Washington State and Colville Tribes Announce Partnership
Washington State Athletics announced a historic new partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation that marks the largest sponsorship agreement in school history, providing a jolt for the athletic department entering a new era of the rebuilt Pac-12 conference.
The five-year deal, announced on June 30, is valued at approximately $8.4 million and includes a $250,000 donation to the Cougar Athletic Excellence Fund during the first year. Beginning with the 2026-27 athletic season, every Washington State athletic team will wear the Colville Tribes logo on their uniforms. The agreement is one of the most expansive uniform sponsorships in college athletics and the first of its kind in the new Pac-12.
"This is a historic partnership rooted in Eastern Washington," Washington State athletic director Jon Haarlow said. "It brings together two tradition-rich communities as we chart an exciting new path forward as leaders in the Pacific Northwest and the new Pac-12."
Clutch Hits Overcome Absent Slug, Ample Strikeouts; Mariners Log Second Straight Win
For the first time since June 9, the Mariners won back-to-back games. Tuesday night’s 8-3 victory over the Angels marked that occasion, one that the Mariners may want to quickly forget, but the way the team played during the game is something they surely want to keep going forward as they look to claw their way into a secure first place slot.
Both starter Bryan Woo and the Mariners’ clutch hitting had a recovery, as the hurler got the win and the quality start while the team went 5-13 with runners in scoring position. There were still issues to iron out: Cal Raleigh continued scuffling at the dish, the team struck out 16 times, and there was just one extra-base knock. But they papered over their flaws on Tuesday and notched another step in their road to retaking the division.
Bryan Woo recovered from his clunker by the Allegheny, pitching into the seventh and getting the win.
Woo was the undisputed ace of the rotation in 2025, but his struggles in 2026 have been well-documented. Most recently, he gave up five runs in a four-inning outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates, letting one inning run away from him and leaving well before he would have liked to. Harboring evident frustration and seemingly in a mental block, it was an outing that could have defined rock bottom for a pitcher.
Perhaps that description is apt, because Woo bounced back in force on Tuesday. Like many of the Mariners struggles that seem to have been put on hold for two games against the Angels, it’s unclear whether it’s a dead cat bounce or the beginnings of a true resurgence, but Woo certainly shoved like it was the latter during his 6 ⅓ innings of work against the Halos.
Unlike many of his outings, where he takes down the order the first time through with nothing but the fastball, Woo was mixing everything in his arsenal right from the rip on Tuesday. Leadoff man Zach Neto fought with the Mariners hurler in an eight-pitch at-bat to begin the game, and Woo’s deliveries were as follows: three sinkers, two four-seamers, two sliders, and a sweeper. Neto grounded out and Woo continued with the kitchen-sink approach.
Two Gonzaga Legends Inducted into Hooptown Hall of Fame Class of 2026
Continuing to add accolades to storybook careers, two former Gonzaga Bulldogs received prestigious honors for their impacts in the Spokane area this month.
Ex-GU head coach Dan Fitzgerald and former Zag player Jeff Brown were inducted into the Hooptown Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026. The gallery honors those in the Inland Northwest who made an impact on Spokane’s basketball community, which they certainly did during their tenures with Gonzaga’s men’s basketball program in the late 20th century. This year’s class also features Kim Eng, Emily Westerburg, and the 2006-08 Ferris boys’ basketball team.
Holding its inaugural induction ceremony in 2022, the Hooptown Hall of Fame pairs Fitzgerald and Brown with an already sizable group of Zags, including Mark Few, John Stockton, the 1999 men’s squad, Adam Morrison, current women’s assistant coach Stacy Clinesmith, Tammy Tibbles, and Heather Bowman.
Securing Another Frenchman, Gonzaga Signs Experienced Point Guard to Roster
Putting the finishing touches on their 2026-27 roster, the Gonzaga Bulldogs made another addition to the backcourt, reportedly completing the recruitment of Nathan De Sousa from France.
The 6-1 point guard has spent the last six seasons playing professionally in his native country, breaking out this past year in the premier French league. De Sousa becomes the second player from France to join the Zags this offseason, as 18-year-old guard Juwan Ekanga-Ehawa finalized his commitment with GU last week.
