Darling officially becomes a Coug

PULLMAN, Wash. – Kick starting the Washington State men's basketball's class of 2022, head coach Kyle Smith announced the official signing of Dylan Darling (Spokane, Wash.) Wednesday as the new signing period began. Darling is the first official signing of the Cougs for the new season and will head to the Palouse after graduating from Central Valley High School.
 
"We are thrilled to have Dylan be a part of our program," said Smith. "He is exactly the type of student-athlete we want to continue to build around. Dylan was born to be at WSU and is a Coug through and through. As the 4A Player of the Year we are fortunate to be able to bring him in and hope to continue to bring in players just like him in the future. His desire and passion for the game is a rarity, and we are happy to have Dylan coming to the Palouse and fulfill his dream of being a Coug."
 
Named Washington's 4A Player of the Year, SBLive Washington Player of the Year, and the Greater Spokane League MVP, Darling capped his high school career with a record-setting senior season as the 6-2 lefty broke the league scoring record once held by Adam Morrison. On the year, Darling averaged 33.2 points (on 55% shooting) while adding 8.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 4.4 steals per game. In league play he was even better, smashing Morrison's league scoring mark by seven points, averaging 35.6 points over 13 contests. With his stellar play, Darling put his name in the career 1,000-point club early in the season.
 
In addition to his season records, the star guard set the league's single-game scoring mark when he netted 58 points in a win over North Central on Feb. 1. The 58 points came just a week after scoring 47 against Mt. Spokane which had tied the league's single-game scoring mark. The 58 points was not the first time Darling eclipsed the 50-point mark as the senior also scored 53 points in a non-league win over Post Falls to begin the year. In all, Darling led his Bears to an 18-8 overall record in 2021-22, pushing the team to a berth in the Class 4A state tournament.
 
Darling is a legacy Coug as both of his parents, James and Kim, are WSU graduates. His father played four years on the gridiron for the Cougs and was a first-team All-Pac-10 honoree twice and second-team Sporting News All-American as a senior. He went on to play 10 years in the NFL.