They say when you take a job that your first 90 days are the most important you'll have. It establishes your workstyle, business plans, and the type of culture you'll be creating. Ken Bone probably has even less time than that to really keep the forward momentum we've got with our basketball program.

So, here are five critical questions to keep track of this next month. These questions will answer much of what the next couple of years will look like for us.

1) What are his contract details? What's the buyout on Bone's contract and how much is he going to be paid annually? Bone should be in the neighborhood of $500-600K a year. He has significantly less leverage than Tony did so the buyout clause in his contract should be AT LEAST $800K-1M for the next three years. That assures that even if Ken Bone leaves in two years we would have financial latitude if we went after a bigger money coach. If he's at $600K then we are saving $400K on our basketball coaches contract....which brings us to our next question......

2) Jim Sterk now has some "house money" to play with. With the Bennett buyout at $400K and the Bone buyout only $50K you've got an additional $350K immediately. Moreover, you're likely looking at saving about $400K a year with the difference between the Bennett and Bone contracts. That's $750K in the first 12 months. Someone needs to ask Sterk directly....will that money be re-invested into the basketball program (hint: center hung scoreboard at Beasley please) or will it be spread among all sports programs? I will be very bummed if we wind up spending $200K to buy a new crew boat.

3) Which assistants will be retained and which will be brought from Portland State? We're already hearing that Curtis Allen will be coming with him from Portland State. Kind of a funny deal since he just graduated from UW in 2005. Honestly, I could care less about that if he can recruit and teach our young point guards the new system. Allen is apparently like a QB coach in that he focuses on point guards in his coaching responsibilities. Potentially a HUGE deal in helping secure Xavier Thames. If Allen is coming he needs to be hired quickly and then on the first plane down to NorCal to get tight with Thames. Who will stay among Sanchez, Woodley, and Johnson? In my opinion, you need two of the three to stay for continuity. Each brings a unique value to the program. If I had to choose I would probably take Ben Johnson for his Australia connections and Ron Sanchez for his ability to recruit.

4) Can Bone re-recruit Thames, Motum, Brown and Chadwick? Xavier Thames is the priority for sure and he also seems like he's most at-risk to leave. I wonder if Chadwick even fits in this offense.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Chadwick leave pretty quickly and Brown opt to stay pretty quickly. The big questions will be Thames and Motum. Pay close attention to Xavier Thames. If he decides to stay then it really does indicate that Bone might be able to recruit well to Pullman.

5) Will Bone release anyone from the current team to explore other options? Lots of chatter that Boeke was not going to be medically cleared and that would free up a scholarship. I was 100% sure that Witherill would have left if Tony was still the coach but with Bone at the helm I'm not so sure. Lodwick, Harthun, and to a lesser extent Witherill should be ecstatic about this hire. Bone loves guards that can stroke it from three and he'll be more forgiving on the defensive end. We know that Lodwick and Harthun can knock them down if given the opportunity to play a little bit. My guess is that Bone is going to be very happy with the guards we have in the program right now.

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