Apr. 14—PULLMAN — To earn their latest commitment, Washington State coaches reached to the Division II ranks and won a key recruiting battle.The Cougars have signed Central Missouri transfer guard Lazerek Houston, the program announced Tuesday morning, giving WSU coach David Riley and coaches their second addition of the offseason.Listed at 6 feet and 155 pounds, Houston filled it up all season as a true freshman last season, averaging 20.8 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists on 46.2% shooting, including 37% from 3-point territory. A quick ball-handler and crafty finisher, Houston's finalists included one of WSU's future Pac-12 opponents, Boise State.Houston's best scoring game came in his debut, a 35-point showing against Colorado School of Mines, which he also dinged for 11 assists and 4 steals.

Houston cleared the 30-point mark six other times, including 34 points against Northwest Missouri State, 32 points each against Missouri State and West Texas A&M.Houston also reached double-digit assist numbers three times, including 12 against Emporia State and 10 against Drury. It's clear he also places importance on sharing the ball and creating for others.After his breakout season, Houston was named the MIAA Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, rising to the top of the freshman leaders in DraftExpress's D2 model. Houston was regarded as the top Division II player to hit the transfer portal in this cycle.Houston is the second player to commit to WSU this offseason, joining Manhattan transfer Fraser Roxburgh, whose addition was announced on Monday.Can Houston succeed in making the jump from Division II to Division I at WSU?

He wouldn't be the first in recent memory. Much of the Cougars' success in the 2023-24 season was driven by Division II transfer Jaylen Wells, who went on to become the No. 39 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.With Houston joining the Cougars, their 2026-27 team now includes six players: Houston, Roxburgh, incoming freshmen Casey Jones and Brayden Kyman, plus returners Dominik Robinson and walk-on guard Dio Blakely.Houston's addition will help WSU offset the departures of 12 players, including 10 to the transfer portal: Key players Ace Glass, Tomas Thrastarson, Eemeli Yalaho, ND Okafor, Jerone Morton and Ri Vavers, reserve guards Parker Gerrits, Brunel Madzou and Kase Wynott and forward Emmanuel Ugbo, the last of whom was suspended for the final nine games of the season because of a protection order against him.The Cougars are also losing point guard Adria Rodriguez, who is headed back to his home country of Spain on a professional contract, as well as Simon Hildebrandt, who exhausted his college eligibility. In all, that's 12 departures for the Cougars, who are set to return only two players from last season's team: Robinson, who redshirted his true freshman season, and Blakely.