Washington State Football Recruiting Nuggets: Big Weekend, Ten Recruits in Pullman: Defense
By Josh Davis
WSU continues to host recruits this weekend as the final dash for commits is on. This is potentially the final big recruiting weekend as visitors are concerned before signing day. Here are our thoughts on the defensive prep players attending Pullman over the weekend:
| Pos | Nat’l Rank | Nat’l Rating | Name School, Hometown | Video | HT/ WT/ 40 | Interest Level | Offer? | Visit Date | Visit School |
| CB | 72 | Darius Allensworth (Heritage HS) Menifee, CA | 5-11/180 | Low | Yes | 1/18/2013 | Washington State | ||
| CB | 79 | Marcellus Pippins (El Cerrito Senior HS) El Cerrito, CA | 5-10.5/175 | Low | Yes | 1/18/2013 | Washington State | ||
| S | 104 | Myron Turner (De Soto HS) Desoto, TX | ACU PREVIEW | 6-0/175/4.40 | Verbal | Yes | 1/18/2013 | Washington State | |
| DE | 110 | Takkarist McKinley (Kennedy HS) Richmond, CA | 6-3/240 | Low | Yes | 1/18/2013 | Washington State | ||
| MLB | 69 | Peyton Pelluer (Skyline HS) Sammamish, WA | ACU PREVIEW | 6-2/225 | Verbal | Yes | 1/18/2013 | Washington State | |
| DE | NR | Malik Jenkins (Ennis HS) Ennis, TX | ACU PREVIEW | 6-3/210 | Verbal | Yes | 1/18/2013 | Washington State | |
| S | NR | Montrel Meander (Palo Duro HS) Amarillo, TX | 6-3/185 | Med | Yes | 1/18/2013 | Washington State |
News and Notes:
- Turner, Jenkins and Pelluer are all seemingly solidly committed. Pelluer played in the Simper Fidelis All American Bowl within the last couple weeks.
- Allensworth is committed to Cal at this point and Pippens to Utah. Reading updates from their statuses over the past week or two, I’d say Pippens has the best chance of being swayed Crimson this weekend. He has basically opened it up between Utah (soft commit) and Wazzu and is looking for some immediate impact type necessity on a team. We are his final visit so if the impression is good enough he could become the 3rd or 4th CB commit for this class, depending on Awuzie’s decision over these last couple of weeks (Awuzie visited last week). Allensworth is here to look around unless something drastic happens.
- Meander is a rising name over the last week or two in the Cougar war room. Lengthy frame and good range, totalling 109 tackles and a couple ints in his senior year at Palo Duro. Reminds me a LOT of a Lamont Thompson back in the day (has it been 15 years already?), who came in at 6’2″ 183 lbs as a freshman and had the range of an antelope. He left at a solid 215 lbs and it’s my recollection that he tied the WSU interception record with 14 in just 3 seasons before moving to the NFL. The record still stands. If Montrel commits, grows into that long body and has anything near the career that Lamont had, we’re in for a treat.
- McKinley is a Golden Bear commit at the moment, but is an intriguing development amongst Cougar fan boards. Described by his coach and many that have seen him play as a freak-athlete at DE, he runs the 100 yard dash at a cool 10.5 seconds, which is BLAZING for a guy that is 6’3″ 245 lbs. In fact he runs the anchor for his track team at that distance. Reminds me of a couple of other old Coug DE’s: D.D. Acholonu and Isaac Brown. Some have suggested he needs to gain weight, but I don’t necessarily agree with that. I think he is the product of small school ball, and is so raw that he’ll get better by just being on the field against better athletes and improving his trade. First things first, we need to get him flipped and he’s said he wants to see if we “really want” him or not this week. C’mon Leach and friends!
We’ll get you updated on any news that comes from this weekend as soon as we can find it, so stay tuned Coug fans.
Go Cougs!