With the new NCAA Division I Cabinet rules set in place, the 23-year-old will have only one year of eligibility since his ‘five-year window’ of finishing four seasons in five years started during the 2022-23 campaign. Part of a substantial roster overhaul, De Sousa will be the eighth Bulldog who is in their first year in Spokane.
Washington State Flips Safety Jayden Harris From Fresno State
Earning a significant victory on the recruiting trail, the Washington State Cougars added another piece to their growing 2027 class, landing the commitment of Jayden Harris after he initially gave a verbal to a soon-to-be Pac-12 rival.
Harris, a 6-3, 180-pound safety from Manteca High School, originally committed to Fresno State, but he reopened his recruitment and ultimately chose to switch his allegiance to Washington State. His commitment to the Cougars continues a strong recruiting push for coach Kirby Moore’s program in California and gives the staff another intriguing defensive back with size and playmaking ability to throw into the mix.
Harris is currently an unranked prospect according to 247Sports, but in addition to Washington State, he held offers from UNLV, San Diego State, and several other programs, showing there was plenty of interest in one of the bigger safety recruits in the 2027 class. Once he became available again, the Cougars were able to beat out a number of West Coast schools to secure his commitment.
Mariners Pitchers Lock Down Win Despite Continued Batting Sluggishness
A bobble from Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana in the top of the seventh seemed like the first piece of good luck the Mariners had gotten in a very long time. It came with two outs and a man on third, turning what would have been an inning-ending grounder into a go-ahead run for the Mariners. It proved the winning run in Seattle’s 3-1 victory against Cleveland.
On the one hand, none of their issues really fixed themselves. The team couldn’t get a fourth run for the 12th straight game, marking just the third such streak in team history. Pitch recognition woes and issues against left-handers continued with no real end in sight. But on the other hand, for the fifth time in those dozen games, it was enough.
Luis Castillo tossed a quality start, with all his pitches in action.
Mariners starter Luis Castillo came into the game with a better track record since the onset of his first piggyback outing, but there had still been notable inconsistencies for him. Despite a 3.38 ERA in his six appearances since the first piggyback, he was still without a quality start aside from his first outing of the year. Going into a game where the M’s did nothing but continue to crawl along on offense, he needed to find his best stuff for a full start.
Luckily for the M’s, Castillo had a firm command of all three of the pitches he needs to build a good outing. The slider was his most common delivery, followed by the four-seamer and changeup in that order, but he threw each quite often with the occasional sinker thrown in.
Former Gonzaga Wings Tyon Grant-Foster, Jalen Warley Sign Summer League Deals
Last week, ex-Gonzaga Bulldog Tyon Grant-Foster was finally cleared by the NBA’s fitness-to-play panel, making him eligible for league-affiliated activities. This week, the 6-7 wing has agreed to a Summer League contract with the San Antonio Spurs, joining the reigning Western Conference Champions’ offseason circuit. Grant-Foster earns this opportunity despite not being authorized to participate in this cycle’s pre-draft events, like the NBA Combine, as well as individual or group workouts.
Also latching on in the Summer League is Grant-Foster’s former teammate, Jalen Warley, who signs on with one of the teams he had a pre-draft workout with, the Indiana Pacers. Now, both former Zags get to showcase their games over the coming weeks with the hope of earning a more standard contract for the regular season.
Kraken Make History, Select Chase Reid With No. 7 Overall Pick in 2026 NHL Draft
It’s been a somewhat challenging past 24 hours for the Seattle Kraken, who reportedly had the framework for a blockbuster sign-and-trade to acquire Dallas Stars star Jason Robertson in place on Thursday, only for the player to decline a reported eight-year, $15 million contract offer to veto the deal.
Fortunately for the Kraken, however, good fortunes appeared to smile on the franchise in Friday night’s opening round of the 2026 NHL Draft. Benefiting from a bit of good luck for a change, general manager Jason Botterill reeled in one of the best defensemen in a strong draft class by investing the No. 7 overall pick in Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) standout Chase Reid, securing a player who many expected to be gone in the first four or five picks.
The selection of Reid carries significance history-wise for Seattle, marking the first time in six drafts that the organization has selected a defenseman in the first round. And, in time, they will be hoping his arrival coincides with greater success on the ice in the near future.
Jedd Fisch Believes 2026 ‘Trenches-Based’ Huskies are Ready to Win in Big Ten
Jedd Fisch arrived at Washington in 2024 to take over a former Pac-12 football team with remnants of a 2023 College Football Playoff championship game participant.
