It's too big to just bust through. Too high to easily climb over. And much too long to go around.
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The bricks in this wall are mental weakness, fatigue, lack of confidence and uncertain toughness. And they are what hold the Cougars back.
"From time to time with this team what has always interfered is that wall," said WSU coach Dick Bennett. "Mentally that interferes with continuing to play, continuing to compete can be fatigue, it can be criticism, it can be fear, it can be just feeling expectations which is a way of being afraid. But whatever it is the outcome is just the same: It's passiveness.
"The opposite of yielding to it is mental toughness," he continued. "That in essence is what is lacking."
And that won't come easy. Bennett, who has rebuilt three programs, knows in order to rebuild his fourth, first the wall must be taken down brick by brick and a solid foundation put in its place.
To that end, Bennett signed four high school seniors -- 6-foot-9 Robbie Cowgill, 6-1 Derrick Low, 6-10 Chris Henry and 6-7 Daven Harmeling -- this month. But they won't arrive until next August. In the meantime, Bennett must work with what he has -- a team accustomed to losing and steadfastly holding onto bad habits.
"It is easier to rebuild a program when you start from scratch than it is when you have upperclassmen because you are dealing with a lot of old habits," Bennett said. "Old ways of thinking, that's what is making it harder. "They are good kids but they will revert back," he continued. "I haven't been with them to form any kinds of habits or ways of approaching a game. The habits from before are much stronger than anything I have been able to instill."
First and foremost, what he is trying to instill is mental toughness and aggressiveness. The players understand this. And they are trying. But the process has been slow.
"It is tough especially when you think you have (toughness)," said guard Thomas Kelati. "Then you hear it from somebody who has got respect like that and has been around a lot of basketball it kind of awakens you."
It may awaken but it has not yet changed Kelati or his teammates.
"I realize that we looked in the first two (exhibition) games very much what they looked like when I watched them on tape (from last season)," Bennett said. "Playing they were just sort of milling around and firing a shot up.
"Until you free their minds up to play they won't play," he added. "They will be thinking, `Where should I go?' And their natural passiveness will surface."
"You can still see some of the carryover from last year, guys are a little hesitant," Kelati said. "Guys not wanting to make mistakes. Being afraid of that. "Coach Bennett has been really good at telling guys just play, saying `I'm trying to get you guys to just play,"' Kelati continued. "We have definitely shown signs. I've seen it. When we get playing and everyone is clicking it looks pretty good."
When and if that happens in the regular season what the Cougars should look like is a team that attacks the opponent's weakness, draws contact and gets to the free-throw line, sets punishing screens and is not afraid to get, as Bennett likes to say, "bloodied."
That is a style that has not been seen at WSU or even on the West Coast for that matter since nylon replaced the peach basket. But that style can be conducive to the talent pool Bennett has to work with.
In addition, Bennett has brought in some players to shore up weaker areas. Transfer Jeff Varem, a 6-6 guard, could be best suited to play this system because of his aggressiveness. But Varem has to sit out from eight to 14 games because of questions about his trip to the United States from Nigeria back in high school.
In addition, Bennett has found a bright spot in walk-on guard T.J Paterick. The freshman also plays with a more aggressive style and could see a significant amount of time at the point.
Wing player Chris Schlatter has bulked up and that has helped his rebounding ability. He will be called upon to get inside the paint and guard some of the bigger forwards in the Pac-10. Forward Shami Gill could flourish in this system if he is hitting his jump shot. Of course, Marcus Moore will be vital again to the team's success. The senior is the one proven penetrator on the roster. His jump shot has also seen improvement.
Still, the team has a long way to go before it can fully understand what Bennett wants.
"I have no unique ideas. I have no special expectations," the coach said. "But I would like them to be, of course, more aggressive, more physical. Yield nothing."