PULLMAN, Wash. — For the first time since the final poll of the 2008 season, the Washington State men's basketball team is ranked in the AP top 25.
The Cougs check in at No. 21 in the latest poll following a seven-game winning streak and 10 wins in their last 11 conference games.
WSU is second in the PAC-12 standings and will play for first place Thursday night in Tucson against No. 4 Arizona.
This marks the first milestone for the Cougs on their journey to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years and the first time in head coach Kyle Smith's career.
It is a rather unlikely feat for a team made up of two former junior college players, a former division two player, two important freshmen and a senior glue guy who speaks English as a second language.
The Cougs are led by redshirt freshman guard Myles Rice, who averages 15.9 points per game. This is Rice's first taste of college basketball after redshirting his freshman season and missing last season due to a battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Rice was just named the PAC-12 freshman of the week for the fourth consecutive week and the seventh time this season.
Rice is now tied with Evan Mobley as the most decorated freshmen in the history of the PAC-12 conference.
Graduate forward Isaac Jones is WSU's second-leading scorer after transferring from Idaho in the offseason.
The team continues to receive steady progress from junior college transfer big man Oscar Cluff and freshman Ruben Chinyelu.
Perhaps no one has grown more this season than division two transfer guard Jaylen Wells, who has become a solid starter for the Cougs averaging 11.2 points per game.
WSU is on a conference run that has not been seen in Pullman in almost 80 years and could vault the Cougs into first place in the PAC-12 with a win on Thursday.
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