Heading into Year 3 in a new conference and a rebuilt roster, Fisch believes he’s got a Big Ten team.
Washington State Secures Four-Star OL, Three-Star CB to Boost 2027 Class
The Washington State Cougars continue to build momentum on the recruiting trail, adding two significant commitments to their growing 2027 recruiting class, including beating out several regional rivals for a coveted four-star offensive lineman.
The Cougars recently secured pledges from offensive lineman Rashaun Lavata’i of Curtis High School in University Place, Washington and cornerback Gianni Haynes of Cathedral High School in Los Angeles. These additions represent another step forward for a Washington State program looking to strengthen its roster while joining a rebuilt Pac 12 conference.
The first four-star to commit for new coach Kirby Moore, the 6-7, 265-pound Lavata’i holds a 90 overall rating in the 247Sports Composite rankings. He is currently ranked as the No. 3 prospect in Washington and one of the top offensive linemen in the Pacific Northwest. More importantly, Lavata’i becomes Washington State’s first four-star commitment since 2018, making his pledge one of the most significant recruiting victories for the program in recent memory.
Gonzaga NBA Draft Recap: Graham Ike Signs With Warriors, Jack Kayil Taken by Knicks
For the second straight year, the Gonzaga Bulldogs weren’t represented in the 60 available slots of the NBA Draft.
But shortly after 2026’s “Mr. Irrelevant”, Malique Lewis, was selected by the Washington Wizards, former Zag Graham Ike didn’t remain without a team for long, reportedly agreeing to an Exhibit-10 deal with the Golden State Warriors, first reported by The Consensus NBA. Just like Ryan Nembhard did last summer with the Dallas Mavericks, Ike will look to break into the NBA after being an undrafted free agent.
Meanwhile, ex-Zag commit Jack Kayil was one of the prospects who did hear his name called in Brooklyn. Although the reported first-round feedback he received didn’t come to fruition, his chapter with the Bulldogs officially came to an end after the reigning champion New York Knicks selected him 39th overall on Wednesday.
Bryan Woo Groundhog Day, Randy Arozarena Game of Inches Produce Disastrous Pittsburgh Rout
An exasperated Bryan Woo talked with the media after his loss on Wednesday, a game where he gave up a nuclear inning in an occurrence that has become awfully common for the team’s 2025 ace. He was frank about his struggles and the fact he isn’t sure what the source of his woes has been.
“It’s baseball, you know. And it’s kicking my ass right now,” Woo said.
It may have been very close for an 11-1 game. In other words, it was a perfect reflection of what happens when a winnable game snowballs totally out of the control of the losing team, with all fight and verve driven from the Mariners blow by blow as the Pirates tacked on hit after hit to pounce on every chance they had.
Pittsburgh melted Bryan Woo in the fourth inning, handing Woo the fifth five-run start of his season.
Since April 25, Woo has had an ERA of 5.31, but this doesn’t tell the full story of his struggles in 2026. It is often broken down into home and road splits - where his ERA is 2.00 at home but 6.38 on the road - but this is also an incomplete look at the situation as it currently stands.
Looking at the things a pitcher can control, Woo has struck out 40, walked 11, hit two, and given up seven homers in 48 innings on the road; at home, he has struck out 52, walked seven, hit one, and given up two homers in 45 innings. Turning those results into fielding independent pitching (FIP) numbers gives a 4.14 FIP on the road and a 1.90 FIP at home.
But the big note from it all is that the damage is coming in the form of big crooked innings. As soon as teams get a man to second, the wheels fall off the bus and fast. That’s what happened on Wednesday as Woo fell apart in the fourth inning.
Cole Young’s Hometown Game-Winner Marks Early Career Highlight, M’s Win 3-2
Neither Pittsburgh nor Seattle sit directly beside an ocean (though Puget Sound of course connects quite nicely to the Pacific and gives the Emerald City a strong oceangoing port), yet these teams cleared the decks for their first of three sea battles on Tuesday night.
It was a low-scoring affair, but the Mariners’ two cannonballs were enough to seal the deal as they came out ahead 3-2. The one homer had special significance for Cal Raleigh, as it was his first big fly since returning from the IL, but it was the second that shone brightest: Seattle’s own Yinzer flipped the score from a Mariners deficit to a Mariners lead.
