The first three dominoes have fallen and none are that surprising. Anthony Brown, Michael Harthun, and Xavier Thames are all packing up and heading out of Pullman in search of more minutes. It should be interesting to see where they end up. You have to figure that Thames is headed to another BCS conference (or Mountain West) school, Harthun should be going non-BCS Division-I, and Brown would be wise to move down a level or two. We wish them all well. Kudos to Cougfan for breaking the story on all three here .

Ok, down to business….let's focus on what this means for the WSU roster next year.

I know that the message boards are melting down. Don't allow yourself to get sucked in. None of these losses are crippling for next season and all three were probably predictable given their specific situations. Let me be clear, I don't like it any more than you or the next guy but let's not lose touch with reality here. The very best of the three players was good for 17 minutes a game and was blocked by a player that was one of five guys to make the All Pac-10 Freshmen team.

The argument for anger over this seems to be one of two things: 1) the defections are a sign of massive discord in the locker room and we are doomed OR 2) Reggie Moore refuses to play defense and he's a harbinger of WSU becoming the 2011 version of Paul Westhead's Loyola Marymount teams.

I understand the concern but to both of those arguments I say you should beware the ghost of Tony Bennett. It's hard for fans to move on as well but remember that each coach places a premium on different things as the cornerstones of their program. We've known from day one that offense was a point of emphasis for Bone and that he is focusing on recruiting Seattle and Reggie Moore is key to that effort. This sort of player movement is part of the process and what we are seeing and hearing is totally consistent with Ken Bone's philosophies so we should stop penalizing him for not adhering to Tony Bennett's. He has the right to succeed or fail with his system and players and that's what WSU hired him for last year. I'm just as anxious as the next guy that it's not going to work but bailing on the guy now is like trying to get off a rollercoaster when you are right in the middle of climbing up the hill right before that big drop happens and the fun starts.

There are actually several benefits to these three players moving off the roster.

1) Roster flexibility. The departure of Harthun creates some breathing room with the 2011-2012 class. Once we add Aden we would have had six players (seven if you include Enquist) graduating in one year. Harthun brings that class back down to five which is more manageable and it's very possible that it could be four after next season if Klay decides to go pro.

2) Room for one more. Now that three scholarships have opened up you are likely going to see an additional recruit brought into this year's class. We're badly in need of another big man and now the staff has the ability to bring that player into the fold. Would anyone not trade Anthony Brown, Michael Harthun or even Xavier Thames for a guy that can immediately help at the four or five?

3) A JC is an option now. If Harthun had stayed it would have been hard to justify bringing in another JC player to help in the post. That would have put that 2011-2012 class at an unmanageable seven graduating players in one season. Now with that spot open you can conceivably go for the best possible JC big man out there still available and you still are back at square one with six players and possibly five if Klay calls it good next season.

4) Round peg in a round hole. The Ken Bone roster is taking shape and that's when we'll start to find out about this staff. Bone has never had an offense as poor as last season's. It stands to reason that we are going to see a significant improvement next season with players that are closer to suiting his style of play and another season in the system for current guys.

Overall, we lost the 6th, 10th, and 12th players off of our roster if you look at their minutes. In exchange we are bringing in a Top 10 JC guard,  the #43 small forward nationally, and the potential for another big man to help down low. I really hate losing Thames because I think he's going to be really good. Nevertheless, I just can't convince myself that these losses are some sort of harbinger of doom for the program or that Bone made the wrong decision if he had to choose between Reggie and Xavier for minutes. Let's not forget how incredible Reggie Moore played (AS A FRESHMEN!) up to the last ten games of the season. There is every reason to believe that as he matures he'll be even better on both ends of the court for the entire season. We should be excited about seeing what he does next and not punishing him for Xavier Thames leaving the program.

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