle Smith’s team surpass early expectations. Elleby’s resilience has epitomized the group.

He’s persevered through lulls — including one against UCLA, which he shook off late, then nailed a clutch 3 to help the Cougs force overtime. He grinds for every loose ball, collects steals in abundance and scores at will, from anywhere. Against theSunDevils, he did so with a high temperature.

“He’ll bring it every night,” Smith said. “... CJ had the flu or something, he’s got a little bug. It was half-Kobe, half-Mike, it was kinda like the Utah game. I yelled ‘Mamba out’ for CJ.”

Rundown at the midway point

At the halfway mark of conference play, WSU (13-9, 4-5) already has matched its 2018-19 Pac-12 win total.

Not too bad for a team picked to finish 11th. As ofFriday, the Cougars are seventh in a league prone to beating itself up — 10 of its 12 teams are within three games of each other.

“I’d say our expectations are exceeded from when we had three guys in the program in May,” Smith said, laughing. “Beating Oregon? That was definitely exceeding expectations, in that sense — a top-10 team. I didn’t necessarily see that, but like I said, we really try not to place too many hard goals, it’s a day-to-day.”

Then, Smith pulled out another Kobe Bryant reference, this one about the NBA star’s “Mamba mentality” progressions, which relate to Smith’s measuring of his teams’ gradual development. He preached the same during rebuilds at Columbia and San Francisco.

“What made (Bryant) so special is how he prepared, how he worked and it’s inch by inch,” Smith said. “You read anything he says. And really, with our hustle stats and everything, I always say it’s basketball by the numbers. If you can really dive into that, it’s hard to see the improvement every day, but over time, you’ll measure it.”

WSU has seen most improvement in its defense, which has jumped almost 200 spots in the Ken Pomeroy rankings from last year to its standing of 96th nationally. The Cougs, who play Arizona at 5 p.m.todayin Beasley Coliseum, are No. 17 in the country in turnover margin (4.2 ratio), an area of focus for Smith and a concern last year. They just need to carry it on the road, where they’re 2-8.

What Smith didn’t expect? Wazzu still being down its “three quickest guys” in Marvin Cannon, Tony Miller and Jaylen Shead.

Shead is expected to miss the season. On Tuesday, Smith said Cannon likely will return for restricted minutestoday, but Miller has at least a week to go.

“It’s been hard on our stamina,” Smith said. “Just defending screens (has been difficult), and we got some young guys out there. Being able to sustain that over a long period of time, you gotta have a strong body, good endurance.”

WSU’s limited lineup was exposed against Utah when Elleby and breakout freshman Noah Williams fouled out late.

Limited lineup, some heightened play

Transfer guard Isaac Bonton and senior returner Jervae Robinson have stepped up as of late, particularly in conference play.

Bonton struggled early with shooting. Smith said it was “between the ears.” The junior has ostensibly shaken it off, and appears more comfortable — especially with his facilitating — than during the nonconference schedule. He’s averaging 16.6 points per game on 39.4 percent from the floor in Pac-12 games.

Smith said Robinson has been WSU’s anchor as a role player. He’s tasked with defending opponents’ best guards, and has seen an uptick in scoring recently. He’s averaging eight points per game in the past three.

“He’s one of those guys where you get a little misty talking about him, because he’s the little engine that could, he’s been from Day 1,” Smith said. “He gets in the gym, he’s our hardest worker, best conditioning guy. He’s just been a rock.”

With shallow depth, the Cougs also have had to rely on freshman DJ Rodman and transfer Daron Henson, both of whom have helped stretch the floor with a 3-point touch. Post Volodymyr Markovetskyy (7-1) has seen his minutes increase as forward Jeff Pollard fights through a tweaked hip sustained against Colorado last week.

Against Arizona (14-6, 4-3), a top-10 offensive team nationally carried by its guard play, Robinson and Bonton will be banked on for their defense. Wildcat freshman point guard Nico Mannion is one of the country’s top rookies.

Reflecting on Kobe

WSU discovered the news of Bryant’s passing on the team’s flight home from Utah on Sunday, a “very somber moment,” Smith said.

He said the Cougs were in “shock and disbelief,” and could see the pain painted on the faces of his players, most of whom grew up idolizing the 20-year Los Angeles Laker.

“He certainly inspired a lot of our guys to follow and get into basketball,” Smith said. “These guys will get in the gym all the time with these private trainers. I think that’s directly influenced by Kobe, because of his ‘Mamba mentality,’ working out until you black out.”

Clark may be reached at cclark@lmtribune.com, on Twitter @ClarkTrib or by phone at (208) 848-2260.