WSU Basketball | Getting back to work

PULLMAN — The question is posed, and Kyle Weaver and Derrick Low look at the interrogator like he's wearing a purple-and-gold windbreaker.

Did they think about, you know, doing what every other cash-driven collegiate underclassman does these days in basketball — enter their names in the NBA draft, just to get the expertise on where they stand?

"I never really thought about it," says Low.

"If you go to one of those camps and look bad, you kind of leave a mark," Weaver says. "I think not even messing with it and just coming back benefited me."

So there, Washington State fans. Go ahead and trust a return to the WSU program of its most prized attributes from the dream season of 2006-07 — unselfishness and chemistry.

"They know their success lies in the success of the team," says WSU coach Tony Bennett, shrugging at the NBA reference. "That's just how they are. They understand that'll happen at its proper time."

In other words, amid the wheat fields, cornball logic lives. Low, the Hawaiian point guard, and Weaver, the 44-tools-in-one Wisconsin product, are back to impose their skills on a season anticipated by Cougars fans like none other.

Both of them had their options. Not long after WSU had completed its 26-8 season with the dagger-to-the-heart, double-overtime NCAA loss to Vanderbilt, both Low and Weaver got invites to the Pan-Am tryouts.

"They both said, 'If we don't have the season we had, no way we get the invite,' " Bennett says.

That put them in a dorm at Haverford College outside Philadelphia for several days, roomies antsy that the shoe would drop on them next. Instead, they survived cut after cut and made the team.

Left on the cutting-room floor at Haverford was some remarkable talent: Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins of Kansas; Chris Lofton of Tennessee; Tasmin Mitchell of Louisiana State; DeMarcus Nelson of Duke; Jon Brockman of Washington. Bryce Taylor of Oregon was one of the final two not taken.

"We'd come in every night," says Weaver, "talk about the day, what we thought about it, what we liked, what we didn't like. We could talk about each other's games. I think that helped."

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the U.S. team met a familiar fate of late, finishing fifth as Jay Wright, the Villanova coach, struggled to find the right mix. He later second-guessed himself for not getting Low more involved early, when Villanova's Scottie Reynolds was starting at point.

Weaver saw considerable time early and then sat, averaging 2.7 points. The team went 3-0 with Low as the starting point guard, when he averaged 14.3 points.

"It was weird," says Weaver. "We didn't really play together. It didn't hit me until after."

Low takes the high road with Wright, saying, "He's a real nice guy and he knows how to coach. Just the way it was set up, we only had a week or two to establish this team, learn the system and get ready to play against high-level competition in Brazil.

"I think what was going through his mind was, 'I've got this much time, I know what Scottie can do. He knows what I expect out of him.' "

Philly and Rio were only part of Low and Weaver's travelogue. In June, the Cougars took a two-week team trip to New Zealand and Australia, where they bungee-jumped, battled seasickness heading out to the Great Barrier Reef and sampled kangaroo meat — "It was weird," says Weaver — at the home of Aussie Aron Baynes' parents.

In August, Weaver went back to Wisconsin and continued to try to improve his jump shot; his .237 three-point percentage last year might be the only impediment to an NBA contract.

Low, meanwhile, scored a couple of weeks' beach time in Hawaii. The closest he got to a roundball was coconuts. But he found time in the offseason to add strength to his upper body.

"I thought, 'OK, what is it I have to do to get to the next level?' " he says. " 'Some of these guys are really fast. I don't think I can do much about trying to get faster, so maybe I can make up for it by getting stronger.' "

You can make a statistical case that the Cougars wore down late last season. Considering their eventful offseason, are Low and Weaver at risk this season?

"We've got to watch that," Bennett concedes. But WSU has done some lower-impact swim conditioning and what Bennett calls "conceptual" preparation — walk-throughs and white-board stuff — to help minimize fatigue.

More than that, the Cougars' future seems to tip on how they handle the biggest expectations in the program's history.

"I think guys are just focusing on: It's another year," says Weaver. "We're a different team. It's a different season. I don't think we'll have to worry about being something we're not."

For Low and Weaver — the No. 4 backcourt in the country, according to Sportsillustrated.com — it's worked well: No matter where you are, be who you are.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com