PULLMAN, WA- The Pac-12 Conference took note of Washington State’s historic season. Head coach Kyle Smith was named the John Wooden Coach of the Year.

Myles Rice became the first player in program history to be awarded the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

The Cougs tallied six total postseason honors, all ahead of the Pac-12 tournament.

“Coach of the year, but you obviously have to have good players, and we have three all-league guys. It makes coaching a lot easier to have those guys."

"I knew he (Myles) was good, I didn't want to put the pressure on him to tell him that he's good, but he's a little better than I thought, so it's neat to see that,” Smith said.

Rice and the 23-8 Cougars are second place in the Pac-12. They're also the number two seed, with a first round bye in the conference tournament.

Coach Smith described this year's season as surreal.

"I did think it was there, but just the journey. There's been moments all the time, it's like I say this all the time where people tell me I look more relaxed on the sidelines.

“I got a mantra this year, and we have pretty good players, it's all in god's hands,” Smith said.

Despite the loss to UW in their regular season finale, the team spent the week regrouping and preparing together.

"The first 15 minutes was going down the line with our guys, and telling them how appreciative I was of what they've done this year, and we celebrated that. Then we watched a little film, but you have to keep things in perspective."

WSU hopes to carry their regular season success into the Pac-12 tournament. The message is to not lose sight of the task ahead.

"It's one at a time, but this tournament. We're just talking about these next two weeks that we have to enjoy. there's so many distractions, there's so much stuff, and handling it all with grace and dignity."

The Cougs will face the winner of the Cal versus Stanford game. Tip-off is set for Thursday, 6pm on the Pac-12 Network.