2013 Confirmed Guests

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Drew Bledsoe Bledsoe quarterbacked the Cougars for three seasons from 1990-1992. The Walla Walla, Wash. native was a two-time All-Pacific-10 Conference performer, earning Pac-10 Offensive MVP honors and First Team All-American honors as junior. During his final season at WSU, Bledsoe finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting and was a semifinalist for the Football News Offensive Player of the Year and the Davey O'Brien Award (nation's top quarterback). Bledsoe led the Cougars to a win over Utah in 1992 Copper Bowl, earning MVP honors while passing for WSU bowl game records of 476 yards and two touchdowns. He is among the top-5 in WSU's all-time list in passing yards, touchdowns and completions. Following his Cougar career, Bledsoe was the number one overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots and went on to play 14 seasons in the NFL, mainly for the Patriots but also for the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys. The four-time pro bowler retired fifth in NFL History in pass attempts (6,717) and completions (3,839), seventh in passing yards (44,611), and 13th in touchdown passes (251). He was inducted into the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.

Jason Gesser Gesser was a three-year starting quarterback at WSU from 1998-2002 under head coach Mike Price. The Honolulu native earned First Team All-America honors and was the Pacific-10 Conference Co-Offensive MVP as a senior. He finished his Cougar career as a three-time All-Pacfic-10 Conference selection, a four-time Academic All-Pac-10 honoree and was named to the Dave O'Brien Watch List as a senior, signifying the nation's top quarterback. Gesser left WSU owning school records in a number of offensive categories, including career starts (34), total yards (9,007), pass attempts (1,118), completions (611), touchdown passes (70), 200-yard passing games (27), consecutive games with a touchdown pass (25) and is the only player in program-history to be elected team captain three times. During his career, he appeared in 40 games, made 35 starts, led the Pac-10 in passing yards as junior, was the only Cougar to throw for 3,000 yards twice and also led WSU to the 2003 Rose Bowl as a senior. Following his playing career, Gesser coached five years of high school football in Washington and worked the past two seasons on the Idaho coaching staff, serving as the interim head coach the final four games of the 2012 season. He joined the Wyoming coaching staff as the quarterbacks coach in February, 2013.

Klay Thompson Washington State University's highest overall NBA Draft pick, Klay Thompson, was a member of the Cougar basketball team from 2009-11, setting numerous records along the way. In just three seasons he became WSU's third all-time leading scorer, averaging 17.9 point, 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game, while draining a school-record 242 3-pointers. The 6-foot-7 guard out of Ladera Ranch, Calif., earned Pacific-10 Conference honors all three seasons in a Washington State uniform, all-freshman accolades as a rookie and First-Team All-Pac-10 as both a sophomore and junior. As a junior, Thompson led the Pac-10 and ranked 11th in the nation in scoring with 21.6 points per game, while also leading the league in 3-pointers made (98) as he broke four WSU single-season records, including points (733), and 3-point field goals. He was the 11th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2011 NBA Draft, becoming just the second Cougar to be chosen in the first round, joining Don Collins who went 18th in the 1980 draft. During the 2011-12 NBA regular season, Thompson led all rookies with a .414 3-point field goal percentage (111-for-268) and ranked 18th overall amongst all players. This past season, Thompson helped lead Golden State to the NBA Western Conference Semifinals.

Mike Price During his tenure with the Cougars, Price compiled an 83-77 record, including back-to-back 10-win seasons in Pullman. Price led the Cougs to three 10-wins seasons (1997, 2001 and 2002) during his 14-year tenure. He is the only coach in the 100-plus year history of the program to coach WSU to five bowl games, including the 1992 Copper Bowl, 1994 Alamo Bowl, 1998 Rose Bowl, 2001 Sun Bowl and 2003 Rose Bowl. In 1997, WSU finished the regular season with a 10-1 record and captured a share of the Pac-10 Conference championship with a 7-1 record. The Cougars earned a berth in the Rose Bowl, where they lost to eventual national champion Michigan (21-16). It was WSU's first Rose Bowl appearance since 1931. Price was the Pac-10 Conference Coach of the Year, and was honored nationally as Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year, Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year and The Sporting News Coach of the Year. The 2001 season culminated in a victory over Purdue in the Sun Bowl. After posting a 10-2 record, Price was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. Despite being picked to finish last in the Pac-10, Price steered WSU into a tie for second. During his 14 seasons in Pullman, Price coached four Cougars picked in the first round of the NFL Draft. With 177 career victories, Price was the sixth-winningest active head coach in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) prior to retiring at the end of the 2012 season.

Collin Henderson Henderson was two-sport athlete for the Cougars from 1999-2002, playing wide receiver for four years and three seasons in the outfield for WSU's baseball team. Henderson, a three-time Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic selection, finished his football career with 62 catches for 566 yards and three touchdowns. He also completed 11 passes for 499 yards and six touchdowns and was part of both WSU teams that played in the 2002 Sun Bowl and the 2003 Rose Bowl. On the diamond, Henderson appeared in 141 games, recorded 16 doubles, two home runs, 51 RBI and seven stolen bases.

Bud Norris Norris was a two-sport star at Washington State, lettering in basketball for coach Marv Harshman 1964-77 and in football for coach Bert Clark 1964-66. On the court, Norris averaged 7.6 ppg and 4.6 rpg while appearing in 56 games for the Cougars. The Sedro-Woolley, Wash. native was fourth on the team in scoring at 7.9 ppg in 1964-65 and was fifth on the team in scoring at 8.3 ppg in 1965-66. On the field, Norris started his career on offense but switched to defensive back and finished his career with four interceptions, three coming as a senior in 1966.

George Reed Reed was a running back and a linebacker at Washington State from 1959-62 for head coach Jim Sutherland. Reed finished his career with 325 carries for 1,216 yards and 19 touchdowns, a school record at the time, for the Cougars. The Vicksburg, Miss. native rushed 489 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior in 1961 and for 503 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior in 1962. Following his senior season, Reed was selected to play in the East-West Shrine Game and the Hula Bowl. He later joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League in 1963 and in 13 seasons with the Roughriders, he gained more yards than any other player in the history of the game. Reed was a member of the Saskatchewan Grey Cup championship team in 1966. He was named an all-pro nine seasons and led the league in scoring five times. He set the Saskatchewan record for rushing yards in a season with 1,768 and was named the league's most valuable player in 1965. He was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 1979, the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame in 1979, the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980, the Washington Sports Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. Last month, he and fellow Cougar Hugh Cambell were inducted into the Michigan Gridiron Greats Hall of Fame.

Tom Niedenfuer Niedenfuer pitched three seasons for coach Bobo Brayton from 1978-80. He made 37 appearances and posted a 14-7 record with three saves, six complete games and a 3.83 ERA in his three years at Washington State. The righthander picked up two saves and posted a 2.35 ERA in five games as freshman in 1978 and followed up with a 7-3 mark while making 18 appearances, including three complete games in 1979. As the ace in 1980, Niedenfuer closed his Cougar career by being named first team All-North Division after posting a 6-4 record with a 3.62 ERA, along with 40 strikeouts in 77 innings. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers following his junior campaign and went on to play 10 seasons, seven with the Dodgers (1981-87), two with the Baltimore Orioles (1987-88), one with the Seattle Mariners (1989) and one with the St. Louis Cardinals (1990). In 1983, he had 11 saves, an 8-3 record with a 1.90 ERA and later recorded 19 saves in 1985 and 18 in 1988. He finished his career with 97 saves, 36 wins and a 3.29 ERA in 484 appearances.