Washington State Football Recruiting Nuggets: Cougs No. 45 In Current Scout.com Team Rankings

Nov. 23, 2012; Pullman, WA, USA; Washington State Cougars wide receiver Brett Bartolone (19) and offensive lineman Jake Rodgers (69) celebrate a two point conversion against Washington Huskies during the second half at Martin Stadium. The Cougars would go onto beat the Huskies by a final score of 31-28 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Washington State has had a busy December of news in recruiting, as everything heats up in anticipation of National Signing Day in February. As we have begun a dead period from yesterday until Jan. 3rd (period in which recruits can contact coaches as much as they want but not the other way around), let’s take a look at how the 2013 class is shaping up with the recent developments.

The losses of LB coach Jeff Choate to UTEP and subsequently Inside WR coach Eric Morris to Texas Tech have not yet hurt the class as much as anticipated, but the Cougs did lose the commitment of WR DeMarcus Ayers, which hurt the class in a big way according to Scout.com class rankings. In fact, the Cougs were up near the #40 rank before the loss, after picking up some decent talent over the past week plus. Still, WSU ranks out at 45, so it’s pretty solid and looks much better than previous years.

A new batch of player rankings also bumped a couple of Cougar verbals from 2-star prospects to 3-stars. WR River Cracraft of Santa Margarita, CA and OL Matt Meyer of Lynden, WA received those honors after big seasons at their respective programs. RB Gerard Wicks saw a bump in his position rank, moving from 74 to 54 after his big season that helped lead his Long Beach Poly team to the state title game.

According to this list, the Cougs have bagged twelve 3-star verbals and the 4-stars of QB Tyler Bruggman who was recently ranked as the 2nd best QB in Arizona. Seven more 2-star prospects are verbally committed to Leach and the Cougs. The Cougars also have 2 grayshirts from last years class, (WR Robert Lewis and OL BJ Salmonson) that enrolled in the Spring of 2012 and thus will be true freshmen coming in this season.

The #45 ranking so far is up 8 spots from the #53 of last season, when the Cougs had 27 signings. In 2012’s class, the Cougs averaged 2.52 stars per prospect, good for no more than last in the conference with thirteen 3-stars and the one 4-star of Gabe Marks. So far in 2013, the Cougs are 8th in the conference according to Scout, averaging 2.62 stars per prospect. They are expecting 5 or 6 more commitments before the class is complete.