Apr. 6—PULLMAN — The ripple effects of Kyle Smith’s move from Washington State to Stanford are beginning to spread.
Former WSU recruit Evan Stinson, a 6-foot-7 forward from Cheney, has flipped his commitment to Stanford, as first reported by Rivals. A three-star class of 2024 prospect, Stinson had been committed to WSU since last summer, when he turned down offers from Utah State, Eastern Washington and others to become a Cougar.
But now that Smith is the head coach at Stanford, he’s taking Stinson with him, taking away one of WSU’s two 2024 commitments. It’s the Cougars’ second decommitment in the class, including the decision from three-star guard Adam Nije, who backed out of his commitment last August — shortly after the Pac-12 collapsed.
It leaves the Cougars, who introduced new head coach David Riley on Thursday, with just one class of 2024 commit — three-star guard Marcus Adams, who signed with WSU last May. He hails from Scottsdale, Arizona.
Stinson, the nephew of former WSU volleyball coach Jen Greeny, is one of Smith’s first commitments since he took the job on March 25.
Smith is working to rebuild his Stanford roster, which saw its entire starting lineup enter the transfer portal when its season ended with a loss to WSU in the Pac-12 Tournament last month.
Riley, the former head coach of three years at Eastern Washington, may have to do something similar. Ten Cougars have entered their names into the transfer portal, including guard Myles Rice and senior wing Andrej Jakimovski, plus centers Rueben Chinyelu and Oscar Cluff.
It’s unclear which WSU players might stick around. Cougars to attend Riley’s introductory news conference included Jakimovski, who has made clear he’s considering returning to Pullman, Chinyelu, freshman guards Isaiah Watts and Parker Gerrits, walk-on center AJ LeBeau, and junior wing Jaylen Wells, who on the same day announced he’s testing the NBA draft waters while retaining his college eligibility.