Triumphant homecoming is one of humanity’s oldest seagoing motifs, but with a 22-year-old hitting three homers in a month for the second time in his career, the game had more to do with the beginning of Young’s odyssey than its end.
Cole Young blasted a go-ahead homer in his Pittsburgh homecoming.
Going into Tuesday, the Mariners were tied with the Twins for the second-worst winning percentage (.094) when trailing a game at the beginning of the seventh inning, having won three of 32 such contests. The only teams worse in this regard (the Giants, Angels, Guardians, Astros, Rangers, and Royals) had a combined 212-261 record and .448 winning percentage.
For comparison, the two teams FanGraphs projects as more likely than the Mariners to win it all (the Yankees and Dodgers) have a combined .196 winning percentage when entering the seventh inning in a deficit. The Brewers, Braves, Phillies, and Rays - the next four teams down after the M’s on FanGraphs’ projections - had a combined .227 winning percentage in games where they entered the seventh inning losing.
And when the top of the seventh began on Tuesday, the M’s trailed 2-1, marking the 33rd time they had entered that inning with a deficit in the season. Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller had thrown just 72 pitches, the M’s struggles continuing with the bat as they didn’t break up his efficiency or get many runs across.
Kraken Check Off Big To-Do List Item, Re-Sign Bobby McMann to Six-Year Deal
While the Seattle Kraken as a team imploded down the stretch last season, it was certainly no fault of Bobby McMann. The Kraken swung a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the veteran’s services ahead of the trade deadline in March, sending a fourth round pick from this upcoming draft and a second rounder from 2027 to Toronto.
From the jump, it seemed like a match made in hockey heaven. McMann did his best impression of Wayne Gretzky in the first three games as a Kraken, totaling four goals and two assists. Even as that torrid pace cooled, he was the best offensive skater Seattle had for that final stretch of the season by a wide margin. Between the time McMann arrived in Seattle to the end of the regular season, McMann’s 10 goals was more than double the next closest Kraken skater, who was Jared McMann with four goals.
McMann’s total was also tied for 10th-highest in the entire NHL in that timeframe. He was one of the hottest goal-scorers in the league for that final 20-game stretch, providing a rare bright spot for a Kraken squad that struggled to score all year long as a team.
Gilbert, Mariners Salvage Red Sox Matinee, Keep Heads Above Water
All wins are equal on the final sheet of standings at the end of the year, but not all these wins mean the same things when they are played. Some wins are triumphant jewels in the crowns of great streaks, others are dead cat bounces for a team plummeting into the gutter. The Mariners’ 3-1 win over the Red Sox on Sunday was neither of those, but it was the definitional salvaged game, turning what could have been a sweep to go under .500 on the summer solstice into a lost series and a 40-39 record with the halfway point nearly reached.
The offense, for the eighth straight game, didn’t impress, but the Mariners worked a win anyway thanks to an incredible start from a rebounding elite arm, a couple of timely hits, and a sharp bullpen. And yet the win may be pyrrhic, with another key player falling to the injury bug.
Logan Gilbert worked into the seventh and kept the Red Sox to a single run.
While the Mariners haven’t had everyone clicking at the same time, they have had the relative luxury of often getting a cold man hot once their hot man goes cold. While Emerson Hancock has seemingly taken a big step back over the past two outings, Logan Gilbert has finally settled into a real adjustment against the five-and-dive outings and long at-bats that had created them.
This adjustment has been quite simple and equally effective: instead of relying solely on his secondary pitches in favorable counts - a strategy that teams effectively countered by simply laying off the low sliders and buried splitters they would see time and time again - Gilbert has truly mixed things up with fastballs, curveballs, splitters, and sliders in these counts. This means, in the aggregate, that he is throwing the heater a lot more.
Trade! Kraken Deal 25th Overall Pick for Panthers’ Mackie Samoskevich
The 2026 NHL Draft begins this Friday, June 26 with the first round in Buffalo, New York. With the Seattle Kraken holding two first round picks and three top-40 picks overall, it was a safe assumption that they would be making and fielding trade offers to better their team before the festivities kick off.
