Looking East: In 9th grade, and already a Cougar

Washington State hasn't recently made much of a dent in basketball recruiting in the state, taking a back seat to Washington and Gonzaga. With their success this year, the Cougars (22-4 overall, 11-3 Pac-10) are taking great pains to change that.

This week, WSU got a commitment from a 14-year-old ninth-grader, 6-foot-7, 185-pound Patrick Simon of Ephrata. It beats by four months the earliest commitment in history to a state-of-Washington school, that of then-freshman Brock Osweiler of Kalispell, Mont., last June to Gonzaga.

"Based on how well they've been doing this year, and how good a coach Tony Bennett is, it made me want to play for him," said Simon, who leads an 11-9 team with 14 points and seven rebounds a game.

He added, "I really didn't expect to be offered a scholarship this early."

His coach, Brandon Evenson, said Simon shoots 35 percent on threes but also is adept in the post.

"If a kid is happy with his choice and wants to stay close to home, likes the school and likes the coach, I have no problem with it," Evenson said. "It's a non-binding agreement.

"I'm excited for him. Wazzu is on fire right now."

Jerry Simon, Patrick's father, said his son has played frequently in camps and AAU tournaments.

"I think it'll take a lot of pressure off him," he said. "He'll be able to work on getting better at his game and getting stronger. The WSU coaching staff is a great bunch of people that create a family atmosphere."

Gonzaga

(19-10, 9-3 West Coast)

The Zags' road to a ninth straight NCAA tournament may already be determined, entering their final two regular-season games at San Francisco on Saturday and San Diego on Monday. Consensus is they probably need to win the WCC tournament to make it.

Monday's win over Portland, coupled with USF's loss to St. Mary's, cinched no worse than a No. 2 seed for Gonzaga, and assurance the Zags need to win only two games March 4-5. Gonzaga trails league-leading Santa Clara by a game, with the Broncos finishing at Loyola Marymount (12-16) and Pepperdine (7-21).

Eastern Washington

(13-14, 6-8 Big Sky)

All Eastern can do is win games Thursday night against Idaho State and Saturday night against Sacramento State, and then hope for the best. The Eagles are in seventh place in the Big Sky, needing to outmuscle Idaho State (7-5), Montana State (7-6) or Portland State (7-7) to gain a spot in the six-team league tournament.

Eastern has the tiebreaker edge over Portland State and would have it over Idaho State if it beats the Bengals. Montana State has it over EWU, having beaten it twice.

Idaho State may be Eastern's most vulnerable prey. ISU plays four games in six days starting with EWU and finishing Monday and Tuesday nights at home against the Montana schools.