Washington State Football Recruiting Nuggets: Two Major DL Prospects Have Cougs No. 1

Sep 14, 2012; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Mike Leach talks to the offense during the second quarter against the UNLV Rebels at Sam Boyd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Regie Meant out of Cape Coral, FL and Chris Martin from the City College of San Francisco are two of the more dazzling big defensive players the Cougs have even begun to recruit over the last decade. Both have Washington State at the top of their lists as well, after their recent official visits to Pullman.

First we’ll talk about Meant, who is a very big 6’3″ 250 lbs kid who really enjoyed his visit to Pullman this past weekend. In fact it was the first time he got to see the snow in person and “It was amazing to see, it was a great life experience” he said. But while that may have been a highlight of his stay, there were more important things on tap for the big guy, such as being hosted by Cougar starting linebacker Darryl Monroe. Monroe was the perfect host for Meant, because he too is from Florida and was able to give a first hand view of what the change was like:

"He was telling me how it’s a program on the rise and they’re looking to do a lot of things in the future. He told me I can help build the defense and gave me good advice. He said when he was looking at colleges he was looking to move to another state and it wasn’t a problem at all moving to Washington."

Meant wants to take his time though, to make the absolute best decision for him:

"There were times I thought about committing, but I want to make sure to take some other visits. I do want to stay in close contact with them because I could see myself living in Pullman for the next four years. Right now their tied at the top for me with Iowa State."

He is set to visit K-State (yet to offer) this upcoming weekend and also has a visit set for Iowa State (his other top choice at the moment) on Jan. 14. He also holds offers from UCONN, Central Florida, Florida Int, W. Michigan and many more.

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Martin is a 6’5″ 260 lbs, 4-star prospect who is in the process of blowing up across the recruiting landscape, not that he hasn’t been there before. Originally committed to Notre Dame his junior season of high school, Martin switched allegiances to the Pac-12 and Cal his senior year. He transferred shortly thereafter to Florida but didn’t see the field so he spent the past two seasons at different JC’s.

Washington State has been his only visit thus far, but he is yet to visit Kansas, his other top school at the moment. Also, Nebraska and Syracuse have just this week extended offers to the former #1 DL prospect in the nation and he is trying to make visits work out for those two schools. In particular the Nebraska offer is a possible WSU killer, as Martin is very intrigued:

"It’s exciting for me. They have a great program up there and they said they need my help. It gives me a proud sense that maybe a school that has been very competitive in the Big-10 for so long is interested in me. Coach (Bo) Pelini has had a lot of success with that program and getting that offer was an honor for me."

Still, the Cougs sit atop the waiting list and are actively engaged as much as possible to land him:

"Oh man I haven’t forgotten that trip. I had an amazing time on my visit… they gave me that family vibe.I wouldn’t say it’s really changed (WSU being at the top of Martin’s list), but it’s been my only visit. If I had to pick today I’d be more inclined to chose them, but I still want to take other visits."

We’ll see how it plays out, but hopefully Washington State can make a move with at least one of these guys to continue bolstering the D-line.

Go Cougs!