Monday Dots: Another Tul in the Tulbox

Oh the shark, babe, has such Dots, dear

And he shows them pearly white

The best news of the weekend came on Saturday, when DL stalwart Tuli Letuligasenoa announced that he would return to lead the UW defense for another year. Christian Caple has a breakdown of Letuligasneoa’s decision and the impact on the team. The clearest opportunity for the Dawgs to improve next year is to take a step forward defensively, and a healthy, productive season from the team’s best iDL would be a great foundation.

Like Tuli, Bralen Trice has a difficult stay/go decision to make this offseason. He was wildly productive at getting pressure on QBs and made the All-Pac-12 team, but could see his draft stock rise even hire with improved tackling. Dan Raley analyzes what will go into Trice’s decision as he works through the variables.

In addition to the successful “stay recruiting” the coaching staff has done so far this winter, they hosted some important high school and transfer visitors on campus this weekend. TE Josh Cuevas is an important target to provide depth at a potentially shallow position and Dawgman has a trip report from his visit to Seattle.

It was no surprise that UW men’s basketball struggled with Gonzaga on Friday. The 17-point loss was disheartening, but felt like it could have been even worse. Percy Allen takes a look back at the game and concludes that the Dawgs aren’t going to compete with any top teams unless and until they make major improvements on the offensive end.

The women’s team also had some uneven offensive performances in the non-conference season, but showed improvement in a 82-66 win over WSU to open conference play. The team approach was enough to overcome 40 points by Charlisse Leger-Walker. The win has to be considered an upset- WSU is in the top 50 in NET and the Dawgs are outside the top 100. At 8-1, the Huskies could rise quickly.