This is an entry from Andy Katz ESPN Blog:

Taylor Rochestie leaned over to Tony Bennett’s mother, who watched Washington State finish last in the 2006 Pac-10 tournament, and said to her: “Don’t worry, it’s going to change. I promise you that.”

“My mom told me that Taylor was such a nice boy and very confident, too,” Washington State coach Tony Bennett said. “He was right.”

Rochestie enters Thursday night’s first-round game against Winthrop here as one of the most unassuming point guards on a top four-seeded team.

Rochestie has had as much of a hand in Washington State’s resurgence as Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver and Robbie Cowgill.

The Tulane transfer, who looks like he could still be boarding the bus for high school, has made himself into one of the more reliable lead guards in the West.

“I think back to when he came on his recruiting visit; he walked into the locker room, and I got a good look at him and I didn’t think anything,” Low said. “I said, ‘He doesn’t look like a basketball player.’ And then I said, ‘Wait, neither do I.’”

And that’s probably the best way to sum up Rochestie. He doesn’t have the look, but he can surely play.

“He’s sneaky good, sneaky good with his left, and when we acquired him, things took a different look for Kyle and Derrick,” Bennett said of allowing Rochestie to handle the ball to free up those two players for shots. “He just has this look in his eye. He enjoys the moment.”

Rochestie savors it. He suffered a dislocated patella injury while at Tulane during the Green Wave’s nomadic post-Hurricane Katrina season (when they played at Texas A&M). After being at Tulane for his freshman season and then for half of his sophomore year before deciding to leave, Rochestie wasn’t sure he was marketable enough to land on his feet.

Being from Santa Barbara, Rochestie wanted to head West. His dream was to play in the NCAA tournament.

“I came to Washington State to play for an underdog, to play for Tony Bennett,” Rochestie said. “I’ve been overlooked my whole life and looked at as an underdog, and so was this program.”

Rochestie said that when he first arrived in Pullman, his only friend was Bennett. He said he spent plenty of time with him until he blended with his teammates. Now Bennett has a coach on the floor in Rochestie, someone he can trust to run the offense.

“I do see similarities,” Bennett said. “He’s definitely as fiery and competitive.”

Rochestie is so thankful for the opportunity Washington State gave him that he gave up his senior-year scholarship for 2008-09 so that Bennett could sign Marcus Capers, a shooting guard out of Florida.

“I’m just so happy to be in a position to care for the program and care for the family that I’ve had here,” Rochestie said. “I’m blessed that I’m able to do something like that for this program that helped me fulfill my dreams.

“I appreciate playing in the Pac-10, in the Staples Center at the Pac-10 tournament, on TV and being apart of this,” Rochestie said. “All of my friends tell me how lucky I am, and I totally agree. I have to pinch myself sometimes.”

As you watch the tournament, it’s easy to think about some of the players who were coddled and spoiled — and possibly exploited — on the fast track to fame. But you’re also watching players like Rochestie, a guy on a high-major squad who is still giddy that he gets to put on a uniform and play college basketball.