The first salvo has been fired ahead of next weekend’s draft. According to reports on Sunday, the Seattle Kraken traded their 25th overall pick this year and a second rounder next season to the Florida Panthers for the services of winger Mackie Samoskevich.
Washington State Adds Three-Star Tackle to Growing 2027 Recruiting Class
The Washington State Cougars landed two more commitments as their 2027 recruiting class continues to grow under first-year coach Kirby Moore, pushing their total number of commitments to 17 by signing a pair of line prospects.
One of the newest additions is Randolph Santiago, a 6-6, 275-pound offensive tackle from Kailua. Currently rated as a three-star prospect, Santiago carries an 84 overall rating according to 247Sports. His recruitment included offers from programs such as UNLV, Boise State, Oregon State, New Mexico, and San Diego State, making him a stellar addition to the trenches for Moore’s squad.
Washington State also landed another defensive prospect from California with the commitment of Richard Orosco, a 6-4, 240-pound EDGE rusher from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower. Orosco has received scholarship offers from New Mexico, UNLV, and San Diego State, among others, and looks to be an ascending recruit despite not having a star rating at this point.
Bryan Woo Burns Through Baltimore Lineup, Mariners Win Series
The Mariners scored three runs in each of their games against the Baltimore Orioles as they began a two-series homestand against a pair of East Coast teams, a tally of runs that is seldom enough for consistent victory. And yet thanks to some incredible pitching - from Logan Gilbert on Tuesday and from Bryan Woo on Thursday - they won two of their three games and took their first series against the Orioles since 2022.
Seattle is now two games above .500, 39-37, after playing a series without Randy Arozarena or Luke Raley and having missed Josh Naylor for two games and Julio Rodríguez for one. In spite of all their hardships over the past couple of weeks, they have kept their heads barely above water as the days of June tick forward and the halfway point inches closer.
Bryan Woo struck back on Thursday, pitching seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.
This year, Woo hasn’t benefited from the incredible consistency of his 2025 campaign, coming into the game with a 4.28 ERA thanks to a newfound tendency to give up scores of hits with runners in scoring position. With a 1.037 WHIP, 3.25 FIP, and 5.27 strikeout-to-walk ratio, this ERA pace marks a significant outlier. Still, it takes a certain amount of mental fortitude to keep tough innings from becoming disasters, and Woo had given up five or more earned runs in a start four times out of his most recent nine outings. Interspersed among those games were four quality starts and one “Felix quality start” of seven innings, no earned runs, and nine strikeouts.
That seven-inning outing was repeated in style on Thursday as Woo did all three of those things once more. His ERA dipped back down to 3.94 as he mowed down the Orioles inning after inning, catching them off-guard with fastballs well above the zone and using an effective two-strike mix of heaters and breaking balls. A greater unpredictability in his pitch mix was the thing Woo cited as his main adjustment.
Tyon Grant-Foster Cleared by NBA After Final Collegiate Season with Gonzaga
Unlike some of his former teammates at Gonzaga in Graham Ike and Jalen Warley, Tyon Grant-Foster hasn’t received much, if any at all, NBA Draft buzz since he walked off a college court for the final time back in March.
That wasn’t without reason, as it was announced that Grant-Foster has now officially been cleared by the NBA’s fitness-to-play panel, making him eligible to compete in activities affiliated with the association. The 26-year-old notably missed two seasons during his time in college after experiencing two separate cardiac arrests, needing a defibrillator implanted before he could return to the floor for the 2023-24 season. Following his two years with Grand Canyon after his second heart issue, Grant-Foster transferred to the Zags for his final season in the NCAA, finally getting his eligibility waived during an injunction hearing one week before GU’s first game of the regular season.
Huskies Forward Hannes Steinbach Readies for Jump to NBA
A couple of years ago, Hannes Steinbach realized he might be pretty good at basketball.
Since then, his game has taken him from professional ball in Würzburg, Germany, to the Washington Huskies and, soon, to a yet-to-be-determined NBA city. The experience playing for the Würzburg Baskets of the German Bundesliga made him realize his stop in Montlake could be brief. In his one-and-done season, Steinbach established himself as one of the top freshmen in the NCAA by leading the country with 22 double-doubles with averages of 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
Speaking to the media Thursday after a pre-draft workout with the Golden State Warriors, Steinbach talked about his whirlwind college career and preparing for Tuesday’s NBA Draft.
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