ROUNDUP: WSU summer camp starts Sunday

THE COUGS ARE expecting more participants than in recent years to their football summer youth camp, the first under new head man Paul Wulff. The event kicks off Sunday out on the Palouse, and runs from June 22-25. So how many participants might turn out and how does that compare to recent summers?

Recruiting coordinator Rich Rasmussen at a recent golf event told Cougfan.com that Washington State was expecting around 525 campers in Pullman over the four day event.

Back in February, Rasmussen estimated the number would crest 600 but the huge upsurge in gasoline prices since that time has had a significant effect on the average prospect's summer travel plans.

Still, the camp will be a little busier than before -- WSU's camp the last two years hosted roughly 450 to 500 players.

"We want these kids to have a great experience," Rasmussen told CF.C back in February. "We are going to work with every single camper in this camp...we're not just going to walk around and evaluate and make cameo appearances. We honestly believe that every kid who has paid money to come to our camp deserves the opportunity to be coached by us.

"It doesn't matter what school he came from, what his age group he's in or whether he's a prospect or not, we're going to coach every single one of those kids up this summer."

REMEMBER ALL THE chatter and angst about Kyle Weaver choosing to skip the pre-draft camp in Orlando? The blogosphere was rife with the suggestion such a move might have been a mistake and could damage his draft stock.

Not looking that way.

There were 17 NBA teams, including numerous general managers, who attended a two-day event in Oakland to watch Weaver and 23 others. In effect, the event was the West Coast version of the one held earlier in Florida.

By a number of separate accounts, Weaver had a good showing and "helped himself" and "worked out favorably".

It might also be a sign that the pre-draft camp's importance might be tracking the way of the NFL Combine. Once the end-all be-all in terms of pre-draft events in the NFL, the combine's importance, often because of non-participation, is now sometimes complementary or even secondary to the individual workouts or pro days.

HE WON'T BE suiting up for action on the court this year but Robbie Cowgill will be sticking around Pullman.

Cowgill has graduated but will remain at WSU and go into the campus ministry.

Meanwhile, Wazzu's basketball camp experience (June 21-25), kicks off a day earlier than does their football counterpart.

The Advance camp starts this Saturday and continues through Sunday, while the Day camp goes from Monday to Wednesday. Both of the camps are at capacity and the program is no longer be accepting applications or day-of-camp walk-ups for either camp.

OVERSHADOWED BY the hoopla this offseason on whether Tony Bennett would remain at Washington State or move on, was that the Cougs almost lost one of their top assistants this offseason, to Drake.

When a school does as well as Washington State has the past two seasons, it isn't only the head coach who draws notice. One of the WSU assistants mentioned as candidates for a head job was Matt Woodley, who joined Bennett in Pullman his first season as head coach and who is known as an outstanding recruiter in coaching circles.

Checking around cyberspace, Woodley looked to have substantial alumni support for the Drake job and it looked like he might end up heading to the Midwest.

"It's my hometown and it's where I played -- I have a lot of vested interest in the university and the basketball program and I had a lot of interest in the job," said Woodley. "But they decided to go in another direction. I wish them the best and Mark Phelps, he's a good guy and I think he'll do a great job at Drake.

"Obviously my dream is to be a head coach one day, but I'm also very content at Washington State. Because in my opinion, I work for the best coach in college basketball."