Parker Gerrits Leads Inexperienced Guard Group For Washington State MBB in 2025

Washington State basketball is less than a month away, meaning that it's time to start getting ready for the Cougars' 2025-26 hoops season. We are going to be previewing each of their three position groups, starting today with the guards.

After a mass exodus of players to the transfer portal following the conclusion of last season, Washington State is going to be fairly inexperienced at guard heading into November.

Outside of Morehead State transfer Jerone Morton, who averaged ten points and three assists last year for the Eagles, the Cougars have virtually no starting experience in this position group. As a result, head coach David Riley is going to be looking for younger players to take a step up, and it starts at point. Parker Gerrits is a redshirt sophomore who averaged nine minutes per game last season as a freshman, and will likely be part of the rotation. Parker is a talented ball-handler, and could be the next man to step in at point guard when Jerone Morton heads to the bench for a breather. A Washington native who helped lead Olympia High School to a state championship appearance, Gerrits could find himself with a real opportunity to showcase his abilities this season.

Moving over into the shooting guard realm, WSU will be looking for a big season from sophomore Thomas Thrastarson. A 6'7" guard, Thrastarson has experience playing for Iceland's U20 national team. He averaged four points and three rebounds in twenty minutes per game last year as a true freshman, and could be a big part of the starting lineup this season. Thomas has great length for a guard, and is versatile in that he likes to attack the paint to score inside and is also a quality outside shooter. Being their only returning SG who played significatn minutes in 2024-25, Washington State is looking for Thrastarson to be a playmaker this year.

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6'6" guard Kase Wynott, who also played last year as a freshman, is likely to be part of the shooting guard rotation. It's also worth mentioning that 6'7" forward Rihards Vavers, who averaged 5.6 points and two rebounds per game in 2024-25, plays a hybrid type of game that combines the style of a SF and a SG. Rihards is a very good outside shooter(he was 13 of 17 from three-point range over the last five regular season games in the 2024-25 season), and will definitely be utilized on the perimeter this year. It's definitely plausible that the Cougars could sometimes have both Morton and Gerrits on the floor at the same time, with Vavers sliding into a shooting-guard type role.

Finally, freshman Ace Glass, the Cougars' best recruit in this year's incoming class, could also be a factor this season. Ace is a 6'2" guard from Rancho Cucamonga, who also held offers from ASU and Texas A&M. Given that Washington State is thin on starting experience, it's definitely possible that this talented combo guard could see significant playing time in his first collegiate season.

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