by ESPN’s Andy Katz

A few impressions from a snapshot of the likely top-10 Washington State Cougars’ practice Thursday:

• Washington State may have the post presence needed with junior Aron Baynes:
  Baynes was at 290 pounds at one point after last year after missing the first five games with a left ankle injury. He’s down to 260 and clearly is more agile.

  The players rave about Baynes’ effectiveness in the post, and you can tell that he’s much more aggressive and wants to be a factor.

  “Baynes is a powerful person and I look forward to him going against the those guys with all the hype like Kevin Love [at UCLA] and see if he can push Baynes around,” said Washington State point guard Derrick Low.

  “He’s 100 percent healthy right now, and he’s going to be the inside presence we’ve been needing all along,” Low said. “He’ll help our guards, and we’ll be able to go inside and out without having to rely on the outside shots all the time.”

  Baynes played in only 15 of 18 Pac-10 games, averaging 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 15.9 minutes. He’ll obviously have to do more to be effective, and so far it looks like he will.

• Expect to hear more from Daven Harmeling:
  The 6-7 junior forward has had his moments. He lit up Arizona with 28 points last season. But the Cougs are looking for him to stroke his shot even more and stretch the defense. Harmeling led the Cougs in 3-point shooting at 45.6 percent in Pac-10 play. Expect that to continue.

  “His size and strength is improving every day,” said senior wing Kyle Weaver. “He’ll be able to stretch the defense and play off the dribble. He’s scoring off the dribble much more.”

• The Cougs work continuously on footwork, and defensive slide drills:
  You can see why the Cougs are so tough to penetrate in the paint. Their work ethic on the defensive end, from tying each other up with elastic waist bands to work on defensive slide drills, to a basketball form of quick football tire stepping, the Cougs worked incessantly on their defense in the halfcourt. They keep the box tight, forcing anyone to drive on the outside, not through the gut of the defense. And there is constant chatter. Last year’s national coach of the year, Tony Bennett, is constantly encouraging but also being demanding. And don’t mess with assistant Ben Johnson. He’s a gentle giant, but he has the look of a fullback ready to plow anyone through to the end zone.

• Who said this team doesn’t have talent?
  Once again, check the Pan Am roster and see that Low and Weaver made the final 12 spots, and players like Chris Lofton of Tennessee did not. I swear in the 90 minutes I was at practice Thursday, I don’t think Low missed a shot. His stroke is tight, and he can continuously bury the top of the circle 3-point shot with someone in his face. Bennett is convinced Weaver is an NBA talent with his versatility and always seems to be around the ball. While this team won’t scare anyone at the airport, there are very few teams that play more cohesively than this bunch.

• The Cougs are a hot ticket:
  The Cougs have sold 3,780 season tickets already this season. Last year at this time, the number was 1,300. The Cougs, who finished in second in the Pac-10 regular-season standings, ended up selling 2300 season-tickets toward the end of the season. The Cougs can hold 11,761 at Friel Court. The Cougs ended up selling out games against Gonzaga, UCLA, USC and Washington last season. Expect more of the same in the Pac-10 this season.

  By the way, the Pac-10 really messed up in not pushing to highlight the Cougs in the one game that they controlled for Washington State. I know that the obvious thing in the Pac-10-Big 12 scheduling challenge was to showcase UCLA and Arizona for television purposes. So, UCLA got Texas, and Arizona got Texas A&M (after already agreeing to play Kansas in an event that ends with that game in Lawrence). OK, fine, so give Washington State, a preseason top-10 team, at least someone like Oklahoma or Oklahoma State or Texas Tech. Instead, the Cougs got a road game at Baylor. The Cougs deserved better and should have had a home game, and the Pac-10 should have pushed to make sure the Cougs were highlighted in a rare year when they will be a national team.