Washington State Football: Gerald Sterling Chooses Crimson and Gray

Mike Leach picks up another defensive lineman for the 2013 recruiting class. Gerald Sterling is a three star defensive end according to scout.com and is ranked at No. 81 for his position. Sterling becomes the 14th player to give a verbal commitment to Washington State University for the 2013 class. He currently holds offers from Alabama A&M, Arkansas St., Middle Tenn. State, and Troy according to Rivals.com. However some big schools such as Florida State and Mississippi have shown interest in Sterling. The 6’4″, 275 pound defensive end is from Aliceville, Alabama.

Last season as a junior at Aliceville High School, Sterling was able to get 22 total tackles and 3 sacks. He also plays tight-end for his high school football team and recorded 17 catches for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns last season. This means that Sterling has speed and is hard to stop when matching up against on the line. After watching his highlight tape, the first thing that comes to my mind is explosion. Sterling explodes off the line with such force and speed which makes him a very good pass rusher. He can also play to stop the run as well and has a great sense of where the ball is. Since WSU now runs a 3-4 and with the tremendous speed of Sterling, you could see the Alliceville star line up as an outside linebacker. Even though he’s only rated as a two star prospect, he’s probably one of the most underrated players in this 2013 class. Remember that in Alabama, football is everything and the state is constantly producing “top-notch” talent. The level of competition Sterling is facing each week in high school, is equivalent to division one competition.

Once Sterling arrives on campus in 2013, I believe he can make an immediate impact for the Cougars on defense and will fit in nicely with that 3-4 defense. With defensive end Malik Jenkins from Texas who committed to WSU on one end of the field and Sterling lining up on the other side will be scary for opposing quarterbacks. Sterling won’t red shirt and already seeing how Leach loves to play Freshmen is a good sign that we could see Sterling in the first game of the season next year. Overall another solid pick up for Mike Leach and his staff. Go Cougs!

Here’s Gerald Sterling’s Highlight tape from last season as a Junior: 

-Evan Baron (Follow me on twitter: @BaselineBaron09)