Washington State Football Recruiting Nuggets: Cougs Pluck Again from American Somoa

Sept. 29, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington State Cougars nose tackle Ioane Gauta (95) makes the tackle for a loss against Oregon Ducks running back Ayele Forde (30) during the second half at CenturyLink Field. The Ducks would go onto win the game by a final score of 51-26. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington State Cougars have landed their second American Samoa prospect in their 2013 class and this one comes with a Pac-12 following. Daniel Etuale is a nose tackle with really solid athleticism after being a tight end for most of his prep career at Pago Pago. He played TE at a lighter 255 lbs, but beefed up so that he could make a difference on defense and will be taking up space in the middle with his 6’4″ 290 lbs frame.

Defensive line coach and area recruiter Joe Salave’a is finding and snatching a lot of talent from the Islands. Last year he helped recruit the duo of Taylor Taliulu (Aiea, HI) and Robert Barber (Pago Pago, AS). This season he’s back at it with Etuale, along with another Pago Pago DL, Emmitt Su’a-Kalio. 

Etuale is an unranked kid at his position but had been receiving increasing recruiting attention from Washington and Oregon, along with offers by Oregon State, Hawaii and WSU. He is a weight room fanatic and brings size and strength the the Cougar interior. There were several prospects on the list for coach Salave’a and coach Leach, but Etuale was the one that materialized and finally stuck after his un-publicized official visit to Washington State this past weekend.

He may not be as heralded as the other prospects the Cougs have been looking at, but brings true NT size and ability to the Breske 3-4. He also tacks on some superb athletic ability and quickness from his tight end playing days. The Cougs now have 26 commits (28 including grayshirts BJ Salmonson and Robert Lewis) to their credit and are looking at 2-3 more in the coming days.

Go Cougs!