It's a slow time in Washington State University athletics, so the blog hasn't been updated very much lately. I promise that I'll be all over this thing in the fall (actually early August when football gets going again).

For now, my focus is on former Cougars and what they're doing now:

It's been a whirlwind couple of months for Aron Baynes.

After the big guy graduated in May, he signed a two-year contract with BC Lietuvos Rytas of the Lithuanian Basketball League. One of the terms of his contract allows him to bolt for the NBA if he is offered a deal. He's getting a chance...sort of. Baynes and Taylor Rochestie are suiting up for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Summer League team which begins play on Friday. The Lakers don't have many (if any) roster sports available, so it will be a long shot if Baynes (or Rochestie) gets offered a contract.

That's not all for Baynes. He was just named to the 20 man extended roster for the New Zealand Tall Blacks (the Kiwi national team). I never realized (until I found out about this) that Baynes was actually born in Gisborne, New Zealand. He spent most of his life in Australia after he was born and even represented the Aussies in the 2006 World University Games. Since he has never actually played for the top Australian national team, he is eligible to play for New Zealand. Once he suits up for the Tall Blacks (if he chooses to do so)...he can never represent Australia again. He has to make up his mind soon. The Tall Blacks start camp a week from today (only 12 guys make the roster) for an eight-game tour of Europe that starts on July 22nd.

One final note on this...former Cougar Thomas Abercrombie, who now plays professionally in New Zealand for the Waikato Pistons, was also named to the Tall Blacks 20 man extended roster.

Another ex-Washington State star is playing in a summer league. Kyle Weaver can be seen with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder play in the Orlando Pro Summer League...not the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. The OPSL started yesterday and runs through Friday. Weaver scored three points in 27 minutes yesterday in a win over the Magic. OKC plays Indiana today at 4pm.

That's all for basketball...let's move on to other sports.

Most of you have heard by now that former Cougar quarterback Alex Brink was released by the Texans late last week. Houston signed Rex Grossman to be their third quarterback, which left Brink without a job. Who knows what's next for him? The Canadian Football League just started its season, so he might be out of luck there. I don't really see him getting signed by anyone else in the NFL. I hope I'm wrong.

Alex Burg, who just wrapped up his baseball career at WSU, has to put his professional debut on hold for a bit. Burg was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 24th round of the MLB Draft, but it sounds like he needed arthroscopic surgery on a torn meniscus and partially torn ACL a little over a week ago. He's expected to be in action in four-to-six weeks.

Seth Harvey, who was only a junior last year at Washington State, is still unsigned by the Los Angeles Angels (he was a 43rd round selection). They have until August 17th to come to terms. You can catch Harvey in Spokane tomorrow and Thursday when he and the Bellingham Bells face the RiverHawks. Both games will be played at Washington Trust Field (5:05pm start time tomorrow/6:35pm first pitch on Thursday).

That's it for now...GO COUGS!

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