Cougars changed, but remain the same

Cougars basketball, The Encore:

They're 9-0 and unmoved, ranked No. 7 and unimpressed. Amid Nirvana for a program that has seen only five NCAA tournaments, Washington State remains as humble as a shoe shiner.

"Humility is knowing who you are, knowing who you aren't, knowing who you can be," second-year coach Tony Bennett said in a brief Yoda moment. "I hope we have a healthy view of ourselves."

They're still the Cougars, in so many ways.

Of course, "still the Cougars" often means something entirely different now, with most all of last season's 26-8 band of overachievers back and intent on squeezing more out of themselves. But they refuse to let success rob them of their hard-nosed, underdog mentality.

That's good because this is the hard part. As difficult as breaking through can be, maintenance is an even more daunting task. Washington State needs only to look at its rival for proof.

After the exciting era of Brandon Roy and Co., Washington has struggled. Such are the growing pains of programs attempting to sustain success like they never have before.

Initial bursts of fortune are usually followed by one or two transitional years. The pioneering class leaves, the next class must learn to carry the expectations. If a budding program can handle the turbulence, it's set for the future. Many times, however, once-promising programs drift away. It's so tough to break into college basketball's elite and stay there.

Bennett has a sensible plan for maintenance, just as Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar does. Over the next few years, we'll discover if Bennett can stay the course, with all the possible pitfalls as well as the potential suitors who will want to take him away from Pullman.

This season, it is Washington State's responsibility to take this ride as far as it will go.

"We're in uncharted waters," admitted Bennett, whose team plays The Citadel at KeyArena tonight in the Cougar Hardwood Classic. "But even in saying that, it's still the same."

Cougars basketball, The Encore, overflows with possibility.

Sweet 16? That's the expectation.

Elite Eight? That's quite possible.

Final Four? That's a worthy dream.

But ask this team about March hopes, and it would rather discuss the challenge it faces next month, when it opens Pac-10 play with five of its first seven games on the road.

Barring an upset, the Cougars will enter their conference schedule, which begins Jan. 5 at Washington, as the highest-ranked team in a loaded conference. They will be even more of a target, every team's chance at a head-turning victory.

Washington State had to overcome double-digit deficits to win at Boise State and Baylor. But in its biggest test thus far — at Gonzaga two weeks ago — the Cougars displayed overwhelming defensive intensity and limited the Zags to 25.9 percent shooting in a 51-47 victory.

Bennett has criticized his team for playing in spurts this season, but that win served as the best indicator that this team hasn't forgotten its identity.

No matter how good they become, the Cougars will always have to be scrappy and savvy. They'll never trot out a team of McDonald's All-Americans and overpower foes with athleticism. This program will continue to look for talent left over in the seat cushions of high school basketball. It will continue to focus on player development and pesky defense.

"Can we sustain this?" Bennett asked. "It's certainly a challenge, but we're ready to fight. We understand how fickle or fluid this all can be. Let's just focus on being as good as we can. If it doesn't work, we're going to go down swinging as hard as we can."

The recruiting gains from last season's success are already evident. Faced with replacing a stellar senior class that includes guards Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver, Bennett's staff has signed five players — four guards and a forward — for next season. It will be one of the program's more highly-regarded recruiting hauls, but as they've learned by succeeding with lightly-regarded players, it takes much more than recruiting buzz to win.

"One thing that I learned from my father is, 'Make a mistake on talent. Don't make a mistake on character,' " Bennett said of his philosophy on evaluating talent. "Our seniors, because of their character, they handled the hard times and kept us on the right path."

Now the Cougars rely on character to handle the good times. Different status. Same Cougars.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com. Read his Extra Points blog at seattletimes.com/sports