WSU continues roster overhaul with addition of Australian wing Roman Stathis

May 8-PULLMAN - To earn their latest signing, Washington State coaches returned to the international pipeline.

The Cougars are signing Australian wing Roman Stathis, the program announced Friday, their 10th addition this spring. Listed at 6-foot-7, Stathis hails from Sydney, Australia.

Stathis spent last year at Golden State Prep in Napa, California, a postgraduate academy for players to hone their skills. Beyond that, there is little public information available about Stathis, whose best attributes seem to center around hitting catch-and-shoot 3s and attacking closeouts on offense.

Because of the depth the Cougs have established with recent signings, it's possible that Stathis takes a redshirt year in his first season at WSU, whose 2026-27 roster nearly complete. In a Zoom news conference earlier this week, coach David Riley indicated that the team has only one more new addition to announce, which is expected to come next week.

With Stathis joining the Cougars, their 2026-27 team now includes 12 players: Stathis, Oregon transfer guard Jamari Phillips, UNLV transfer Ladji Dembele, Northwestern transfer Tyler Kropp, Providence guard Jaylen Harrell, Wake Forest guard Sebastian Akins, Central Missouri (DII) transfer Lazerek Houston, Manhattan transfer Fraser Roxburgh, TCU transfer RJ Jones, Eastern Washington transfer Casey Jones. They also have signed incoming freshman Brayden Kyman and returners Dominik Robinson and walk-on guard Dio Blakely.

Phillips will help WSU offset the departures of 12 players, including 10 to the transfer portal: Ace Glass (signed with Vanderbilt), Tomas Thrastarson, Eemeli Yalaho (committed to NC State), ND Okafor (committed to Ole Miss), Jerone Morton and Ri Vavers (signed with Memphis); reserve guards Parker Gerrits (signed with Wyoming), Brunel Madzoum and Kase Wynott (signed with Idaho); and forward Emmanuel Ugbo. Ugbo was suspended for the final nine games of the season because of a protection order against him.

The Cougars also lost point guard Adria Rodriguez, who 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.

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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 7:16 PM.