Sterk gives Wulff high marks on discipline

JIM STERK says he likes the direction Paul Wulff has taken with team discipline. Roster changes and suspensions since Wulff arrived have gotten loads of play in the media. While there have been exceptions, the vast majority of player scrapes with the law however during Wulff’s stay have been relatively minor, such as driving with a suspended license. And the team has made progress academically.

“I think Paul has made significant progress and the team has as far as what they’re doing -- their attitude, how they’re conducting themselves,” Sterk said.

DB Devin Giles and WR Michael Willis recently left the WSU program.

“They were dismissed for a violation of team rules,” Wulff said in the Spokesman Review.

Giles and Willis join Romeo Pellum as once expected '09 contributors who are no longer with the Cougars. Both Willis and Pellum are among the players who have been arrested since Wulff replaced Bill Doba as coach in December 2007.

“There’s been a couple screw-ups,” said Sterk. “I don’t want to minimize it. But they’ve been a heck of a lot better than in my previous nine years.”

This past December, WSU placed 15 players on the Pac-10 All-Academic team, tying them for the most in the Pac-10 conference.

-- Job opening: Kari Sampson and Heather Holte, the assistant coaches for the WSU men’s and women’s golf teams, are among four finalists for the women’s head coaching job.

Sterk said he hopes to name the new coach this week. Sterk said the other finalists, whom he declined to identify, are an NCAA Division I head coach and assistant coach.

Walt Williams remains the men’s head coach after 11 years in a dual role.

Williams guided the women to their only NCAA tournament in 2003 and won the Pac-10 Coach of the Year award in men’s golf in 2002. This year, the Cougar men finished 10th and the women came in eighth at the Pac-10 Championships. One of Williams' pupils, Cougar Austin Hurt, took the title at the Washington State Golf Association’s Men’s Amateur Championship last month.

As part of WSU’s budget cutbacks, the Cougars will no longer have assistant coaches for golf.

-- Fern falls: Ex-Cougar star David Fern lost in the semifinals of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Men’s Amateur Championship on Saturday in Dupont, Wash.

Fern tied for sixth at the Washington State Golf Association Men’s Amateur at WSU’s Palouse Ridge Golf Club where Hurt was the champion. Palouse Ridge was featured recently in the Kitsap Sun.

-- Shellhorn honored: WSU pitcher Rusty Shellhorn has been named to the East Division All-Stars for the Prospect League All-Star Game on Wednesday in Springfield, Ill.

Shellhorn, a little-used freshman this past year, is 4-2 with a 1.69 earned run average with NorthCoast of Lorain, Ohio. In 37 1/3 innings, the southpaw has 49 strikeouts and 15 walks.