No. 10 Zags signs versatile big man

SPOKANE, Wash. - No. 10 Gonzaga has signed forward-center Sam Dower from the state of Minnesota to a national letter of intent to play next season.

Zags coach Mark Few said yesterday the 6-foot-9 Dower is a unique post player who is tough to defend because he is left-handed.

Dower's summer AAU team coach says Dower is also an effective 3-point shooter and is athletic for his size.

Dower didn't make the varsity team at Osseo High School in the Minneapolis suburbs until midway through his sophomore year. He averaged 2.5 points per game that season. He improved to 13.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season as a junior.

He chose Gonzaga over scholarship offers from Minnesota, Marquette and Iowa.

WSU signs 4 to play next season

PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State coach Tony Bennett thinks he's got what he needs, for now and next season: Freshmen who can play immediately.

The four newest are Anthony Brown, David Chadwick, Brock Motum and Xavier Thames. They signed national letters of intent on Wednesday to play next season. Among them is a shooting guard from Spokane, a point guard and another big man from Australia.

"Next year the team is going to be predominantly ... freshmen and sophomores," Bennett said. "You want to have a lot of depth and quality. They will be called upon.

"There's going to have to be some of them who play as freshmen."

This season's Cougars, who open at home on Saturday against Mississippi Valley State, have only two returning starters from a team that finished 26-9 and lost to North Carolina in WSU's first appearance in the Round of 16 last spring. They have seven true freshmen. Bennett has said three to five of those freshmen will play right away.

Washington State loses four more seniors after this season: center Aaron Baynes from Australia, forwards Daven Harmeling and Caleb Forrest and guard Taylor Rochestie.

Brown is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Shadle Park High School in Spokane who first lettered there as a freshman. Bennett called him versatile and strong.

His signing is another sign of the progress Washington State has made under Bennett in signing high-quality in-state recruits.

"Even the Pacific Northwest, when we first got here, it was difficult to even get a sniff from kids in this whole area," Bennett said.

"Whenever we do get a kid that's excited about Washington State, as DeAngelo (Casto, a star freshman out of Spokane who could start this season) and Anthony, that's a good thing."

Chadwick is a 6-8 power forward from Charlotte, N.C., Latin School, in the city Bennett played while in the NBA from 1992-95. Bennett said Chadwick is somewhat in the same mold as Forrest and Harmeling.

"He is skilled and tough and team oriented. He just has a nice feel for the game, a good understanding of the game," Bennett said. "I think he's the kind of guy we've built this program on."

Motum is 6-9 and another power forward, from Brisbane, Australia. Bennett, who played and coached in Australia a decade ago, likes Motum for his mobility and versatility.

Thames is the point guard, 6-3 from Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove, Calif. Bennett called him a playmaker with good size.

"We were able to sign good young men," Bennett said. "They are men of character and young men that have bought into what we're trying to accomplish at Washington State -- and are serious about an education and playing college basketball in one of the elite conferences."

Huskies women add F Jeneva Anderson of Spokane

SEATTLE - The University of Washington women's basketball team has added 6-foot forward Jeneva Anderson of Spokane.

Second-year coach Tia Jackson announced yesterday that Anderson has signed a national letter of intent to enroll at the Seattle university and join the Huskies program for the 2009-2010 season.

Anderson is headed into her senior season at Lewis and Clark High School, which has won three straight Washington state Class 4A titles. As a junior, she was the 29-0 team's leading scorer with 10.8 points per game.

Cougars sign 2 players to letters

PULLMAN, Wash. - Second-year Washington State women's basketball coach June Daugherty yesterday announced the signing of two recruits to national letters of intent on the first day of the early signing period.

They were 6-foot-5 center Carly Noyes of Moses Lake High School and 5-8 guard Ki-Shawna Moore of San Francisco. Noyes led Moses Lake to the Washington high school Class 4A title game as a junior. Moore helped Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep to the USA Today national crown and a 33-0 record last season.