UCLA wooing Yankoff, and other items

You might think this is a slow time in the sports world.

But there’s no such thing.

The Seahawks are caught up in a post-draft flurry, trying to fill some holes with free agents.

Even as the NBA playoffs are purring along, the league’s combine for college stars to showcase their skills starts next week.

Recruiting is a full-time business for all college coaches, and there are state titles at stake in several prep sports at this time of year.

Plus, we can all argue about the bizarre conclusion to the Kentucky Derby.

I don’t do these catch-up columns often enough, so let’s spin through one today, OK.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines…

ITEM: It’s no surprise that once Colson Yankoff put his name in the transfer portal with the intention of leaving Washington, suitors would come calling.

The former Coeur d’Alene High quarterback, who redshirted his freshman year, won’t have much trouble finding a place to play after escaping the five-QB mess at U-Dub.

Yankoff is being courted heavily by UCLA and will visit Westwood this weekend.

Colson’s dad, Trevor, is accompanying him to Los Angeles and says there likely will be more visits after they chat with the Bruins.

The Yankoffs are looking for just the right fit, both on the field — someplace where dual-threat quarterbacks are appreciated — and in the classroom.

Good luck to Colson, wherever he lands.

ITEM: Speaking of Coeur d’Alene High, I suggested several months ago that the basketball rivalry between the Vikings and Lake City seemed kind of weird.

Students and fans from both schools go totally crazy over the first game between the two — the famous Fight for the Fish — while the rematch appears to excite almost no one.

I attended that forgotten “second game” last season and pretty much could have chosen any seat in the house.

And we call that a rivalry?

Seriously?

It was especially unfortunate because both the girls’ and boys’ duels were super-competitive — much more so than the earlier Fish games.

So…

What we need is a trophy for the non-Fish game.

I might regret this, but I’ve taken it on personally — and would like to announce that the second hoops matchup between these two schools will be called the “Brawl for the Awl.”

If you don’t know that the French words “Coeur d’Alene” mean “heart of the awl,” I can’t help you.

We’re going to do this.

Now if somebody can tell me where I can find a couple of awls, we’ll be in business.

This might shock you (or not), but I’ve never actually purchased an awl.

Got one lying around in the garage?

ITEM: If Gonzaga’s Killian Tillie had stayed healthy last season, he likely would have started ahead of wing Corey Kispert.

If he had, there would have been a good chance that the Zags would be losing the entire starting lineup for this coming season.

Guard Zach Norvell Jr. has heard from some NBA teams that he’ll be drafted in the top 45 on June 20, so he’s telling sources that it’s definite he won’t be coming back to school.

Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke are cinches to leave, Tillie is fighting a sprained ankle but intends to participate in the NBA combine.

Of those would-be starters, only Tillie logically might return — and even that seems doubtful, since he can prove his durability to NBA teams by playing pro ball back in France.

Yes, the Zags have a spectacular recruiting class, but of the players who got significant minutes last season, only Kispert and 6-11 project Filip Petrusev will be back.

By Gonzaga standards, that spells a rebuild.

Meanwhile, the staff is still scouring the market for an experienced point guard.

The only freshman contender for that spot would be Brock Ravet from Kittitas High, and even Ravet was a shooter by necessity — since he’s deadly from any range.

Texas A&M grad transfer Admon Gilder (also a combo guard) may get the point job by default, unless a returning bench player — Greg Foster Jr. or Joel Ayayi — can seize the position and hang on to it during a brutal non-conference schedule.

It’s going to be…

Well, interesting.

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the offseason.

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